Bike Technicalities

Engine capacity

Like cars, motorcycles tend to be classified by their cc's (Cubic Centimeters) or engine capacity, which represents the combined size of the engine's cylinders. A Learner 250cc bike is equal to 250 millilitres (mLs). A 1000cc bike has the internal cylinder the size of a 1 Litre carton of milk.

Bikes are usually classified by their capacity as a general indication of their power. A 1000cc motorcycle is usually recognised by people as a super sports capacity. A 250cc bike is often known as a learner bike. But beware some 250cc bikes are not learner legal and are too powerful for those restrictions. So, 'cc' is just a rough measure and guide.

The most common capacities are 50cc, 150cc, 250cc, 600cc, 1000cc and higher.

Cylinder Formats

Cylinder formats: Again, like cars, motorcycles can also come with a different number of cylinders. From one cylinder, two and four. There are also triple cylinders and more. Depending on the number of cylinders and the capacity of the engine, the bike will deliver different types of power.

Stroke

There are two-stoke and four-stroke engine types. Generally, two-stroke engines are common in small capacity engines. Most bikes 250cc and over are four-stroke, but there are some exceptions. Two-strokes are generally more costly to maintain and require more frequent attention. Quite a few types of scooter and trail bike are two-stroke.

Fairings

Fairings are typically the plastic covers on a bike that cover the engine and other mechanical parts. Functionally, they increase performance by streamlining the motorcycle. They are very common on sports bikes. They make a bike look really good... until you drop the bike.

It's worth considering, that before you buy your learner motorcycle, how much fairing is on the bike, how expensive it is to replace, and how likely you are to drop it.

Hence, what we call 'naked' bikes (without much fairing, the engine exposed) are relatively cheaper to fix if dropped, and they still look really good. Some examples are KickStart's Cruisers. Even KickStart's sports ZS250GS has fairing but a minimal amount that is relatively cheap to fix.