Sportbike Engine Torture Test

[Lee]

I found this article on TSBA's BBS. It was easier to post a link to it than to try to paste the article into this post.

I think you can get to the post on TSBA without being a member.

http://www.tsba.org/UBB/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=009159#000001

30 minutes at 8,000 rpms in neutral - the coolant completely boiled off, then the oil boiled! There was more. This bike was severely tortured.

The motorcycle engine won and its abusers conceded defeat. I found myself laughing by the end of the article.

-------------

I think I will never worry about my bike's engine overheating again.

:)

Lee

[Sparker]

thats pretty crazy

[Mista Black]

i thought you were posting up a serious test of a bike... like 30k miles in a month or something like that... :roll:

seriously though, i am amazed the coolant and oil burned off... that's pretty poor way to build a bike (IMHO).

[R1chie]

i thought you were posting up a serious test of a bike... like 30k miles in a month or something like that... :roll:

seriously though, i am amazed the coolant and oil burned off... that's pretty poor way to build a bike (IMHO).

Hope you are joking Jeff, coolant systems are pressurized to raise boiling point, once it starts to boil, it increases pressure and blows out of the radiator cap. All motors including cars work this way. Water-cooling is superior for high output/performance motors and is a superior design when you put high demands on an engine compared to air cooled. (Notice I did not say high horsepower).

On the bike in the article, I would like to see compression ratio and dyno.
The article did not do a longevity test. Torture like this reduced the life of that motor.

This info is good for those who sit in traffic and the fan comes on or those who had the motor overheat while sitting. The engines are pretty bullet proof. BUT if you put the bike in gear and load it up, that is where you see failure when temperatures are allowed to rise.

This is the reason air cool motors blow up under heavy loads and water-cooled engines do not (this is where the saying comes from that water-cooled engines are more reliable)

Did you know water is a lubricant? You could run it in an engine in place of oil if the output of the engine is low and there is no load. In fact you may have seen it on TV when companies make wild claims about engines running with their product added to oil and remove the drain plug. The engine continues to run (because it is not under load) the even spray water on the spinning crank..

Lets see how long that motor runs when it over heats and is under stress (any racers have this happen?)

A liter bike on a race track needs the engine temp to be consistent if the engine is going to have longevity.

[Mista Black]

i'm not kidding... i'm wondering why they can't build a coolant system that can handle this. get a big fan to move air across my NON-watercooled engine and i'll run it at 8000rpm for an hour. i'm willing to bet good money my oil would not burn off in that very small amount of time and there would be virtually zero measurable wear much less damage to the engine.

and as far as air/water goes, i still have every belief that my bikes air cooled engine will still be moving with over a 1/4 million miles with a minimum amount of major work. i think it's got a lot more to do with build quality than water vs air cooling.

[Lee]

A fact that's not widely known is that running an engine at rpms with no load significantly increases the exhaust gas temperature because the mixture is so lean. This is hell on the exhaust valves, the exhaust system, the heads, the pistons, and the rings.

If anyone doubts me, try this: I can guarantee that if you run your bike for 15 minutes at 4,000-5,000 rpms in neutral, sitting still, you will blue your exhaust pipes, even if they are double walled. I learned this by ugly experience. :( (I did this once on a Winter day thinking I needed to run my FZ1's engine and get it hot. I couldn't ride because of icy streets. Pretty sad. )

Lee

[Stuart Little]

i'm willing to bet good money my oil would not burn off in that very small amount of time and there would be virtually zero measurable wear much less damage to the engine.


You'd have to bet good money, to fix all the damage you do to that bike after a short time "an hour"!!

[R1chie]

and as far as air/water goes, i still have every belief that my bikes air cooled engine will still be moving with over a 1/4 million miles with a minimum amount of major work. i think it's got a lot more to do with build quality than water vs air cooling.

I think it has to do with a bike like yours produces so little hp and is so mildly tuned, it doesn't heat up as much.

Even the BMW engineers understand if they start making engines with even a hint of performance they must use water cooling. Even the low performance K 1200 S that produces only 165hp and top rpm of 10250 rpm needed water-cooling (considering Japanese liter bikes produce around 180hp and rpms upwards of 13700.

Don't get me wrong, air cooling is a simple durable design as long there is enough displacement coupled with mild tuning and low load to produce the required power requirements.

[rforsythe]

In other words Jeff, "your bike is too slow to matter". :lol:

There you go, even physics says you ride a slow bike!

[Beotch]

In other words Jeff, "your bike is too slow to matter". :lol:

There you go, even physics says you ride a slow bike!

:spit: :imwithstupid:


I mean :oops: pink and purple pin stripes and a yellow bike are sexy!!

[R1chie]

In other words Jeff, "your bike is too slow to matter". :lol:

There you go, even physics says you ride a slow bike!

LOL :lol:

That wasn't my point but your conclusion was pretty funny.

Hanging the heads out in the open and the oil system is a design that allows the R1100 S to produce a decent amount of horsepower (87hp) but water-cooling allowed the YZF600 to produce that much horsepower with half the CC's. As far as motorcycles are concerned, air cooled engines are the past and people who had them had to deal with those limitations. Water-cooling is the future and to enjoy the benefits of higher HP we must also live with downsides and limitations. I find no joy in doing a radiator flush, especially when Yamaha decided to bury the radiator cap under the front fairing. (Something you will never have to deal with Jeff.) :(