Been looking around at engines. ZX9 really but looking for summat fairly cheap and it just got me wondering what else do people think would be a decent engine apart from the usual ZX9/12,Blackbird,GSXR,Fireblade,R1 combinations? What about other manufacturers?

cbr1000f ,rf900 ,zx10 , exup 1000 ,zzr1000,thunder ace are all pretty cheap but also a bit long in the tooth too as most cheap engines will be 8 years old and already done some miles

I nearly got an old ZX10 before I was warned off due to reliability. Aparently new ZX10s are just great, but expensive.

What about summat like Ducati or Triumph (only 3 cylinders though!) Anyone know of owt like this?

me and my Aprilia RSV

Nice. Thats a good change to the norm, how solids the engine though?Dunno too much about Aprilia

fazer is meant to be a cheap r1 ain't it? otherwise cb(r?) 1000 is often mentioned as a popular budget route iirc.

Ned.

I'm not much into bike engines in cars (not convinced about the power vs cost when compared to car engines), but have had many bike engines in bikes
But if I was going the BEC route on a budget Yamaha's thunderace is a top engine, plenty power (145Bhp approx), reliable, and lots about (you can buy a full bike for less than 2k these days!) same with the old ZZR, big power (140+ in some) and easily available.

I also wouldn't worry too much about age or miles with these units so long as they have been serviced properly, because of the type of bike they are (big, heavy, unfashionable) they rarely get used to anything like their full potential on the road, which means good engines even in 10yr old bikes

Cheers
Alex

Who says Zx10 isn't reliable - Rubbish, it's the same engine as the Zx9 just larger capacity. To the best of my knowledge they suffer from just one problem, starter chain, cost about £12 inc gasket & takes about an hour whilst you've got the engine out anyway. (Don't change the tensioner unless really necessary they are about £80).
In bangs per buck I doubt you'll beat the old ZX10.

of the newer engines i'd look at the shaft drive BMW K1200R engine. 170bhp I've ridden the bike and it's awesome. Not many around though so would be like gold dust unless of course someone knows otherwise.
Bet a Triumph triple would be good, sounds great too. The new Triumph 645 daytona put out 120bhp ish.
Aprilia Mille would make a good rear engined choice in my opinion. Think its dry sumped and comes with a slipper clutch. I had a Mille and they are pretty torqey.

Already got me eye on that one Joel. Ssshhh. I don't want everyone to know cos he's only up the road from me

someone on here has a rear engined triumph triple in a fiat 500 type replica, and i have a tl 1000 v twin in the back of my reliant kitten. the tl 1000 has a weak gearbox though