So I rode a 205HP VMax today...., Got me thinkin Options

[Tilly74]

Anyone ever put a larger displacement motorcycle engine in a 914? The VMax features a compact v-4 that makes 197bhp, 123 lb/ft torque and will peel your face off. Obviously it weights a lot less, but then I got to thinking about other options. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) We just got a Triumph Rocket III in stock and it's a 2.3 litre inline 3 cylinder. Makes 146 bhp and 163 lb/ft torque. Both motors are pretty compact and feature a shaft drive 6-speed transmission.

I think the transmission mating would be the most difficult, but what about adapting the motorcycle transmission somehow? I picture connecting the drive shaft to a rear differential of some sort. Or...if you could mate the shaft drive from the bike somehow to the 901, you could essentially have 30 different gearing combinations. All I would do is mount a hand clutch somewhere, maybe near where the rear brake is, and replace the heater lever with a simple hand shifter that would link to the bike's transmission. You could ALWAYS have the right gear, but you might need an extra hand or two, or a co-driver to manage the second transmission lol.

One major benefit would be the lighter weight and the smaller radiator size, which might be able to be placed in a wheel well or somewhere besides the front trunk.

This sounds crazy and over engineered to me, and probably not worth the effort, but I'm 27 and I'll hopefully be involved with teeners for the next 73 years (assuming I make it to 100, which is my goal), so I've got plenty of time to become a car building pioneer lol. Feel free to poke as many holes in this plan as you like. Won't hurt my feelings a bit.

[Andyrew]

The engines typically have very little low end torque, which makes them difficult to drive, the transmissions have no reverse gear, and they rip your face off because they are in a much much much lighter vehicle. The owners of bike engined lotus 7 based cars even comment that the engines dont have that much torque for that 1300lb car... Add another 800lbs and your looking at an even worse situation.

Your much better off with a car based build.

[DBCooper]

The engines typically have very little low end torque, which makes them difficult to drive, the transmissions have no reverse gear, and they rip your face off because they are in a much much much lighter vehicle. The owners of bike engined lotus 7 based cars even comment that the engines dont have that much torque for that 1300lb car... Add another 800lbs and your looking at an even worse situation.

Your much better off with a car based build.

Exactly right. I have a Seven replica as well as motorcycles so know both, and there's no way in hell I'd put a V-Max or any other moto engine into a 914. Even the Seven replica is 1150 lbs with engine and transmission. You could get that down to 900 lbs with a motorcycle engine/transmission, maybe less, but you'd still be down torque. I saw a rear-engine Mini conversion in the U.K., an almost all plastic car with a Hayabusa motor in the back that probably weighed 800 lbs. That would work. If you can get your 914 down to 800 lbs that would work too, but good luck with that, and even so it wouldn't last long pushing that much weight around.