Need Motorcylcle GURU!

[Colorado Ron]

Hey there! First time here. I was told this is the best place to get local help for what I need, so here I am!


I am leading a expedition to Iceland next year. I would like to build a super lightweight, SMALL, 4 wheel drive vehicle powered using a motorcycle engine. I have most everything down on paper and designs are just about complete. I really need to pick some brains about motorcycle engines! I dont know that much about them honestly. Trying to figure out which would be the best setup! If there is anyone willing to listen and help me come up with a perfect engine combo, please PM your number. Or you can contact me thru My Website

Any and All help is very much appreciated.

[Lomax]

I don't know about Guru but I know a bit about motorcycles. The engine you would need really depends on the weight of your vehicle. Have you considered Air cooled vs Water cooled because of the temperatures? Have you considered a Snow mobile engine? Have you also looked into existing vehicles such as the Honda Odyssey, Kawasaki Mule, or Yamaha Rhino? These might just be your ticket without having to build something.

Cheers.
Marc

[Filo]

I don't know your exact needs as far as how fast you are going and how hard you will be cornering, but back in the last century, when I was still in school, I helped out a little with the Automotive Society of Engineers (or whatever ASE stands for) race car. It was a student built car that used a 600cc motorcycle engine. One of the big obsticals was that the MC engine is designed to be leaned over in a turn whereas this doesn't occur in a car. Thus the oil that in an MC is readily available to be sucked out of the sump is not at the suck-up point (technical term) in a car application under heavy corner forces. This sometimes had "bad" results. The standard fix was to install baffles in the oil sump.

Just thought I would share.

[Colorado Ron]

I think water cooled is better. My understanding is that the water cooled ones tend to be more horspower. Snow mobile could work? Dont you have to run 2 stroke gas on those though? I prefer something that runs off of normal pump gas. This rig with be alumn frame and carbon fiber body. Hoping to be around 1500 pounds. Thanks for the tip on leaning oiling. Ill have to look into that after I decide on an engine. I was told the Honda Gullwing engines would be best for my application? I have this tranny in mind. It will also have toyota axles so the gear combos are endless. I think I got most things figured out, just the motors to look into! Thanks.

[Mel]

There are several kit car companies out there building lightweight frames with fiberglass and carbon bodies and using motorcycle engines who you might be able to consult with. I will try to find the websites (need to consult my dad) but there are two where I have physically seen the end result: One used a Honda 1100cc (black bird) motor, and the other used a Suzuki 1300 cc (hyabusa) motor. Both of those motors are new technology, water cooled, fuel injected and can EASILY be tweaked (on a car) to well over 180 HP, and there are also turbo kits available for both applications (depending on what exactly you will be doing in iceland). Both were British based companies, and I know one was a Lotus 7 replica (if you wanted to do some internet searching of your own). The cars I saw ranged in weight from 1300 lbs to 1800 lbs if my memory serves me correct, and were quite quick on a track.

There are other lightweight and powerful motors to consider, and still keep your car at ~1500 pounds. The Sirius 7 (AutoSpeed Article on it here) used a mostly Nissan drive train, aluminum frame, fiberglass/carbon body and is sitting at 700kg (1550lbs I believe that is) with leather seats and enough to make it driveable on the streets. The power to weight ratio is around 3.5kg per kilowatt (rivals Ferrari and Lambo's).

BTW, Quaife does make excellent parts, if you go with them you will definitly be happy (my dad has purchased more than one diff from them).

[Anonymous]

I don't think high HP should be the consideration here, whereas long term reliability should be the #1 concern. For that reason, I'd look at a liter-bike motor (enough HP to move 1500lbs) but leave it bone stock -- unless whatever you're changing helps make it more reliable. R1 and 954 motors are rock solid, the 1k motors are as well. Hell, you might even look for a V-twin motor! Lots of low torque to get you moving without having to rev the shite out of it. Doesn't sound like top end is going to be the main goal with this project. I know my Superhawk motor was insanely reliable and easy to work on, quite tuneable, and since it's carbed you don't have to worry about an ECU frying in the middle of nowhere. It can also run on low-grade pump gas since the compression isn't as high as an IL-4 liter bike. (9.1:1 for the Superhawk, vs 12:1 for a GSXR, for example.)