A lot is said about how a BEC is useless for touring, is frenetic and almost undrivable in traffic
So I have put a video on the Tube showing how it really is. This was taken on a hot day in May, I popped over to a mates, this is part of the return journey.
I wasn't in any hurry, so was happy to poddle along (well, most of the time) There is a bit of action after about 9 minutes.
At around 6 minutes in I was going up a reasonably steep hill, going past Mach#1 actually, at a steady 30mph in 6th gear.
You can see the gear indicator near the 8 in the bottom right hand corner.
The conversion by YouTube has ruined the 1080 HD and cocked the sound up, although the various knocking and rattles are caused by me, not closing the lid on the enclosure properly



[Edited on 14-10-14 by 40inches]

I love my BEC drives better than my x_flow and the sound is amazing

quote:

---

Originally posted by kj
I love my BEC drives better than my x_flow and the sound is amazing

---

Jag engine, which one. I would love a 1200 or 1400 Kawasaki like you say the price

quote:

---

Originally posted by kj
Jag engine, which one. I would love a 1200 or 1400 Kawasaki like you say the price

---

I find the Furore with the ZZR1400 in will happily trundle along with the traffic at around 25-30mph in 6th gear. Motorway cruising is a fairly relaxed 4750rpm at around 70mph. In both situations if you want real performance just drop a few gears & open her up!

What a lot of people forget about bike engines is that there is usually around a 1.5/1.6 reduction gearing between the engine (where BHP & torque figures are taken) & the gearbox, hence 100ft/lbs (the ZZR1400 has 113) becomes around 150/160ft/lbs by the time it's found its way to the gearbox - if you're using a chain drive to the diff as I do you also have very little loss between the gearbox & the wheels!

I never understood the fascination with the early 893cc 'Blade engine, might have been great in a bike, but far from ideal in a car, I think that's where a lot of the talk about lack of torque stems from.

[Edited on 15/10/14 by russbost]

Those roads look damned familiar......

I don't see why people claim becs are useless in traffic / pootling, bikes have to do it often enough....... I did best part of 25K miles on an R1, with plenty of town riding....

I toured 2600 miles around the Alps, Dolomites and French Italian/Riviera, this summer in a fireblade MNR
An experiance I'll never forget.. And a joy from start to finish. BEC will do anything a CEC will do. Just you'll have a bigger grin.

The high idle and the fact that you have to slip the clutch probably more than you do on a CEC (or when you're on a bike with the same engine) when pootling about traffic is about the only place I can see it making a difference, otherwise it's just physics - you have the same torque, its just after gearing, and it sounds different. It takes bugger all torque to pootle about slowly so there's no logical reason it should not be possible in a BEC.

Great thread, should be made a sticky in the BEC section . "Admin!"

I know we're biased here, but I built mine with the poxy 893 Blade engine as it suited my budget 8 years ago.
I bought into the BEC idea and having got a passenger trip round Donnington in one (remember the days when the Kit show had the track too)
I always worried that when I got it on the raod that I might be dissapoinetd myself with the foibles of it.

It couldn't have been further from the truth and in reality and it did and still does exceed my expectations of it, considering this was a '92 engine earliest of the early!

Last year I upped the diff from 3.62 to 3.38 which has just taken the edge of the rubber burning starts, but dropped the revs at 70mph from 7000 to 6450, not much I know, but hoping to Turbo soon anjd get the top end advantage of the taller diff.

Anyway you have to consider that even with this engine I can do, 30, 40 or 50 mph in ANY and ALL gears!
Tootle around , short shift and never go over 5-6000 rpm then find a good straight bit on my private road, drop it down a few gears and hit the loud pedal and use 10000 revs and its a different beast and never fails to put a grin on and tingle those hairs!

There are other engines, I'd have a a CEC, nothing against them AT ALL, but as most BEC'ists will concur theres no better match, than that fits the character(istics) of a 7 with a LIGHT engine in a LIGHT car to get the best of it

That is all ;-)

quote:

---

Originally posted by coyoteboy
The high idle and the fact that you have to slip the clutch probably more than you do on a CEC (or when you're on a bike with the same engine) when pootling about traffic is about the only place I can see it making a difference, otherwise it's just physics - you have the same torque, its just after gearing, and it sounds different. It takes bugger all torque to pootle about slowly so there's no logical reason it should not be possible in a BEC.

---

I love bike engines but would still be put off by lack of a proper reverse. Do electric reverse systems really work well enough to back up a steepish drive?

Yes, they will. Those based on car engine starter motors have plenty of reversing ability, limited by the battery you have on board, or your alternator, or both.

If you are fit enough to drive your fit enough to push, its like pushing a bare chassis

quote:

---

Originally posted by whitestu
I love bike engines but would still be put off by lack of a proper reverse. Do electric reverse systems really work well enough to back up a steepish drive?

---