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Thoughts on Bike engine swaps?

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Old 04-29-2021, 02:57 AM
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Thoughts on Bike engine swaps?

Not talked about much, But I've been wondering about doing a V8 Swap from fusing 2 Hayasuba motors together. They already did something similar with a BRZ but with Kawasaki engines. Seems like a fun build.

Here's a 2.4L V8 made from 2 Kawasaki motors
Link:
Here's a Fiat 500 with 2 Hayasuba motors made into a V8:
Link:
Old 04-29-2021, 06:28 AM
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anything is possible with money/talent/time. how much of each do you have?
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Old 04-29-2021, 06:54 AM
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Money? Gonna have to piece together this one
Talent? Still learning
Time? More than enough to compensate for the other 2
My fab stills are subpar so I don't expect to be able to throw it all together immediately. Time isn't a issue since I work freelance with decent pay. You can get the engine kit from Hartley Enterprises for 29k or assembled and dynoed for 45k. For a long term goal it lines up perfectly, which is fine because I'm stubborn enough to keep a broken 8 even during this shitshow of a pandemic which probably means I'm also stubborn enough to keep it till I die. That pricetag though is gonna keep alot of people away so there's not much info about doing something like this. I was hoping someone already did something similar.
Old 04-29-2021, 07:02 AM
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do you have a link to the "kit"? im curious about the mechanics. your two videos are much different, the brz is front mounted and the fiat is rear like the busa swapped (one engine) smart cars
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Old 04-29-2021, 07:35 AM
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Here's a link for the Hayasuba V8: https://www.h1v8.com/maxi-v8---specs.html
I don't know if its going to have exactly what you're looking for but there is a fair bit of info on it.

As for the BRZ JUN made a kit for the full swap. There is a kit being sold by AJ Racing that is supposedly made by JUN but it costs 106K USD. Here's a link to that kit: https://www.aj-racing.com/?product=j...ine-conversion JUN's website has some info but not much about their kit: https://www.junauto.co.jp/showroom/86brz/index.en.html
Old 04-29-2021, 09:50 AM
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It's not going to be cost effective - you could achieve the same performance for a fraction of the price. For what that engine costs, you could get similar power from a less expensive engine and then redo your entire body in carbon fiber and titanium to make up for the weight difference.

Not to say that you shouldn't do it, because holy **** please do it - the Top Gear segment with the Atom 500 is incredible.

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Old 04-29-2021, 12:30 PM
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What about saving the money and doing a single engine and turbo kit like many of the sand rail/ rzr builds do. A significant increase in power keeping the weight low and cheaper. Heck the r1 motor is well above 200 hp with no boost. Add boost and keep the 12k plus rev limit and have something real special with very little weight change.
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Old 04-29-2021, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Snox801
What about saving the money and doing a single engine and turbo kit like many of the sand rail/ rzr builds do. A significant increase in power keeping the weight low and cheaper. Heck the r1 motor is well above 200 hp with no boost. Add boost and keep the 12k plus rev limit and have something real special with very little weight change.
zx14 comes preboosted (s/c) and over 300hp. still need a way to transfer power which is much harder in a f/e r/d car. the rzr swaps are easier because of the the factory motor sits
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Old 04-29-2021, 01:18 PM
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Quaife has some solutions for adding reverse to motorcycle-engined cars.

https://shop.quaife.co.uk/catalogsea...oduct_type=&q=

I could have sworn I've seen something that bolts up to the motorcycle output shaft and gives you a reverse gear and a flanged driveshaft output, but I can't find it now. Most of what they have is for a mid-engine setup with the engine right in front of the drive wheels.
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Old 04-29-2021, 03:57 PM
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this one didn’t end so well, guess it all depends how big the fire is that’s burning a hole in your pocket:

https://motoiq.com/project-miatabusa...e-we-thinking/

more often than not it will cost way more than most people consider, not that it matters because the people carrying on about it are typically the same who can’t afford it.

Otherwise they’d either just be buying a supercar or building it already rather than gabbing about it. The truth is usually more obvious than people want to admit.

.
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Old 04-29-2021, 04:04 PM
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1-rotor Porsche speedster build; unfortunately the 3-Stooges building it are why the rotary is often knocked when it’s not the engine that’s at fault

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwD2lW--DSEeNSeUohLiux-72cpHnXuuS
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Old 04-29-2021, 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Laminar
It's not going to be cost effective - you could achieve the same performance for a fraction of the price. For what that engine costs, you could get similar power from a less expensive engine and then redo your entire body in carbon fiber and titanium to make up for the weight difference.

Not to say that you shouldn't do it, because holy **** please do it - the Top Gear segment with the Atom 500 is incredible.
Yes, there are cheaper options out there. However if your doing a unconventional swap like this I'd assume you're not worried about cost efficiency when it comes to power. It seems fun to take this as a challenge rather than a reliable way to make power. I have definitely considered other options but considering whether or not I would be smashing my head in and not enjoying the process would affect whether or not I have the will to complete it or not. My RX8 is not my DD, so I'm looking to pursue that fun atm.

Originally Posted by Snox801
What about saving the money and doing a single engine and turbo kit like many of the sand rail/ rzr builds do. A significant increase in power keeping the weight low and cheaper. Heck the r1 motor is well above 200 hp with no boost. Add boost and keep the 12k plus rev limit and have something real special with very little weight change.
I wouldn't be doing this because its cost efficient or plan on making as much power as possible. The main reason why I chose the V8 as a primary is because it would add complexity to add a Turbo/SC onto an already unconventional swap. Which is already going to cause some headscratchers. Also If I were to put the R1 motor in the 8 on its own it would probably struggle. The problem with alot of MiataBusas is that the engine struggles to begin moving the car forward. This is going to be much worse in the RX8. I've never truly been interested in making the most power possible either. Most of my previous projects involve doing something a little unique that sounds cool like: replacing all mirrors with night vison cameras on a Miata, Custom Targa style fastback (Still working on that) etc. I know this swap sounds like a pain in the ***, but my pychopathic *** specifically enjoys suffering a bit to get something done. Because I've never felt satisfied working on a car without cussing at least once during the process.


Last edited by Weakn35s; 04-29-2021 at 06:18 PM.
Old 04-29-2021, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Laminar
Quaife has some solutions for adding reverse to motorcycle-engined cars.

https://shop.quaife.co.uk/catalogsea...oduct_type=&q=

I could have sworn I've seen something that bolts up to the motorcycle output shaft and gives you a reverse gear and a flanged driveshaft output, but I can't find it now. Most of what they have is for a mid-engine setup with the engine right in front of the drive wheels.
Im pretty sure the MiataBusa on MotoIQ mentioned something similar. I did see that there is an application avalible to UTV's atm. However I did also find a YT vid of a MiataBusa that does in fact have a reverse gear.
Old 04-29-2021, 06:47 PM
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Originally Posted by TeamRX8
this one didn’t end so well, guess it all depends how big the fire is that’s burning a hole in your pocket:

https://motoiq.com/project-miatabusa...e-we-thinking/

more often than not it will cost way more than most people consider, not that it matters because the people carrying on about it are typically the same who can’t afford it.

Otherwise they’d either just be buying a supercar or building it already rather than gabbing about it. The truth is usually more obvious than people want to admit.

.
I'll admit this is going to be extremely expensive and a pain. But that's also what I'm looking for. I see a lot of people who pick up cars and rant about how an engine swap would make the car perfect blah blah blah only to give up midway through the project and sell it. In my eyes the RX8 is already perfect. I also want to ruin that and make something that doesn't have to be perfect but is cool. As for cost I'm well aware that this could send me far into the 100k rabbit hole eventually. However you don't have to be rich to get that far if you commit enough time to what your doing. You're gonna need to disintegrate my 8 to separate it from me. Otherwise its in my name till I die. Also tinkering with cars is my main hobby so I really don't have an issue dumping my life savings into a car in the first place. (No girl no games!)

Originally Posted by TeamRX8
1-rotor Porsche speedster build; unfortunately the 3-Stooges building it are why the rotary is often knocked when it’s not the engine that’s at fault
Cool and unfortunate at the same time. They haven't posted in a while unfortunately. I'd love to see it continued. Sadly I am also a Stooge when it comes to complicated stuff, but hopefully I'll gather enough experience messing with my car while I piece together a build. Right now I'm swapping my RX8 Transmission to manual, but that's not that hard to do and I'm gonna need alot more experience to get good enough for something like a hayasuba swap.

Last edited by Weakn35s; 04-29-2021 at 06:52 PM.
Old 04-30-2021, 08:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Weakn35s
The main reason why I chose the V8 as a primary is because it would add complexity to add a Turbo/SC onto an already unconventional swap. Which is already going to cause some headscratchers.
Turbo bike engines are a well-worn path. Nothing unexpected or head-scratching there.

I know this swap sounds like a pain in the ***,
Once you get over the hump of buying the engine, it'd probably be an easier swap than an LS due to the compact size and the fact that the engine is sold specifically to swap into stuff. You might not even have to mess with ABS, steering, and sway bar relocation like most other swaps do.

H1:


LS:


The H1 is 5" shorter in length, about an inch narrower, and about a foot shorter in height, not counting the intake stacks. Seems like it'd nestle down in the engine bay nicely.

Last edited by Laminar; 04-30-2021 at 08:18 AM.
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Old 04-30-2021, 09:13 AM
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well i look forward to watching people burn spend monies. please update this thread when ya get the project started. hope it goes as smooth as the 383 stroker or w17 swaps. good luck with the build
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