Bike engines....why no more?

[johnny senna]

After all the hype a year or 2 ago, bike engines in cars seem to be losing favour......well they are in Caterhams. Why did Caterham stop building the Blackbird? Why is it left to the specialist companies to stick Fireblade / Hyabusa engines into the 7?
I notice that Caterham STILL have that second hand Blackbird for sale for 20 grand. They seem to be having trouble selling it.

[johnny senna]

I can't see why a torque-rich (relatively speaking) Hyabusa unit would be a problem on the road in a car that weighs the square root of all. Surely if the clutch weighting was done properly, then you are home.
I just think the 10,000+ rev limits and sequential changes are in theory irresistable. In Circuit Driver, April 2003, they tested 2 Hyabusa powered Caterhams. One had 200 BHP, the other 215 BHP. They were built by Blackbird Motorsport and the price of a new one was £27,500. I'd rather have one of those than a (really quite expensive) R500.

[johnny senna]

Interesting points lads. I own an E30 M3 Sport Evolution with MoTec etc. I love track days and I can pass most stuff. It goes without saying that the Caterhams are the cars that pass me most often. If I do get a Caterham, I will look for a bike engined one first.