Motorcycle Engine Displacement for Dummies

Motorcycle engine

Our founder (and most antisocial member of the network) well remembers a former classmate, who was one of the most irritating personality types there can be: someone who knows everything. In fact, the only thing worse than a know-it-all is someone who does know it all (can you say, "Sheldon Cooper"?). A surprising number of self-appointed know-it-alls end up being freelancers, where they can put all that excess brainage to work. Unfortunately for internet readers, most of them don't know everything. Over at Catalogs.com, we found some dude named Oliver Vandervoort, whose profile at the former WhoWhatWhereWhenWhy.com claims that, "If there is a topic he is not an expert on just yet, he soon will be." The questionable sentence structure notwithstanding, Oliver's claim of universal expertise is downright preposterous, as he demonstrated with the article he called "Meaning of cc in motorcycles" (now credited to "Catalogs Editorial Staff")

Let's get down to brass tacks here: "cc," when cited in a discussion of motorcycles, refers to "cubic centimeters" and is the way the motorcycling world states the bike's engine displacement. In other words, it's the total volume of all engine cylinders (the holes in the engine block through which the pistons move). Detroit cited their engine sizes in cubic inches for years: Chevy's 283, 327, and 409 cubic inch V8s, for instance. More recently, engine displacements have been cited in liters, such as the 3.5-liter V6 in the Antisocial Network's Toyota Tacoma.

A liter equals, by definition, 1,000 cubic centimeters and occupies slightly more than 61 cubic inches, so a 3.5-liter engine displaces a little more than 213 cubic inches; and that Chevy 409 totals a tad over 6.7 liters. OK, now that we have that out of the way, what does Oliver say?

"When talking about motorcycles, there is a similar term that tells you just how powerful one engine is over another, though horsepower isn't used here. If you have ever been shopping for a motorcycle you have probably seen some sort of label where the the motorcycle has 250 cc or 500 cc or more."

In other words, Vandervoort is attempting to say, the use of "cc" is to some extent a proxy for horsepower. Well, maybe... but he still hasn't told us what it "measures"; just wait until he does! "Cubic centimeters are generally used to measure three dimensional objects such as gas or liquids. In the case of a motorcycle, you are talking about the amount of fuel and air mixture and measuring that using cubic centimeters. Fuel and air is the global standard when it comes to powering a motorcycle... the cc is actually measuring how many cubic centimeters of that air and fuel mixture moves through the bike's engine in one cycle." In response to that, all we can say here at ANHQ is, "Wha...???" We especially liked the bull of "...[c]ubic centimeters are generally used to measure three dimensional objects such as gas or liquids..." given that the statement doesn't really mean anything; not to mention that gas and liquids aren't "objects," So what does the engine displacement rating of a motorcycle really mean? We'll let someone who knows the difference between a motorcycle and a doughnut tell you...

Given that Oliver never mentions any of the words "volume," "cylinder" or "displacement" – or the quantity that a "cc" measures – we're inclined to wonder if this moron has the slightest idea what he's talking about. Then again, he must, since he's "been a writer for over five years." One wonders what other knowledge he acquired while getting that online BBA... or if he's a viable candidate for Dumbass of the Day in other categories. Based on this sample of his knowledge and skills, we're pretty certain he is...

copyright © 2016-2023 scmrak

DD - AUTOMOTIVE