Seen a few of these at trackdays recently and been impressed at how well they seem to go with not alot of power really! Anyone know much about them, reliability/speed etc. Been looking at westfields with various bike engines: fireblade, blackbird, hayabusa, R1 etc but not knowing anything about bike engines don't have a clue which are the ones to go for or avoid! The bike engine ones seem to go for reasonable money and the idea of an engine that loves to be revved appeals somewhat lol. Any input/views welcome

 

dont know much about them but a guy i used to work with had one, clutches dont last long

 

i've just sold mine it was a Kawasaki ZX9R engines Stuart Taylor

the most popular engines ATM are the R1 & the ZX10R & ZX12R if you look around on Pistonheads and even go on http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/index.php

you'll find some for sale and loads of info on them, if you want cheap track day fun you can't go far wrong with a well put together BEC as for clutches mine had done over 7000 miles and it was still on original clutch with uprated Barnet springs.

they are mega fun and so easy to work on, just go get 1 and have some summer fun

 

Visit www.locostbuilders.co.uk

Im currently building a bike engine onyx mongoose and aiming for less than 400kgs and a power to weight of around 350-400bhp per ton using an old Kawasaki zx10 engine.

They cars are quick because they are built to be light so they can make the best of the bike engine. Clutches can wear but depends on driving style. Most people fit uprated clutch springs and it usually sorts and issues.

There are plenty of kits available
www.mkengineering.co.uk
www.mksportscars.co.uk
www.mnrltd.co.uk
www.mac1motorsports.co.uk
www.ariesmotorsport.co.uk
www.luegosportscars.com
www.tigerracing.com
www.sylva.co.uk
http://web.mac.com/rawuk/Raw/Home.html
http://www.greatbritishsportscars.com/news.php
www.roadrunnerracing.co.uk site is down right now
www.agmsportscars.co.uk
www.daxcars.co.uk to name a few.

these all do 7 style cars. you have a large choice.

 

Theres a bike powered 220bhp Brabbus Smart car on PistonHeads @ Ł15k. Looks like a real sleeper.

Andy

 

Thanks for the info guys, they seem to be sequential shift too, do they use a bike gearbox? Are the cheaper kits as good as the westfields, seem to be loads that all look the same lol, mak1's/mk indy's etc. Are bike engine's expensive for bits or are whole engines cheap?? The westfield i was looking at had a blackbird 1100 engine, don't know if they're good or bad though?!

 

most BEC use a direct drive off the normally bike sprocket so you use the bike gearbox which is far far quicker than a car gearbox setup

you pay your price when buying a westfield or such like planty of other kits out there like the MK indy & MNR vortex

bike engine are genuinely cheaper and take the abuse well

 

has anyone seen the mk1 golf with the hayabusa turbo engine in it? how about putting one of those in a kit car? the also put them in smart cars 2.probably obliterate your oponents in that

 

craig,wat kit car is that in ur post,that looks mad as fook.

 

Its an Onyx Mongoose. Im bulding one with a ZX10 bike engine. Click the blog in my sig to see my build.

RSTDAVE:

Go to locost builders and find out when your local meet will be. When i started my build i went to my local locost meet and was taken out in a blade engined locost. With 2 of us in the car it still went like fuck and stuck the road like shit to a blanket.

If you get the car properly set up it will handle as well as a caterham or westfield with out a problem.

Engine kits vary alot in price depending on what you want. I have 2 zx10's sat in my garage and i paid less than Ł150 for both. the engine only weighs 80kg with all the ancilleries and puts out 137 bhp with de-restricted carb tops. An all alloy rover K-series with no ancilleries what so ever weighs 86kgs. so a huge saving in weight, most newer bike engine only weight 50-60kgs.

Here's a few engine kits to give you an idea on price.

http://motors.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/...86Q2ec0Q2em282

 

They need loads of revs as torque compared with slower revving car engines is nowhere near as good, bity like a manic type r, not my cup of tea, getting too old for all the noise!!
tabetha

 

I'd be using a zetec-se not a bike engine if I was building one...far more torque and a lot easier to drive

 

Like this ?







Quite a few of them around

 

Ive been in a westfield with a hayabusa turbo engine,, it was unbeliveably fast

 

yea!!!!!!
that looks a right beast,bet u cud make sum people trousers stained in that bad boy!
wonder how much one of them costs to build?

 

i'm sort of using a bike engine, i'm running a dodge tomahawk engine, also known as a dodge viper engine, can not finnished as i've lost workshop, soon to be getting on i hope.




here is the engine running, volume needs to be up loud, sounds gooooooood

 

jeez !

 

what about a bike engined mini??

 

Engine blew to bits..... AGAIN.

think thats 3 or maybe 4 now?

it caught fire this time as well. Just what you want... NOT!



FAST CAR when it works though!

 

Im a firm believer that a simple 170 -200 bhp n/a engine in any westfield/caterham/indy etc etc will be as much road performance as most folks can cope with.

(Porkie excluded! )

And indeed a similar car on track (driver permitting) will be very very hard to catch and pass.

The only bike engined ones ive seen/spoken to on track days, have all said the lack of torque is an issue, yes fine when high in the rev range but no where near the torque of a simple 4 cylinder car engine.

You pays your money you takes your choice i suppose?

 

TOTALLY agree mat.

BECS and CECS both have their die hard supporters. Very different experiences.

both good in their own ways.

Drive both before deciding is the only way

 

Mmm some good tips, cheers! As said by a couple, i wouldn't buy one without driving a few anyway, i thought they'd need revving pretty hard lol. A lot of the car engine'd ones seem to have the xe motors which must be pretty good with a set of throttle bodies, they just cost more money than the bike engine'd cars hence why i've been looking at those lol!

 

i agree, ive got a 175 bhp n/a zetec in a 520kg kit car, i i carnt really think on the road you need anything with more power, maybe on long straights, but it has a load more torque and drivabilty than a bike engine, but cost alot more

here you go,

 

I see you got it finished then bud. looks smart. not seen you about in it yet though. Which end of Wakefield you live at?

 

Another thing i was thinkin about lasdt night is where on earth do you take a bike engine's westfield for example to have any work done?? Don't know anywhere around my area (wiltshire) that works on them....and as much as i know a fair bit about cars (rst's mainly lol) i wouldn't know where to start with a BEC to be honest, are they hard to work on?

 

Its a bike engine so take it to a bike shop. Bike engines are simple to work on, esp carb models.

 

Have a look at the Dax Rush MC - they recently (well a couple of years ago now) brought out a great system called CCAR, which works to keep your dynamic camber/caster = static, by means of some clever push-rods and stuff. Means you have that bit more grip and apparently is very noticeable on track!

Chris

 

I had always wondered about the longevity of the high tuned bike engines.

Did the fire do much damage ?

 

Mine has CCAR and the one pictured above has it (but with in board dampers)

 

BIG fan of the viper engined kit car. Hop the updates in resto room start again soon