Just saying I want a bike is not enough to know which bike is the best for you. Just imagine, you enter the showroom, the dealer mutters out zillion terms that you only read and don’t actually know what they mean. You stand there, like a dumb twit, but then realize had I read the article by Bikerzlane, life would have been easier, Ok, no more marketing gimmicks, but the real point is know what you are getting into.
Let’s get ready to have some fun learning about technical words that define the bike. These might cover only basic well known parameters, but you can always expand your knowledge base and share it with us *wink*.
What the hell is Strokes?
We always talk about how this bike is 4-stroke, 2-stroke and blah blah. Honestly, before writing this article I myself was unaware of these terminologies.
The bookish definition of this 4-stroke is -
- Stroke 1- Intake valve(s) open, piston moves down and the air/fuel mixture is sucked inside
- Stroke 2- All of the valves are closed, piston moves up squeezing the mixture.
- Stroke 3- All of the valves closed and a spark plug ignites the fuel/air mixture, pushing the piston down.
- Stroke 4- All but the exhaust valve(s) are open, piston moves up, blowing the old charge out of the exhaust valves.
And, the shorter easy to remember version is - Suck, Squeeze, Bang and Blow.
Ice Ice baby
What I mean here is not the song but the cooling that everyone makes a noise about. Why do I need to know about the cooling? Well, understand this as soon as the coolant is made to flow through the engine; the heat generated in the engine is exchanges through the radiator making the engine liquid-cooled.
How many Cylinders are they?
The number of cylinders varies based on the type of bike. Small bikes employ a single-cylinder engine while the bikes that employ two-cylinders can be arranged on the bike in any of the following configurations -
- V-twin – V angle maintained by spacing cylinders at an angle
- Parallel twin – Obviously, parallel lines formed by the cylinder placement
- Flat-twins – BMW Boxers replicate this structure
Some engines can employ 3-cylinders as follows -
- Triples – Three cylinders all parallel to one another
- In-line fours – Name suggest and I go by it 4 cylinder parallel
- V-4 engines – Like Honda ST1300, 4 cylinders placed in a V angle
- V-6 engines – Like boss hoss, 6 cylinders placed in a V
- Flat-6 engines – Like Honda Gold Wing 1500/1800s
Displacement:
The displacement is the volume of space the pistons are displaced from their initial position to their highest position.
Bore and Stroke:
The diameter of the engine cylinder inside which the piston moves is known as bore while the distance between the up and down movement of the piston in the cylinder is known as stroke.
Fuel System:
The carburetor or fuel injection is used to control the mixing of air and fuel. The name of the carburetor is identified by the specification - Fuel injection (FI), Digital Fuel Injection (DFI), Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI), Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) are the names based on the fuel injection employed in the engine.
Maximum Torque:
All the bikes use the torque specification as the main selling point in the bikes. What torque means is the maximum amount of twisting force given by engine and the value of the rotations at which the engine twists or rotates. The torque defines quality of engine when it is accelerated.
Maximum Horsepower:
Another important jargon. This means the amount of the horsepower delivered by the engine at a particular speed.
Some of the commonly knows jargons I have accounted for, but if you still feel there is more knowledge that you have and would want to share, do send us an email.
