Different engine types

[p0tty]

Hi guys and gals just doing sum research for my first bike.
What i would like to know is the differnt engine types what they feel like to ride with, kinda what the stats dont say. so i will be meaning a 250 or smaller


from what i know a inline 4 is more of a high revving engine and make quite alot of power. good for sum highway fun
a vtwin is has torque and is more suitible for town.
i also know there is singles but more interested int the othere two

plz put your $.02 worth of what u like and dont like.

[Wasp]

Having ridden both 250 twins and il4s i'd go for the il4 (I suggest a bandit)

[ninjac]

Because it is your first bike, you probably wont have it for too long so don't get caught up on which engine type is best.
Because you will be looking at a 250cc the vtwin is probably the better choice for learning on and cheaper on running costs.
The 4 cylinder bikes will be much smoother and faster. The 4 cylinder bikes are also a bit bigger in physical size and would get you ready for a 600cc bike.
I had a GN250 (single) perfect for first bike, then got a ZXR250 (4 cylinder) a short time after because the single was a bit lame for longer trips.

[MidnightMike]

Id ridden inline 4, single cylinder and twin cylinder 250's.

And had gone with my GSX250. Its an inline twin, reliable as hell, and fun too when you get the rev's up a bit.

Perfect around town. Great on the open road too.

If your looking for a sports bike without the high k's and old age, go for a gsx, gpx or zzr (same type of engine).

[snipa84]

Another vote for the inline twin - they're a bit soulless (compared to say a V-Twin) but very good for learning with a decent midrange. The Kawasaki inline twins (GPX and ZZR) are pretty bulletproof too as long as you keep up with the oil changes. Noisy though.

[Theatre]

You're looking in all the wrong places, get a 150 2 stroke! You need to do more maintenance, but they're way cheaper to buy and go almost as well as the IL4 250s. Warning: you may find yourself with an irresistable urge to hoon, produce large clouds of smoke and engage in otherwise antisocial behaviour. Great fun.

[Chaos83]

My first was a GPX250 '98. Turns out they're quite fast (took it to 175 - no wind and in a safe area) and they're good around town. Super comfortable and easy to handle. Got about 300-330km per tank (13L?) around town. Can't really call them pretty though.

Would have loved to owned a bandit, definitely recommend those. My CBR250 goes hard too. Had it for 1yr (12000km) and never had problems with it. It gets about 230-250km per tank (12L?) around town. But a few people on KB seem have something against Hondas.

Unless you got money to blow, make sure the bike you get is in good nick because the chances are you'll keep it until you either get your fulls or you bin it (or you'll be like me and no $$$ to upgrade . I wouldn't recommend a 2 stroke for the maintenance, and although they go hard.. they sound like.. well like 2 strokes.

Good luck

[imdying]

They're all ghey and slow. Focus on important things like availability of spares, resale value, riding position.

[McJim]

If you can get a good 'un go IL4 - unfortunately because of their nature they have mostly all been rolled, bowled and arseholed.

Last really mint CBR250 I saw was Duckaddict's.....

Also due to a change in Japanese legislation most of the good ones went out of production in the '90s. So be prepared to part with new bike cash for a 10 year old bike.

I went the V-Twin route with a VTR - not that quick but quick enough if you don't slow down for corners too much. Gave as much as 26km/l.

And 2 Strokes are so easy to maintain yourself that they save you a fortune on maintenance bills! No valves, no cams, no cam chains.

[Crisis management]

What do you want the bike for?

Answer that one first then worry about a bike.

My completely unsolicited opinion is: ta-da!!!!!

Get a dual purpose / trail bike that you can thrash anywhere, fall off and only add to your street cred, and learn a hell of a lot about.

These bikes are light, powerful, and good handling and learning to ride on the dirt is more fun, cheaper and educational than doing the same with a road bike. In the taranaki theres lots of apportunities to use these bikes...go for it.

After you've learnt to ride decide whether you want a road bike etc, the skills you learn off road are all useful on the road.

All that information for the one, standard, fee of $10.00.

[mark247]

This is my opinion on the different types of engines

Single Cylinder = Good Torque, Not too fast though. Goes THUMP THUMP THUMP, has down low power where, personally, i like it. ( My favorate at the moment )

Inline Two = Kinda middle of the road with torque and speed, go well though and would certainly recommend for a learner because they are a good all round engine.

V Twin = Good torque, heaps of get up and go. Not as fast as the inline four but they still get along alright. And they sound cool lol.

Inline Four = Wizz Wizz Bang Bang... heaps of hp at about 14,000rpm but any lower than 10,000 they are stupid ( 250s are anyway ) . Power is way up at the top end which is cool if you wanna lose your licence. But if you wanna cruise around town they are not what I'd recommend. I'd compare a Inline Four 250 with a sewing machine on NOS.

At the end of the day if you are just getting a 250 it really doesnt matter because you will want something bigger and better when you get your full ( or sooner. )

I've owned a VT250 ( V twin ), a GSX250 ( inline two ) and i now own a single cylinder. VT250 got along much better than the GSX250. The single cylinder i have now is a 400cc so obviously goes along a lot better than both them.

[yod]

and if you want the best speed 250cc and under, grab a 2-stroke.
Waaay less engine braking, will out-perform any 4-stroke 250 out there by a good stretch (will give most 400s a good run for their money!), generally a lot lighter as well, but will cost a bit more to run as you have to burn oil as well as gas (use av-gas...yeehah!!)

but you do have to put up with the ning ning ning tho....