Video: Why Are We So Attracted to Bike-Powered Cars?

In reply to Tom1200 :

I suspect it would end up quicker then the math says....1 tall gear then 5 close spaced ones makes a BIG  difference

A friend has a Diasio D962 which is a scaled down Porsche 962 racecar, and it is powered by a 1000CC Yamaha motorcycle engine.  It has proven to be quite unreliable though, with his last two outings resulting in blown up engines.  Both seem to be oiling related failures.  The engine is mounted such that the crankshaft is parallel with the centerline of the car, so cornering forces mimic acceleration/deceleration on a bike frame.  The car has performed well in the past, but the bike engine transplant has presented a long list of challenges in this car application.  I think he is going to try a different Yamaha engine going forward, with more power, so it should be interesting to see how it works out.

In reply to stukndapast :

I used R1 engines as well,a baffle plate in the pan is a must and I ran a 1/2 quart over full with no issues.

 One build was north south the other transverse as it is in the bike.

 The kawasaki and suzuki options have far more oiling issues then the R1.

@truimph7 taking off yes stopping no.............I slide it into neutral.

Our car was FZR1000 powered; other than a jumbo airbox and custom exhaust everything was stock. We never had oiling issues per se.  We did blow up two motors due to having an oversize radiator (as I found out from a former Yamaha engineer) If the motor wasn't fully warmed up (above 160F water temp) the number 4 rod bearing big end would lose oil pressure.

This is another reason to love two strokes!!!

Ran a baffle plate too, sandwiched between the oil pan and engine case. Dimpled drain holes w/ vertical slosh plates.

'88 FZR 1000 had an oil galley parallel to the crank, 20 mm plugs each end. Used a Honda (car) 20 mm oil pan drain plug, center bored and tapped 1/4" NPT, cut copper crush washer to fit. Plumbed to a mini-sprint MC 1.5 quart accumulator. Oil pressure and/ or low oil pressure sending unit optional. D-Sport road race car. Never had an issue.

Should be somewhere to tap into an oil galley on other engines.

YMMV

In reply to NormPeterson :  In the F600's we build a custom oil pan with special windage tray and pickup and then we add a BIG oil cooler (critical) with more oil = no oil starvation.  Been running this since 2009.

In reply to triumph7 :  We tried a R6 but the PTO shaft was in a bad place in relation to the rear axle so we have been using Suzuki GXR600 with great success - it is the lightest, smallest and has a slipper clutch standard.  The Honda can be used but it is the heaviest, biggest and does NOT have a slipper clutch - we just changed a Honda F600 to a GXR600 F600 for the above reasons.

In reply to triumph7 :  David Lapham passed Eric and then spun off which damaged his suspension slowing him down.

I got a ride in a Hayabusa-powered Locost. One thing is that bike engines don't have flywheels, making starting off hard (this was with the owner driving, not me),  he kept stalling it.

Next issue, at steady state speed on the freeway, the driveline gets into this odd oscillation, where all the slack in the drivetrain causes the car to start this slight bucking. That could get annoying.

No reverse. For a track car, meh, but for a street car, that's a problem in my book.

Oil control. Back when I considered a bike drivetrain for Kimini, research showed that a Hayabusa absolutely needed a dry sump ($$$$), while an R1 supposedly didn't, but it's only one liter. 

At the end of the day, I passed on it and went with a Honda Prelude engine.

That said, I saw a video of someone driving a straight-6 bike (an older one) and the sound was glorious, just like an F1 car.

If I do a track only car, it'll likely be a bike engine, otherwise, probably not.

In reply to stukndapast :

A car can corner a lot harder than motorcycles can brake or accelerate!  Motorcycle acceleration is limited by the high CG and short wheelbase.  The bike the engine came out of probably was CG limited in acceleration up to:70-80mph or so.

In reply to kb58 :

So that you can try out what a bike formula car can do, we will rent you a F600 for either track days or club racing.  Here are some great race videos on our website - www.theformula600challenge.com    Enjoy on a BIG screen.