Why do sport bike engines have so much more power than other gasoline engines?

john

Active member
Sep 3, 2007
3,725
0
36
64
I have always wondered why sport bikes are so powerful for their size. I know that they run at very high RPMs which contributes a lot to the power, but why? Is it because of a shorter stroke allowing for faster cycles? or is it due to super high compression? I am extremely curious as to why these engines are so fast and want to know everything I can about them, please leave your input.
Thank you both very much, you both had very helpful answers. I would give you both thumbs up but i am only a level one and cant.
 
When designing vehicles engines, one important criteria considered is the durability and the life of that engine. With some modification more additional power can be squeezed out of that engine, but on the expense of the life span. The criteria can be dropped out in the case of the sport bikes for obvious reasons.
 
I think the main difference between a motorcycle's and car's engine is just the amount of they have to move. Motorcycles are light to an engine that outputs the same amount of power, generates more acceleration in the motorcycle because the mass is less. F=ma.

As far as cycles you have to balance two things. More cycles theoretically mean more acceleration. However that's not what have to be overcome. The limit is the amount of work that the piston has to do. W=force*distance=pressure*volume. So when you are working with a piston, you are actually looking for a greater displacement or increase in volume as that means the revolution was more powerful. So the number of cycles is just a way of measuring the amount of work done by the engine in a way that you could measure by looking at the engine run.
 
Back
Top