Someone a couple hours away from me has a 1996 HONDA CBR600 F3 for sale for $799. Would this make a decent donor for a bike based build, or would litre bikes be more appropriate?
--Josh
PS If someone wants the contact info, I'll be glad to pass it along.
Good donor?
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emohn
The 600 bikes from the mid 90's up should still be plenty fast for a bike engined build. We used an CBR 600 F2 motor in the Formula SAE cars I worked on, and while they're a good bit lighter on average than a typical Locost, it was still faster than it had a right to be. You will be giving up torque to the larger displacement bikes, but at that kind of a price, I'd be hard pressed to pass it up. Heck, even if you decided later down the road not to use it, you could part it out on eBay for more than what you've got in it. "Car kits" (engines, radiator, ECU/carbs) typically go for more than that asking price and you've got the rest of the bike worth of parts to salvage.
-Erik
-Erik
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nanosleep
Correct me if I'm wrong. That engine should produce somewhere in the 90HP range.
On the bad side:
The small engine will be more difficult to get the car going from a stop. You may have to abuse the clutch a little more.
You will have to run the engine at higher RPMs to get similar performance. The results in lower engine lifespan. I wouldn't worry about this since the engine is well built and designed for high rpm. You may need rings and bearings at 30-40k miles.
Lower max power. 90-100HP compared to 150-170 for newer liter engines.
Chassis weight is more an issue with lower HP.
Liter engines can be found for $1000.
On the good side:
You can fairly easily upgrade to a liter engine later. The sizes aren't too much different.
You can probably resale the 600 and get your money back.
Is this bike complete or just an engine? Be sure you get all the needed parts to make it run. You can spend another small fortune on ecu/cdi, wiring, etc, etc. I would want to hear the engine run before I bought it. Also check for cracked side covers, head, case, etc if the bike was wrecked.
On the bad side:
The small engine will be more difficult to get the car going from a stop. You may have to abuse the clutch a little more.
You will have to run the engine at higher RPMs to get similar performance. The results in lower engine lifespan. I wouldn't worry about this since the engine is well built and designed for high rpm. You may need rings and bearings at 30-40k miles.
Lower max power. 90-100HP compared to 150-170 for newer liter engines.
Chassis weight is more an issue with lower HP.
Liter engines can be found for $1000.
On the good side:
You can fairly easily upgrade to a liter engine later. The sizes aren't too much different.
You can probably resale the 600 and get your money back.
Is this bike complete or just an engine? Be sure you get all the needed parts to make it run. You can spend another small fortune on ecu/cdi, wiring, etc, etc. I would want to hear the engine run before I bought it. Also check for cracked side covers, head, case, etc if the bike was wrecked.
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derf
This would be a good start for a bec, and definatly worth the $$$ to invest in it as a donor, I cant see what the engine looks like, but it doesnt look to bad, looks like most of the damage should have been done to the right side (that you dont see). From the looks of it I would guess that the bike was laid down on the right side and hit an imovable object (curb tree building etc...) or it could have hit a hard object head on. Take a look at the radiator, if it was pushed into the block you shoudl check the block for stress cracks and holes in the front, also take a look at the engine mounts around the engine, if teh frame got bent up it is possible that the integrity of the engine mounts has been compromised. When you look at it, if it runs lift the back end off the ground and try and run it through all 6 gears, if there are any loud noises be wary, it shoud feel like a smooth crip shift, and be very precise, just click and let go of the clutch it shoud be in gear, a small clunk is alright, but any noise that sounds like stuff is slamming around alot or grinding is bad. It looks like the clutch lever there but the cables route right beghind the steering head, if they are jammed or binding you might not be able to use it, but there should be a cable on the right side on top of the trans, you can operate it manuallyu that way.
There does look to be alot of parts that are good on the bike, swing arm, lights, wheels, brakes, rear subframe, tank, foot controls rear pegs etc... you should be able to get your money back if you are willing to take your time and wait for the right buyers. probably the thing you can get the most money from that bike though is the title, if it is clean not listed as a salvage title, a clean title can go for hundreds of dollars if some one wants to get their wrecked bike on the road but was issued a salvage title.
There does look to be alot of parts that are good on the bike, swing arm, lights, wheels, brakes, rear subframe, tank, foot controls rear pegs etc... you should be able to get your money back if you are willing to take your time and wait for the right buyers. probably the thing you can get the most money from that bike though is the title, if it is clean not listed as a salvage title, a clean title can go for hundreds of dollars if some one wants to get their wrecked bike on the road but was issued a salvage title.
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