Inline 4 250s | GTAMotorcycle.com

Inline 4 250s

The_big_dill

The_big_dill

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Hey all,

So I have been on the lookout for an inline 4 250CC ENGINE (preferably Honda) and am having trouble sourcing one...

I am part of a formula SAE team at university and we wanted to experiment with a smaller engine displacement. There are reasons that I don't want to go with a single or a twin.

In any case, the only place I can get one so far is RightDrive or buy a bike on Kijiji and take the engine.

Was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions as to how I would be able to get my hands on one of these engines locally? (Not over seas)

Thanks,

Phil.
 
Those bikes are exceptionally rare here, because they were never officially sold here. So, your choices are to buy a bike and take the engine (and that choice won't be very popular, except perhaps if the bike was wrecked, due to their rarity), or have one imported from Japan. If you do import from Japan, make sure you get the carburetors and the bike's complete wiring harness including the ECU. It is not going to be a cheap exercise, either way.
 
Brian P said:
Those bikes are exceptionally rare here, because they were never officially sold here. So, your choices are to buy a bike and take the engine (and that choice won't be very popular, except perhaps if the bike was wrecked, due to their rarity), or have one imported from Japan. If you do import from Japan, make sure you get the carburetors and the bike's complete wiring harness including the ECU. It is not going to be a cheap exercise, either way.
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I know they were only sold in Japan and Australia.

I won't need the wiring, carburetors or the ECU... We have a standalone system that would run with a custom intake manifold with EFI.

Whats a reliable source if I were to choose to import an engine?
 
The_big_dill said:
I am part of a formula SAE team at university and we wanted to experiment with a smaller engine displacement. There are reasons that I don't want to go with a single or a twin.
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Such as? They don't sound as good, but fuelling will be easier and motors will be cheaper and infinitely easier to obtain (and maintain/replace if one gets hurt). Hell, if you want a fun project, you could build a dual engine car with 2 ninja 250's into a common tranny (from a 600?) or separate engine for each wheel (with power compensation to aid in cornering?) but for the second option, things are much more likely to go wrong.

Does something in the rules help you out with smaller displacement? I know when I went to school, they were using 600's for SAE, but rarely got over 100 km/h at the track. They always lost miserably due to no one having enough practice on a high horsepower, light, rwd car on a tight course (they would go backwards through the cones at least once/lap). For them, traction control would have provided the largest benefit (if it was allowed, I don't remember the rules).
 
I can understand the rationale for wanting four cylinders ... these engines have to breathe through a tiny restrictor. It's better to be pulling a vacuum through that restrictor all the time, total flow through it will be more and the vacuum at the end of each intake stroke will be lower. In that respect, a four that pulls air gradually but (almost) constantly through the restrictor ought to be better off than a single that pulls a bigger vacuum intermittently.

I think suspension compliance and geometry are a lot more important for these cars than most people appreciate ...
 
Quite a few grey market i4x 250cc's on kijiji in Ontario.

As long as you can budget 3-3.5k for one, you can have a fully running bike along with it!
 
Brian P said:
I can understand the rationale for wanting four cylinders ... these engines have to breathe through a tiny restrictor. It's better to be pulling a vacuum through that restrictor all the time, total flow through it will be more and the vacuum at the end of each intake stroke will be lower. In that respect, a four that pulls air gradually but (almost) constantly through the restrictor ought to be better off than a single that pulls a bigger vacuum intermittently.

I think suspension compliance and geometry are a lot more important for these cars than most people appreciate ...
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Formula SAE compete on many levels, not just speed, they are judged on design, innovation, cost, business plans, track speed and endurance. Lots of fun to watch and they sound totally cool. The Electric SAE is really interesting.
 
The_big_dill said:
I know they were only sold in Japan and Australia.

I won't need the wiring, carburetors or the ECU... We have a standalone system that would run with a custom intake manifold with EFI.

Whats a reliable source if I were to choose to import an engine?
Click to expand...

I have a spare 250cc engine, but the crank needs to be fixed ... The rod bearing spun ....

You can ask Nuak if he would be willing to bring you just an engine. But you will be waiting probably for some time, he doesn't do more than a container a year. Small market here ....
 
Call Oshawa Cycle, they may have something. I remember the guy telling me about a imported bike he had stored away, I think it was a 250 i4.
 
I know someone who has a 250R with a motor that needs work. He might sell it for cheap since it needs work.

PM me if you are untested.
 
There was a 250 Yamaha 4 cylinder at the swap meet in Milton last weekend for2800 OBO. Bike is a daily runner in Caledonia, he also has Hondas too.
 
I chuckled at the people asking why...FSAE projects are extreme, there is no need to give the OP any "suggestions" on what to use for EFI or give him feedback on what to do with the engine...either provide help with the original question or remain silent.

Have a buddy who was an engineer for an FSAE car...it was full CF monocoque with an R6 engine standaloned and tuned by the team...the people doing these projects are not doing "garage build" level stuff.
 
k193 said:
the people doing these projects are not doing "garage build" level stuff.
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Based on my experience, many of them are doing stuff much worse than "garage build" level stuff, just out of fancier materials. One car I know of used two piece wheels (carbon honeycomb centre, aluminum rim) and nobody fully worked out how to attach the two pieces together so they separated on the car :/ .

Just because you use catia and fancy materials doesn't mean you are making something better (or even good). The best guys were the farmers because they built stuff that worked and then let the others make a lighter version.

The electrical/fuel injection guys were better (they designed the intake and injection system from scratch), but even on the finished cars fueling was a mess and barely functional. Although individually tuned cylinders could theoretically work better, there is nowhere near enough time to properly set that up, it's just 4 times as complicated with little benefit.

I get the idea, and some people get some valuable experience and make some good stuff, but for the most part FSAE just highlights the sad state of engineering students in real world applications. The most successful people in the FSAE teams were the business students preparing marketing materials and recruiting sponsors. Their contacts and effort got them jobs.
 
GreyGhost said:
Based on my experience, many of them are doing stuff much worse than "garage build" level stuff, just out of fancier materials. One car I know of used two piece wheels (carbon honeycomb centre, aluminum rim) and nobody fully worked out how to attach the two pieces together so they separated on the car :/ .

Just because you use catia and fancy materials doesn't mean you are making something better (or even good). The best guys were the farmers because they built stuff that worked and then let the others make a lighter version.

The electrical/fuel injection guys were better (they designed the intake and injection system from scratch), but even on the finished cars fueling was a mess and barely functional. Although individually tuned cylinders could theoretically work better, there is nowhere near enough time to properly set that up, it's just 4 times as complicated with little benefit.

I get the idea, and some people get some valuable experience and make some good stuff, but for the most part FSAE just highlights the sad state of engineering students in real world applications. The most successful people in the FSAE teams were the business students preparing marketing materials and recruiting sponsors. Their contacts and effort got them jobs.
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well my buddy's team won, so maybe he's a bad example
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