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 The
Cube Wars: Why It's Better To Be Square |
by Marcus
Miller
Associate Editor
Beginner Bikes Magazine
You're
thinking about getting a bike. Perhaps you've never ridden before.
But what to get? So many gorgeous motorcycles and you want to start
on the perfect one!
When considering which motorcycle to get, size is an important issue
(and its not just a guy thing ). Physical size of the bike and engine
size - this time we're just going to talk about engine size. Two
common measurements are made of an engine's "power": horsepower
and torque. Without getting into the specifics, torque is the "grunt"
or how hard the engine pulls, horsepower is more the total pull
power available. Lots of torque allows you to "launch"
hard while excess horsepower gives you higher terminal speeds. So
how much do you need, or want?
Honda Shadow VLX |
Honda CBR600 F4i |
For
comparison, we look at some popular motorcycles (and even a car!).
Lets start with two similar displacement bikes - the Honda Shadow
600 and Honda CBR600F4i. They have the same size engine (~600cc)
but drastically different performance. The Shadow engine puts out
30.7 hp and 32.5 lb/ft of torque. The F4i makes 98.4 hp and 45.8
lb/ft. Incidentally, the F4i is also a lighter bike at 372 lbs with
the Shadow weighing in at 438. Divide the weight* by the horsepower
or torque to get a feeling for the performance capabilities of the
bike.
What do these numbers mean? Lower numbers = Greater performance.
Clearly the F4i has a tremendous advantage in weight/hp and a large
advantage in weight/torque - the F4i has the clear performance advantage.
Now lets compare those numbers to something that everyone can relate
to - car performance. A long standing, popular "performance"
car has been the Ford Mustang.
The Shadow can be expected to have performance more on par with
a base model Mustang. Even for a "small" cruiser, the
Shadow delivers impressive performance approaching that of a sportscar!
The F4i is a huge step beyond the performance capabilities of even
the Mustang GT and can only be matched by high-end exotics or dedicated
race-only vehicles.
When choosing a motorcycle, engine size is an important issue, but
it goes beyond just size. "Squares" understand how much
power the engine makes can vary radically, even within similar displacement
models. There are many factors that are important to consider when
ultimately choosing what motorcycle to purchase. Happy Hunting! |
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