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David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
12/12/19 2:32 p.m.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9oPF-oaTJ2o

Maybe it’s just something in the air. Or the promise of insanely high revs with minimum mass. Whatever the impetus, they’re out there. Here’s a compilation of nothing but bike-powered cars.

You’re welcome.

Watch more videos

Kreb
Kreb GRM+ Memberand UberDork
12/12/19 2:54 p.m.

Because they are the opposite of electric cars?

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
12/12/19 2:55 p.m.

Huh.  I was always rather more partial to car-powered bikes.

Patientzero
Patientzero Reader
12/12/19 3:01 p.m.

Because of the noises they make and how violent they look.  People love violence from afar.  I'd like to see it up close though...  

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
12/12/19 3:09 p.m.
1988RedT2 said:

Huh.  I was always rather more partial to car-powered bikes.

See also: rotary-powered Mustangs.

Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy MegaDork
12/12/19 3:14 p.m.

Sequential gearbox, zingy RPMs.

therieldeal
therieldeal Reader
12/12/19 3:38 p.m.

Flappy paddles, bad

Slappy stick, good

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
12/12/19 3:44 p.m.

And I know there are more videos like this. If you have any to share, just stick them in the thread. 

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 UltraDork
12/12/19 3:55 p.m.

So at 2:04 that video says "Fiat 500 - engine Hayabusa 1300cc 4x4 200 HP."  So... that's 4x4, like AWD?  I need to know more?

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Reader Services
12/12/19 3:57 p.m.

How about a snowmobile-powered Spitfire?

 

Flynlow
Flynlow HalfDork
12/12/19 4:32 p.m.

I like bike-engined cars because it’s the closest I’m going to get to driving an f1 car on the street.  

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
12/12/19 4:45 p.m.

I would be an outlier on this one if we include wanting to own one. None of them appeal to me beyond wanting to spend an hour beating the living E36 M3 out of it.... leaving the dead, smoking carcass, behind.

 

 

 

Pete

Billy_Bottle_Caps
Billy_Bottle_Caps SuperDork
12/12/19 4:47 p.m.
Colin Wood said:

How about a snowmobile-powered Spitfire?

 

This is one of my favorite current builds. Found these guys while building a Gambler 500 car. They have a great YouTube channel

Knurled.
Knurled. GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/12/19 7:25 p.m.
Flynlow said:

I like bike-engined cars because it’s the closest I’m going to get to driving an f1 car on the street.  

Crap.  I'm missing a lot of files for some reason.

 

I used to have a pic of a closeup of my Autometer 10,000rpm tach hitting its stop while at a rallycross, because I didn't want to have to shift before a corner.  The stop is well after the numbers end.

triumph7
triumph7 Reader
12/13/19 7:31 a.m.

(Almost) Top of the bike powered food chain?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzJsCrBHlOQ&t=552s

L5wolvesf
L5wolvesf Reader
12/13/19 7:43 a.m.

Me and a very good friend got our hands on a BMW 700 back in the early 80s. Had an adapter made, by Kennedy, to drop a rotary (12A because it was free) in it. We were shooting to end up with it at under 1000 lbs. Its purpose was to be a slalom car with Lone Pine as the ultimate goal. Unfortunately life happened and the car went back to it's prior owner.  

infinitenexus
infinitenexus Reader
12/13/19 7:53 a.m.

I would kill for a tiny 60s-70s japanese/euro tiny sports car with a hayabusa engine.  I've always loved these.

A few years back a company made a small V8 out of two hayabusa engines.  Pretty wild stuff.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a10022304/lotus-elise-hillclimb-car-uses-v8-formed-from-two-hayabusa-engines/

And here's the new version of their engine:

https://www.h1v8.com/maxi-v8---specs.html

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
12/13/19 8:38 a.m.

As a former sport bike, I find this awesome!

It seemed like one or tow of those cars were literally "karts." They way they bounced around looked like they didn't have any suspension?

penultimeta
penultimeta HalfDork
12/13/19 10:34 a.m.

I love that spit. However, when I saw them testing it on dirt, it just kinda reiterated for me how impractical BEC are for the street. No reverse gear, hard sequential shifts, and oiling issues. Again, I don't think this makes them less awesome. Just perhaps less practical for someone looking at small, lightweight engines to retrofit into and LBC or the like. 

Ian F
Ian F MegaDork
12/13/19 10:47 a.m.

I still dream of building an Abarth 1000 SP with a bike engine and various lightweight (but not necessarily cheap) parts.  Trying to get it as close to the D-Mod rules limits as I can while staying street legal. 

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
12/13/19 12:14 p.m.
penultimeta said:

I love that spit. However, when I saw them testing it on dirt, it just kinda reiterated for me how impractical BEC are for the street. No reverse gear, hard sequential shifts, and oiling issues. Again, I don't think this makes them less awesome. Just perhaps less practical for someone looking at small, lightweight engines to retrofit into and LBC or the like. 

What are the oiling issues? 

Lug_Nuts_23
Lug_Nuts_23 New Reader
12/13/19 3:46 p.m.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Fun!

Though that driveshaft through the cabin with plywood foot shield is a bit too risky for me!

Lug_Nuts_23
Lug_Nuts_23 New Reader
12/13/19 3:48 p.m.

In reply to z31maniac :

I would suspect they eat some oil--most high-revving engines do burn more oil.

The other issue with putting a bike engine in a heavier vehicle is that it has to deal with a lot more stress (accelerating a bike hard is much easier than moving a car!), so it might need lubrication mods to deal with the greater forces.

JimMurphy
JimMurphy New Reader
12/13/19 4:14 p.m.

AHHH . . . . bike motor race cars . . . how about SCCA F600 road race cars . . . a 600cc bike drivetrain in a 900 lb formula car, 15,000 rpm and 140 mph.  A new one for about $35K and good used ones for around $15K.  You can see more with videos on this website  - www.theformula600challenge.com  and our FB page with even more videos - https://www.facebook.com/Formula600Challenge/         

The best bang for the buck in formula car racing, come race with us.

JimMurphy
JimMurphy New Reader
12/13/19 4:46 p.m.

In reply to Lug_Nuts_23 :

In our F600 race cars, oil cooling is critical because the motor no longer gets air flow around it like in a bike chassis.  We have been racing the F600's in SCCA since 2009 so we have developed them pretty well.  We have won the F500 class SCCA National Championship Runoffs several times.  HTH

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