Supercharged / Turbocharged Motorcycle Engines

[KM2]

Turbocharging seemingly never took off in the motorcycle world and I know of only one supercharged one (a Peugeot 125cc scooter).

SUre, a sudden spike in the power delivery (Turbo) doesn't do wonders for motorcycle handling. There are several bike engined cars / kits around and I've been wondering if there are any supercharging / turbocharging options for those bike engines. I have heard of a turbocharged Hayabusa engine but would like to know more

More than the pure increase in hp it would be the higher torque of force fed engines that interests me

[Nate]

sudden delivery of power?
Go & drive a RenaultSport Megane... a 2L 4 that pulls like a V8...
In fact look at any euro..
Its the Japs that love a sudden huge rush of power...

You can make a turbo behave exactly how you want it to, it just has to be setup correctly!

[rev440]

Originally Posted by KM2

Turbocharging seemingly never took off in the motorcycle world and I know of only one supercharged one (a Peugeot 125cc scooter).

SUre, a sudden spike in the power delivery (Turbo) doesn't do wonders for motorcycle handling. There are several bike engined cars / kits around and I've been wondering if there are any supercharging / turbocharging options for those bike engines. I have heard of a turbocharged Hayabusa engine but would like to know more

More than the pure increase in hp it would be the higher torque of force fed engines that interests me

Theres only aftermarket kits for turbo and superchargers. The turbo is more efficent and less strain on the engine because it has a weird powerband just like the bike itself. Ive only seen one blown bike it was a GSXR1000 which is already a scary fast bike.

[Matra et Alpine]

You get more power than you need from the engines already with the simpler increase in capacity.
LOTS of power doesn't work in a small bike as it flexes too much, the trailing arm is too short etc.
Sudden increases in power is death on a motorbike on anything but simple straight roads - and even then it's iffy. So until recent times turbos were only for the idiots. More recently some have taken turbos as aftermarket - the 'busa being the normal one as it's big and heavy and strong enough to cope and isn't' an agile sportsbike.

Smaller engines dont' return as large benefits as bigger engines so it's easer to add another 250cc to the engine to get h power than a turbo to a 250cc

[m5child]

What's the point of boosting a bycicle engine that already has the highest power-to-weight ratio of anything out there... unless u wanna do around 220mph, which is achievable, but not very stable or safe... i dunno, that extra kick doesnt seem to be worth it, ya know?

[KM2]

The point is putting a small motorcycle engine in a car, which has more weight than the motorcycle, of course. The power is fine in stock form already but the torque, which is important for flexibility, especially if you haul 800 to 900 kg around instead of 250 or so, is a bit lacking in most motorcycle engines - that's why the charging.

[Matra et Alpine]

NOT a good idea to take a small biek engine and 'charge it for a car.
The biggest bike engines already struggle a little to provide enough low end torque to make a car drivable - even something like a 7 !!
Turbos put on for POWER don't improve drivability.
Maybe if you put in a 16 speed sequential box or a CVT ??
( If you research the Honda screamers raced in teh 60s with 12-speed gearboxes and revving to 24,000 you'll see how small engine squeezing the last ounce of power can sound )

[KM2]

Low pressure turbos or perhaps a supercharger? Basically sth like increasing top power minimally if at all but giving better torque all over the rev range. It has been done to car engines and often. The question is whether there is something inherent in bike engine design that would make such an arrangement impractical. CVT is definitely an option, especially since torque won't be a limiting factor here

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by KM2

Low pressure turbos or perhaps a supercharger? Basically sth like increasing top power minimally if at all but giving better torque all over the rev range.

Bike engines are small capacity small stroke.
If you want torque to move something bigger then you need to up the stroke. To get enough combusion force then you ALSO need to up the culinder size. So before long you're at car engine size and not a bike any more

[culver]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

Smaller engines dont' return as large benefits as bigger engines so it's easer to add another 250cc to the engine to get h power than a turbo to a 250cc

This is exactly the logic used by the US (and now the Japanese in the US) car makers. Honestly, so long as you don't have to add a bunch of weight (or at least no more than a turbo or SC would weigh) why not add power via displacement vs other methods.

[henk4]

at least some company, and not the smallest, tried it...

(taken at the Sinsheim Museum in 2003)

[Matra et Alpine]

At the time Yam had the XJ 650 too.



They wern't a hit, weren't very good performance, had HORRENDOUS hanlding and spat people off in corners when you cracked the throttle too much

[Jakg]

Originally Posted by m5child

What's the point of boosting a bycicle engine that already has the highest power-to-weight ratio of anything out there... unless u wanna do around 220mph, which is achievable, but not very stable or safe... i dunno, that extra kick doesnt seem to be worth it, ya know?

Hyamusa aparently it hits 200 with ease, and with only a little puching will hit 220 mph!

[2ndclasscitizen]

look up that ghost rider maniac, turbo busa or gsxr1000 (can't remember which), his has some crazy amount of power and when he hits the throttle it just wheelies

[rev440]

Originally Posted by Jakg

Hyamusa aparently it hits 200 with ease, and with only a little puching will hit 220 mph!

Not with ease. The stock bike hits 186 at dont quote me but 10k rpm. The extra 20mph are extremly hard to get out of the bike with out messing with internals and things. If i had the money id have a ported head, cam and exhaust hayabusa to race at the drags hopfully run into the 8's. Why do you call it the hayamusa?