Most say that a beginner shouldn't go any higher than a 600cc bike. How do you know how much HP bikes have, or does it just go by engine size? Is a 600cc like a 4cylinder and a 850cc like a cylinder(meaning the 600cc could have more power)? Or will a higher cc always have more power?

 

HP and displacement (cc) do not necessarily go hand in hand. A 600cc Honda F4 will have more HP than most V-twin Harleys that are over 1000cc. It all depends on the state of tune of the engine and the purpose the bike is to serve.
Not all manufacturers will print the HP ratings of their engines on the spec sheet. Look to bike mags to get that info.

 

no a larger cc bike does not necessarily mean that it is automaticlly faster or quicker than a lower cc bike, however the amount of cylinders, and the cc does play a role in the performance of bikes. for example: if you pay any attention to any superbike racing you will notice that some 600cc bikes can run with 750cc's and 750cc's with 1000's. that is where the cylinder amount comes in..... 4 cylinder 750cc's can run with 2 cylinder 1000cc bikes, and the same goes for 600's, and 750's. Although i belive 1000cc bikes are gennerally heavier than 750, but i also think that 4 cylinders is more torquey than. Hope that sums up your curiosity about bikes. [if i am wrong about any of this, please feel free to make me look like an ass]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HondaF4i
[B], but i also think that 4 cylinders is more torquey than.

 

oh thanks clif

 

Classing bikes by displacement is a very old but commonly used philosophy. Isn't there a European licensing scheme like this? As noted above, not all 600's are equal. Heck, no way would I let a beginner on a two-stroke 500 cc bike. Should be changed to power-to-weight ratings.

 

People, including myself, generally recommend nothing larger than a 600cc bike for beginners because they are less likely to bite you for rookie mistakes. They are quite fast but you really need to make a conscious effort to get the motor to produce a lot of HP.

If you take 2-strokes out of the picture, you can make a generalization that between two engines of similar configuration the larger one will produce more HP. Horsepower is a simple linear function of torque x RPM. Not literally, there are some conversions to make in the equation, but in general you can think of HP this way. Torque is ENERGY, like applying force to a wrench. Horsepower is POWER which is the rate that the energy is applied to do work. The larger engine might not be capable of as many RPM as the smaller one, but it's increased displacement allows it to produce more torque...resulting in more horespower at any given RPM.

For example, a really strong 600cc 4 cylinder will make peak torque of roughly 50 ft-lbs and spin up to the 15,000 RPM range. A 600 twin, like the Ducati's Little Monster, probably makes similar or marginally higher torque numbers, but won't spin much past 10,000 RPM before eating itself. The resulting power difference is large. Probably in the neighborhood of 25%.

This is why you'll see a lot of people recommend the Suzuki SV650 to begginers (great bike). It makes enough torque to be fun, but doesn't have much on top where things can get tricky.

 

there is no such thing as a beginner bike. you dont buy a 7000. beginner bike. if you are that worried that you are gonna ride like shit and drop the bike spend 1500. on a suzuki katana cause thats all you should be ridding. if you are responsible and careful you can ride anything. just use a lil common sense and you will be fine. my 1st bike i ever rode was a gsxr 1000 and i am now a proud owner of a hayabusa. r6 is a girls bike anyway

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Penforhire
[B]Classing bikes by displacement is a very old but commonly used philosophy.

 

Similac 95, nice bike, I know some one who has one, he's a member of the 200mph club (UK club), they rent out second world war derelict airfields (the one's where the old Lancaster bombers needed a 2 mile run way just to take off) in order to wind the motor up & reach the 200mph twighlight zone!

Anyway. As an SV650 owner I would recommend you don't buy anything bigger than a 600 (ok 650) as your first bike the reasons being:

1). 1 litre bike's are impressive but it takes a rider with a certain amount of skill/ experience/ balls to ride one (sorry ladies).

2) Most 600cc Jap bikes handle well & there's not a lot of difference in the 0 to 60mph times with a bigger capacity bike. If you have lots of straight roads etc then a 1 litre bike is possibly what you need & it will continue to pull hard after 110/ 120mph (to those who value their license). Straight roads without speed camera's in the UK are as rare as seeing Michael Jackson & his children all together on the balcony of a hotel for a photo shoot.

Don't be fooled. Any 600 cc bike has more than enough power to get you into serious trouble if you're inexperienced. (I can't comment on cruisers etc)

Finally, I don't know about the R6 rider's around where you live Similac 95, but over here we call them nutters, knee down action, wheelies, stoppies etc etc. That is a prerequisite of being an R6 owner. (So I thought). You should see the R1 and GSXR Thou hooligan brigade down at Boxhill every Sunday. One word for it. Madness!

Ride fast, ride safe & enjoy.

D