Thread: Gas mileage king ;)

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I'm considering building a car with a motorcycle engine and lots of lightweight stuff like a tube frame, etc. With gas getting nuts it would be cool to have a little driver that got really good gas milage. I know squat about motorcycles though, so if and when I decide to do it I'll need some input from the bikers among us to help pick one with the right cc's and all to use as a donor.

I'd just buy a moped, but with some of the drivers we have down here I at least want SOME protection around me.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I'm considering building a car with a motorcycle engine and lots of lightweight stuff like a tube frame, etc. ......................
Don

Why not a little ricer 4 cyl engine - some of them will do even better then many bike motors

Originally Posted by IC2

Why not a little ricer 4 cyl engine - some of them will do even better then many bike motors

Good thought. I just assumed mc engines like the 750 cc ones would get fantastic milage. But you may have a good point, and the ricers run forever and are cheap. especially wrecked ones.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I'm considering building a car with a motorcycle engine and lots of lightweight stuff like a tube frame, etc. With gas getting nuts it would be cool to have a little driver that got really good gas milage. I know squat about motorcycles though, so if and when I decide to do it I'll need some input from the bikers among us to help pick one with the right cc's and all to use as a donor.

I'd just buy a moped, but with some of the drivers we have down here I at least want SOME protection around me.

Don

A number of years ago there was an outfit in, I think, Reno NV that made a T bucket kit that took any one of a variety of 4 cyl motorcycle engines. It was roughly a 3/4 maybe 7/8 scale car. I suspect market demand didn't support their long term existence. It's all about hp and weight in this context so I don't know that the motorcycle engine would have any particular advantage if there were a comparable small car engine (Aveo, Fit, and so on).