Turbocharged Bikes
Discussion
Just sharing my musings with folks on here who I suspect will have more knowledge than me
Most of the small city cars like the Aygo have a 3 cyl 999cc engine with a small turbo producing about 80bhp. I was driving my daughters and there is no lag and it’s reasonably nippy, appreciate it weights f
k all though.
Anyway it got me thinking as to why this hasn’t caught on in the bike world. I know Kawasaki have the supercharged H2 but no-one else seems to have copied, maybe it’s just a gimmick, I don’t know, but no turbos in use that I know apart from one off specials, drag bikes etc.
Thoughts
Most of the small city cars like the Aygo have a 3 cyl 999cc engine with a small turbo producing about 80bhp. I was driving my daughters and there is no lag and it’s reasonably nippy, appreciate it weights f
k all though.Anyway it got me thinking as to why this hasn’t caught on in the bike world. I know Kawasaki have the supercharged H2 but no-one else seems to have copied, maybe it’s just a gimmick, I don’t know, but no turbos in use that I know apart from one off specials, drag bikes etc.
Thoughts
They tried turbo charging back in the eighties. Couple of mates had modified 1000’s (Z1000 mk2 & CBX) and then the Japanese built their own, again a couple of the guys bought them (Suzuki & Kawasaki), they were probably the two, I also had a go on Honda CX turbo, think it was a 500. The Kawasaki GPz750 turbo was probably the most impressive, but then bikes like the GPz900R & GSXR750 rocked up & everybody forgot about turbocharging
GR_WILL said:
Bikes don’t have as strict emissions to meet as cars so the bike manufacturers haven’t had to spend the extra cash needed to downsize then turbocharge like car manufacturers did.
Also, no Aygo is turbocharged from the factory. They’re only between 68-72bhp too
But he is right that there is no lag!Also, no Aygo is turbocharged from the factory. They’re only between 68-72bhp too
2GOOD said:
They tried turbo charging back in the eighties. Couple of mates had modified 1000’s (Z1000 mk2 & CBX) and then the Japanese built their own, again a couple of the guys bought them (Suzuki & Kawasaki), they were probably the two, I also had a go on Honda CX turbo, think it was a 500. The Kawasaki GPz750 turbo was probably the most impressive, but then bikes like the GPz900R & GSXR750 rocked up & everybody forgot about turbocharging
I remember most of them, there was indeed a CX500 turbo along with the CX650. And yamaha had the XJ650 but most of them were carp bar the Kawasaki but like you said, the GPz900 kinda made it a waste of time and iirc, the GPz1100 was lighter and faster than the turbo too.I've ridden a Z750 Turbo.
Didn't the engine covers say 'GPz' and 'Z750' on the side panels?
Two motorcycles with forced aspiration and some humour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD7s4ADYghA
Didn't the engine covers say 'GPz' and 'Z750' on the side panels?
Two motorcycles with forced aspiration and some humour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD7s4ADYghA
When I was at college, a girl in the year above me let me ride two things, one being her Gpz750 Turbo
Fair to say I was impressed. Never could understand why Turbo charging on bikes never became more mainstream. I used to think a good old fashioned 2 stroke had a hard powerband until I tried that.
Genuinely scared me at the time, and with me riding a mere 125 it was never quite the same afterwards.
To satisfy my lust for power, I went and bought a CB900 to ride about on, figured it would help me pass my test, which it did - many months later
Fair to say I was impressed. Never could understand why Turbo charging on bikes never became more mainstream. I used to think a good old fashioned 2 stroke had a hard powerband until I tried that.
Genuinely scared me at the time, and with me riding a mere 125 it was never quite the same afterwards.
To satisfy my lust for power, I went and bought a CB900 to ride about on, figured it would help me pass my test, which it did - many months later
The downsizing and adding a turbo is mostly done for economy / emissions.
People who ride powerful bikes probably don't care much about either.
Why bother with the expense when you could buy a 250 which would get to NSL speeds faster than something like an Aygo and also be economical.
People who ride powerful bikes probably don't care much about either.
Why bother with the expense when you could buy a 250 which would get to NSL speeds faster than something like an Aygo and also be economical.
Adding a turbo to a 850 to 950kg small car adds little to the overall weight or size of the car but gives a significant improvement on power/efficiency.
Adding a turbo to a 185kg smaller engined bike would increase the weight by about the same amount as getting the same output from a larger NA engine but, the NA engine would likely take up less space and would be considerably less complicated, as well as being cheaper to manufacture and maintain.
All of that is before you even start looking at the power delivery characteristics.
Adding a turbo to a 185kg smaller engined bike would increase the weight by about the same amount as getting the same output from a larger NA engine but, the NA engine would likely take up less space and would be considerably less complicated, as well as being cheaper to manufacture and maintain.
All of that is before you even start looking at the power delivery characteristics.
Just unusable on the road. Fast bikes did an article on a hayabusa with aftermarket bigcc kit on. Can’t remember the stage number. It was just about usable dialled back, but basically would put you 30ft into a tree if you got it wrong. Also the rear swing arm looked like a crane arm out the back.
44teeth covered something off a year or so back as well with turbo.
Wanted one ever since for straight line Manchester/Princess parkway onto M56 shenanigans.
44teeth covered something off a year or so back as well with turbo.
Wanted one ever since for straight line Manchester/Princess parkway onto M56 shenanigans.
black-k1 said:
Adding a turbo to a 850 to 950kg small car adds little to the overall weight or size of the car but gives a significant improvement on power/efficiency.
Adding a turbo to a 185kg smaller engined bike would increase the weight by about the same amount as getting the same output from a larger NA engine but, the NA engine would likely take up less space and would be considerably less complicated, as well as being cheaper to manufacture and maintain.
All of that is before you even start looking at the power delivery characteristics.
I completely agree with all of that however how do you feel about the comparison of ZZR1400 and H2SX?Adding a turbo to a 185kg smaller engined bike would increase the weight by about the same amount as getting the same output from a larger NA engine but, the NA engine would likely take up less space and would be considerably less complicated, as well as being cheaper to manufacture and maintain.
All of that is before you even start looking at the power delivery characteristics.
Remember when everyone was impressed with a turbo on a bike in the 80s? They shat themselved imagining riding it when in reality it would have been as flacid as (insert awful anti-sex fantasy) till you held the throttle open for about half an hr.
Expect henry cole to do a feature about widow makers bikes of the 80s at some stage zzz.
Expect henry cole to do a feature about widow makers bikes of the 80s at some stage zzz.
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