Motorcycle Engine Types

All Show - No Go!?

How to explain motorcycle engine types without going abracadabra on you (or myself)and not focusing on one brand or one type of motorcycle engines? Here is my humble overview of how your power-horse makes you roll down the street. This is only meant to be a brief intro to the working of motorcycle engines and motorcycle engine types.

It all comes down to a simple principle of your motorcycle engine types & its workings. You chuck in some fuel which gets mixed with air. This gets inducted into the cylinder where your piston is turning around. The piston is attached to a shaft, which turns your wheel. Add to the drive shaft different combinations of turning (gear box) and you're able to drive faster / slower with the same engine power.

Okay that's simple, now let's look a little at the process in the cylinder. Basically you can count on two engine processes: a two stroke or a four stroke engine. Which means it takes 2 or 4 turns to return to the beginning position of powering the motorcycle. As you can imagine having only two strokes makes it possible to power the motorcycle much more regularly. However a two stoke engine is more reactive and more nervous to drive. A four stroke is a little more laid back.

Back to how it works. As gas and air get sucked into the cylinder the piston comes around and squeezes this gas mixture together. At the most effective time the sparkplug ignites the mixture, which sends the piston back down. The force pushes the shaft around. Now multiply this process by a few cylinders and raise the rate at which it happens and you got yourself a powering engine driving you down the road.

The modern day bikes are built on a variety of engines: The one cylinder - BMW F650, The twin cylinder - Harley and Ducati, The triple cylinder - Triumph, The four cylinder - Honda VFR, many Others, The six cylinder - Honda gold wing, Kawasaki Z1300, The eight cylinder - Boss Hoss

Engine strength is measured in horsepower - which was originally the amount of weight a horse could lift in a certain time. Torque is the twisting force from the engine on the back wheel. Together these forces are the major influence on how your bike feels & rides.

Single engines (also known as thumpers) create some form of vibration due to the fact that only one cylinder is moving up and down.

Fall maintenance tips: clean the bike, change the oil, fill the tank and stabilize the fuel, change the coolant, lubricate the cylinder via the sparkplug holes, prep the battery, lubricate and grease the bike, get tires off the ground and cover the motorcycle.

Winter maintenance tips: see also fall maintenance plus major maintenance jobs can be done (or have them done) make sure the battery has a pulse charger.

Spring maintenance tips: uncover the motorcycle, check battery, change the oil, check the tires, perform regular maintenance and clean your bike.

Very generally speaking its best for a novice to buy a four stroke instead of a two stroke engine. Four stroke engines generally give fewer problems.

Engine maintenance should be a regular part of your service schedule - check and adjust tappets (4 strokes) - Change cam belt (4 strokes) - check cam chain tension - check cylinder heads and exhaust (2 strokes) - check nuts and bolts.

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