Work or be lazy, engine types.

With the new bikes coming out at this time of year I just wondered what people prefer
1]An engine with plenty of low down grunt that doesn't need a lot work to keep it moving
2]An engine that has your foot working like River Dance on the gear shift to keep it moving but possibly higher top end
Small bore i.e.500-650
Large bore i.e.750-1000
I know many other factors come into the equation such as suspension,comfort etc but I am predominantly asking about engine preference.

Having had both in several guises the lazy power of a bigger bike suites me better but can still get a shift on if necessary and when you do work it,accomplished with ease.Where as the smaller engine while being perfectly capable seems to be harder work maintaining the momentum but can be more exciting and give a sense of achievement.

Just different riding styles and preferences I suppose but wondered what people with experience of both prefer

No doubt somebody will throw the 1/2/3/4 pot configuration in at some point,but leaving that aside,in general?

[yorkie_chris]

Depends what it's for entirely. Horses for courses.

Back road scratchy thing... I'd have a 350-750 in a light, aggressive chassis with an engine with a good mix of low down shove and top end.
You're scratching on back roads for fun, so a bit of Fred Astair on the gear lever is all part of that... getting the best out of a smaller engine.

Touring... long distance... I'd rather have a 1000cc+ with mild cams to get good economy and enough torque to pull tree stumps. Not too fussed about top end with an engine that size as a top-endy 1000cc+ engine you just never ever get to use that top end power.

[STRAMASHER]

"No Replacement For Displacement"

Have had a GSX1400 for 8yrs since new. Full zorst and PCIII. Before that was a Firestorm.The SV650 for 4yr as an everyday hack. If I am honest the 14 is now purely for touring and summer blasts and "keeping good". I have had various other small capacity 2str single, parallel and vtwins and fours, 125,400,500,600,650.

I like instant shove at small throttle openings and stellar acceleration on big twists. I like all this to be unaffected by a bod on the back and even with luggage.

I like big cubes (and the gsx overdriven 6th gear) for low revs at 80-90mph on long m/way drones getting somewhere decent.

I like them because big engines are good for big reliable miles. Im on just under 60,000mile GSX, 36K on the VTR. Understressed, "soft" cammed and big torque.

I find it benefits my riding. You need to learn accurate throttle control, they can still be thrashed but I need to be more delicate with the controls. Jumping on the 14 come March ever year is always entertaining after walloping the SV about the place.
Slow in, fast out cos they can be a bit hairy scary if you take the urine, not just from speed but the extra weight. I get plenty of acheivement getting the 14 round. Hardly give it a thought on the SV.
You get choices in the corners. Leave in gear, smooth and relaxed out the bends or punch out screaming it on the cam. Both make me happy.

They are more cop friendly as they dont sound like you are doing a million miles an hour which has worked to my advantage on occassion. I also tend to ride less like a loon. The SV its hard not to. Riding position?

'Nuff bumping my gums. New bikes, Z1000SX I think is great but no bike is perfect and I can pick plenty of holes in it for it not to be "the one". Erm, thats about it for newies to replace the GSX.
VFR1200F 2nd hand in a year or two is never far from my thoughts and would possibly be the cream. ZZR14, normal Duc Multi12, Guzzi 8V 12Sport, 12GS, K13R, Tiger1050, SMT all float my boat too.

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Depends what it's for entirely. Horses for courses.

Back road scratchy thing... I'd have a 350-750 in a light, aggressive chassis with an engine with a good mix of low down shove and top end.
You're scratching on back roads for fun, so a bit of Fred Astair on the gear lever is all part of that... getting the best out of a smaller engine.

Touring... long distance... I'd rather have a 1000cc+ with mild cams to get good economy and enough torque to pull tree stumps. Not too fussed about top end with an engine that size as a top-endy 1000cc+ engine you just never ever get to use that top end power.

as Chris

For the back road blasts 1000cc+(supersports) do have a tendency to tie themselves in knots IMO, Nakeds aren't as bad if they've had money spent on the suspension.
The 350's to 800's give the best of both worlds with a good chassis, then the config argument then does comes in.

Long distance again 1000cc+, unless its a old 900 supersport as they are proven long distance machines now

[Mr Speirs]

I had mad good fun on the SV as it took skill to keep up with big bikes and that was fun.

I then moved onto a 749S which whilst it wasn't a massive engined bike it was more than enough for me and I never got to use the potential of the engine. 2nd gear redline saw me past 100mph.

Now on the Hypermotard 1100S the engine puts out about 95hp but the torque is very plentiful I am enjoying riding it a lot more as the less power means I can actually use the whole power of the engine without scaring the ****e outta myself.

So I am in the Work camp...although just realising that my 'work' engine is bigger than the 'lazy' engine. The 1100 is aircooled though so not as powerful as the 749

High cc triple

Nearly the torque of a Vtwin low in the revs.
Nearly the pull of a IL4 top revs

Great spread of torque which makes road riding very fast and easy.
Then i'[d have a twin, just for the lazy low revving riding.
And an IL4 for the track, top revs where you spend most of your time.

I don't like 600cc SS engines, gutless and need the bollox thrashed out of them to get them going, but a milder cam'd 600 engine is far more usable on the road.

[G]

I've gone from a sport 600 IL4 which you would think requires alot of 'work' and I suppose it did... but I am playing footsie with the gear lever just as much on the 1100s Hyper. Except I'm not getting tempted to do jail speeds.

I've always preferred being much more involved anyway, I ride bikes for fun, not for necessity. Being lazy isn't part of being fun.

[fizzwheel]

I like what I have now, can be rev'd thrashed when I feel like it, which requires work to keep the bike properly on the boil and is rewarding to ride in that way. Or if I dont feel like it, the engine is tractable enough to go down to 25 - 30mph in 6th gear and then pull away again with no hassle at all.

Different tools for different actions though.

When i go to work, i want lazy instant power and torque.
When I go on track, I was a high rev band, not as much torque.
When going on a back road bimble, i want a bit of both.

650-750 v twin
does everything fairly well
adding a gearing variator of some sort would be nice to have the choice betwen lazy or river dance would be nice,