# When Is a Motor Too Big? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077 "2016-04-19T06:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/1 "2016-04-19T06:29:41Z")
When you can see it! It seems pro bicycle racers may be installing small, invisible by appearance motors, hidden inside their bikes to get that racer’s edge. > **[Tiny Motor Powers a New Threat to Cycling Races](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/sports/cycling/with-a-discreet-motor-doping-the-bike-instead-of-the-cyclist.html)** > > Suggestions that riders are rigging their bikes have escalated, and a report by a French TV network suggested that motordoping had arrived at the sport’s top levels. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 6:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/2 "2016-04-19T06:43:17Z")
I’d heard of the in-frame motors, the induction one using magnets in the rear wheel was new to me. Racing = cheating, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/3 "2016-04-19T06:51:41Z")
I think we take this stuff much too seriously. It should be fun. When I was a kid most kids had the balloon tired bikes but I had a 3 speed with narrow tires. I could smoke everyone so guess that was an illegal advantage. Plus I could go up hills sitting down when everyone else was huffing and puffing standing up. Sorry but you wouldn’t get me into the spandex multi-colored uniforms with the crash helmets and sour looking riders. Riding should be fun. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/4 "2016-04-19T06:57:56Z")
Big money means it’s serious. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 6:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/5 "2016-04-19T06:58:46Z")
Champion bicycle racers can become millionaires. Lance Armstrong’s net worth is estimated at $125 million. It would be a lot higher had he not… well, you know. When there’s a lot of money involved, some people cheat. When there’s millions involved, they come up with ingenious ways to do so. People kill for large amounts of money. Cheating is relatively low on the immorality scale. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/6 "2016-04-19T09:34:29Z")
I wouldn’t cheat for a measly $125 million. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/7 "2016-04-19T16:17:20Z")
WC Fields I think, “Anything worth winning is worth cheating for” ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/8 "2016-04-19T17:24:15Z")
Local circle track car racers will spend $5000 on engine parts to win a $250 prize. Imagine what a pro bike racer would spend to win. 50,000 Euros doesn’t all that high. [cyclingtips.com/2010/11/how-much-do-pro-cyclists-make/](http://cyclingtips.com/2010/11/how-much-do-pro-cyclists-make/) ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/9 "2016-04-19T17:42:39Z")
Mustangman, to further illustrate your great example, local car show enthusiasts will spend $25k to win a plastic medallion or trophy and get bent out of shape if they don’t win 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/10 "2016-04-19T19:38:07Z")
Ab-SO-lutely, @TwinTurbo ! Great example! When I was an amateur race car driver, non racers would ask how much money I get when I win. I told them just a trophy. They asked “Why no prize money?” My answer was always - because then the cost to go racing would double or triple what I was already spending. ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/11 "2016-04-20T00:53:24Z")
I use to drag race for the plastic and pot metal trophies in years past. I wish I had half the money back that I spent to win them. I let my wife sell them at a yard sale many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/12 "2016-04-20T00:58:37Z")
Did she know how much you spent to earn those trophies? That old lament “my biggest fear is that when I die my wife will sell my tools for what she thinks I paid for them”. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/13 "2016-04-20T05:17:17Z")
When is a moter too big? one example a buddy put a 350 into an mg, totally wiped out the suspension due to the weight of the engine, Now I saw a guy putting in a 454? into a 69 chev nova the other day. worked ok for him! ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/14 "2016-04-20T06:53:30Z")
Carrol Shelby did okay putting V8s into AC Cobras… Bugattti has a new V12 Chiron to replace the Veyron… 1500 HP. The car is almost all engine… as was the Veyron. And John Hennessey makes this beast with a 7.0L V8. [http://www.venomgt.com/](http://www.venomgt.com/) ---
**Author:** ![B.L.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@B.L.E](https://community.cartalk.com/u/B.L.E)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/15 "2016-04-20T07:17:40Z")
I don’t know about cars but I think motorcycles are too big when they start to miss the whole point of a motorcycle. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/16 "2016-04-20T10:34:24Z")
Yes, if your motorcycle goes down, you shouldn’t need a wrecker to pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![B.L.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@B.L.E](https://community.cartalk.com/u/B.L.E)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/17 "2016-04-20T15:14:34Z")
I went from a ZRX1200R, a 1200cc motorcycle that weighs nearly 600 lbs wet and can go zero to 60 in about 3 seconds in first gear, to a 370 lb Ninja 300 and haven’t looked back. I guess I need to get 70 mpg a lot worse than I need to double the speed limit. Not to mention how nimble that little bike is and what a joy it is to ride. On FM2222 with all its turns, twists, and curves, there is no other bike I would rather be on. It doesn’t miss the whole point of a motorcycle. More than one experienced rider bought one of these bikes for his wife to learn on and ended up riding it all over the place himself because it’s so much fun to ride. ---
**Author:** ![B.L.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@B.L.E](https://community.cartalk.com/u/B.L.E)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/18 "2016-04-20T15:34:48Z")
Many years ago, and I don’t remember exactly who it was, but there was a pro motocross rider who was disqualified and stripped of his season points after he was caught competing in the 500 cc “open” class with a 250 cc motorcycle. It seems that the 250 class was actually running faster lap times than the open class on most tracks. The weight of the bigger engine was hurting the riders more than the extra power was helping them. I guess that engine development had reach a point where the 250’s were at a power saturation point, where more power just meant more wheelspin. Simply goes to show that sometimes less is more. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/19 "2016-04-20T17:37:29Z")
In my experience the satisfaction of riding has more to do with position than size. It’s far more rewarding and easy to ride a bike you sit IN versus ON. Wrestling the weight from up top versus being part of it and requiring only subtle shifts to effect changes in the bikes’ attitude. I run around on a 1400cc bike that is quite heavy but the seating position is low and you feel part of the bike not sitting on top of it. I also like an engine that is a low rumble versus sounding like an angry insect 😉 ---
**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/when-is-a-motor-too-big/93077/20 "2016-04-20T18:23:16Z")
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