Engine Design & Basic Theory

he engine is the heart of your motorcycle. DeTpending

on what year and type of bike you own,
the engine will be of the four-stroke type or the
two-stroke type. Since these two engine types
differ so fundamentally, well split this chapter
into two parts, one dealing with four-strokes and
the other with two-strokes. For each, well discuss the basics of how they work and then well
tell you how to maintain and improve each type.
Since the four-stroke is by far the most common,
well look at it first.
You can call it a motor, the mill, the lump, or
the power plant. Whatever you call it, the engine
changes energy into motion. In our case the energy is derived from the controlled burning of
fuel inside of the engine. Hence, we call it the internal combustion engine. Over the years Ive
had more than one armchair engineer take me to

task for calling an engine a motor. Sorry, but

Websters defines a motor as an engine; especially an internal combustion engine, so well
use the term engine and motor interchangeably.
Besides, who wants to ride something called an
engine-cycle?
While some brave (or more likely foolhardy)
pioneers experimented with steam-powered
bikes, the norm has been to use internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engines come
in a variety of designs: the two-stroke and fourstroke being the most common. The Wankel or
rotary engine has also been tried, albeit with limited success. Over the years Yamaha, Suzuki,
Norton, Hercules (a German marque) and VanVeen (a Dutch company) have built rotaries. Of
the four only Suzukis sold in any real numbers,
and even it discontinued the design after two
This Moto-Guzzi is
of non-unit
construction. Note
the seam, just in
front of the rubber
plug, where the
transmission is
joined to the
engine.

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

years. As motorcycling has passed the rotary by,
so shall we.
All piston-powered internal combustion engines share a few fundamental characteristics. It
doesnt matter if its a tiny, single-cylinder,
model-airplane engine with all the horsepower
of a rabid bumblebee, or a huge 16-cylinder
power plant designed to spin a locomotive dynamo, the basic principles remain the same. In
essence, we need a way to get the fuel into the
engine in a manner that allows it to be burned,
some way of using that burning fuel to perform
some useful work, and after the fuel is converted
into energy, some means of exhausting the
remains.
Before we can have a meaningful discussion
on how an engine works, well need to define a
few of the basic parts common to the internal
combustion engine and briefly discuss how they
work. Many of the parts were going to discuss
are common to both two- and four-stroke engines, and most of you probably have at least a
passing acquaintance with them. Some of you
may have only encountered the two-stroke in
passing (generally by being awakened at 6 a.m.
by some melonhead using a chainsaw running at
10,000 rpm) and may not realize that the twostroke design uses neither camshaft nor valves
(at least not valves of the conventional type).
TWO-STROKE BASICS
The two-stroke engine derives its name from the
fact that only two strokes of the piston (one revolution of the crankshaft) are needed to complete
the intake, compression, exhaust, and power
cycles.
The two-stroke engine enjoys certain performance advantages over the four-stroke, which is
why today it is used primarily in bikes requiring
a very high power-to-weight ratio, such as dirt
bikes. While the two-stroke is being gradually
phased out of racing, in part because racing twostokes are noisy and environmentally dirty, as of
this writing its safe to say that the strokers still
dominate some forms of racing. Conversely, because the two-stroke employs fewer moving
parts and is inexpensive to design and build for
utilitarian purposes, it dominates the moped and
commuter bike market, particularly in third-

PISTON-PORT TWO-STROKE ENGINES

Compression
in cylinder

Intake

Combustion

Compression
in crankcase

Scavenging

Exhaust

(TOP) As the piston moves up

from bottom dead center, a
partial vacuum is produced in
the crankcase. As the piston
continues moving upward, its
skirt clears the intake port, allowing a fresh charge of fuel/
oil/air mix to be drawn into
the crankcase. The fuel mix
fills the crankcase and starts
to flow upward through the
transfer ports (not shown). As
the piston passes by the exhaust port, it seals it off. As it
continues upward, the piston
closes the transfer ports and
starts to compress the mixture flowing from the transfer
ports into the combustion
chamber.
(CENTER) As the piston nears
top dead center, a spark occurs across the plug gap, igniting the compressed-fuel
mixture. The expanding gases
drive the piston down. As the
piston moves down it closes
the intake port and compresses the air/fuel mix into
the crankcase.
(BOTTOM) As the piston
moves past the exhaust port,
uncovering it, exhaust gases
flow out. As the piston continues downward it uncovers the
transfer ports. The compressed mixture in the crankcase begins to flow out of the
transfer ports and into the cylinder, sweeping any remaining
burnt gas out the exhaust
port. After the piston reaches
BDC, it starts upward again.
As the piston passes the
transfer and exhaust port, it
seals them off, and the
process repeats.

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

Reed valves are used in some twocycle engine designs to prevent
backflow of the fuel/air mixture
when the piston begins its downward
stroke. This refinement greatly
increases power and rideability.
The rotary valve is another
improvement to two-stroke
operation. In this design a disk, into
which a slot has been cut, rotates
with the crankshaft. The slot is
arranged in such a location that it
exposes the inlet port to the
crankcase during the time when
fuel/air should flow into the engine.
At other crankshaft positions it seals
the inlet port, preventing backflow of
the fuel/air mixture.

Reed
valve

world countries where cheap transportation is

the motorcycles primary function.
There are two principal differences between
the two- and four-stoke designs. The first and
most significant is that the basic two-stroke has
no camshaft or valves; the fuel/air mix flows into
the cylinder through holes or ports cut directly
into the cylinder liner. The second major difference is the way the engine is lubricated. Unlike a
four-stoke engine, the two-stroke uses its crankcase as a passageway for the fuel/air mix. Because the crankcase is sealed and used during
one phase of the intake and compression cycles,
its impossible to use it to store oil as a fourstroke does (even dry sump systems store some
oil in the crankcase).
Two-Stroke Lubrication
All two-stroke engines are lubricated by one of
two methods, each of which has the same end result. Oil is either mixed directly with the fuel or
injected by pump into the fuel as it leaves the carburetor. Some of the better systems also inject oil
directly into the main bearings. Regardless of the
system, most of the oil is consumed in the combustion process. Oil being heavier than the fuel,
it drops out of the mix and coats the bearings and
piston skirt. All of the bearings in a two-stroke
engine are roller-, needle-, or ball-element bearings, rather than plain bearings because roller-

Valve
cover

Rotary
valve

element bearings require much less lubrication.

While its true that many four-strokes are or were
built with roller bearings, no two-stroke engines
are built with plain bearings.
Because much of the oil is burned and what
remains exits the exhaust pipe in its natural state,
emissions are a big problem. Modern twostrokes are a vast improvement over their predecessors but they are still quite dirty. For that reason alone its unlikely well ever see the largebore two-stroke road bike again.
Piston-Port Two-Strokes
The most basic form of two-stroke design uses
the so-called piston-port induction. In this type
of engine the fuel/air mixture is drawn into the
crankcase by the motion of the piston, passed to
the combustion chamber through transfer ports,
and then exhausted after combustion under the
power of its own expansion. The flow of the fuel/
air mixture and burnt gases is controlled entirely
by a series of ports in the cylinder wall that are
sequentially covered and exposed by the piston.
See the sidebar for a step-by-step description of
the full two-stroke cycle.
Reed Valves and Rotary Valves
More sophisticated two-strokes are fitted with
reed or rotary valves. The basic problem with a
piston-port engine is that as the piston moves
down and begins to compress the mixture in the

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

crankcase, the pressure in the crankcase soon exceeds that of the atmosphere. Once crankcase
pressure is higher than atmospheric, the fuel mix
will reverse direction and flow backwards out of
the carburetor. This phenomenon can be overcome, or at least its effects can be diminished, by
using very small ports and very moderate intake
port timing, which reduces power.
A better way is to place a reed valve in the inlet tract to prevent backflow. Reed valves are just
thin strips of metal or phenolic material, such as
fiberglass or carbon fiber, that act as a one-way
valve between the carburetor and the intake port.
During the intake period the reeds are held open
by the flowing fuel/air mix, when crankcase
pressure overcomes atmospheric pressure, the
reeds snap shut, preventing backflow. Because
the reeds positively prevent the mixture from
flowing backwards the port can open earlier and
remain open longer, greatly increasing power
and rideability.
In rotary-valve (also known as disk-valve)
two-strokes, a partially cut-away disk rotates,
opening and closing the intake port. The disk, or
rotary valve, is typically attached to the crankshaft, and is timed to open on the upward stroke
of the piston so that the opening in the disk permits the fuel/oil/air mixture from the carburetor
to enter the crankcase chamber. The rotary valve
then closes on the downward stroke of the piston. Carburetors are typically found on the side
of the engine, allowing a more direct flow of the
fuel/oil /air mixture through the hole in the disk
into the crankcase.

rpm. Currently all performance-oriented twostroke engines are equipped with some variation
of the power valve.
FOUR-STROKE BASICS
The four-stroke engine is used in all current
mass-produced automobiles, most motorcycles,
and a few outboard motors. Technically speaking the four-stroke engine is called a four-strokecycle engine. Since were all friends here well
just call it a four-stroke. Theyre called fourstrokes because it takes four separate strokes of
the piston (two complete revolutions of the
crankshaft) to complete the four cycles needed to
make the engine run and accomplish one
combustion cycle.
One piston stroke is the piston movement
from the top of the cylinder to the bottom or from
the bottom of the cylinder to the top. When the
piston has reached the extent of its upward moPower Valve Assembly
(1989-ON YZ250; 1989-1990 YZ250WR; 1991-ON WR250Z)
1

56

19 20

9 10 11 12

Power Valves
The big leap forward in two-stroke performance
came with the introduction of the power valve in
the late 1970s. The power valve is nothing more
complicated than a moveable restriction placed
in the exhaust port. A small electric motor similar to a computers disc drive may control the
power valve, although there are many versions
that are controlled by purely mechanical means.
In essence, a large exhaust port is good for topend power while a small port enhances midrange and low-speed running. The power valve
is shaped like an eyelid. The control mechanism
raises or lowers the eyelid depending on engine

13
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Screw
Cover
Gasket
Seal
Bolt
Washer
Lever
Pushrod
Spring
Boss
Lever
Screw
Thrust Plate
Oil Seal

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.

14 16
15 17 18

21

2223 24 25

26 27

Collar
O-ring
Holder
O-ring
Right-hand Power Valve
Pins
Cylinder Block
Left-hand Power Valve
Bolt
Gasket
Pin
Holder
Screw

The power valve is a device that increases or decreases the size of the
exhaust port according to engine speed. A large exhaust is best for topend power, while a smaller port is better for low and mid-range operation.
(Courtesy Yamaha Motor Corporation)

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

FOUR-STROKE ENGINES
In the four-stroke engine, the complete cycle of eventsintake,
compression, power and exhaustrequires four piston
strokes, and the engine has an inInlet
take and an exhaust valve per cylValve
inder head, plus a camshaft.
Theoretically, on the intake
stroke, the piston moves down
from TDC to BDC, and a partial
vacuum is produced in the cylinder. Then the intake valve opens,
allowing an air-fuel mixture to
stream into the cylinder.
But in an actual engine, the intake valve opens just before the
piston reaches TDC, and closes a
little after the piston has started
up from BDC in order to utilize the
inertia effect of the incoming airfuel mixture.
On the compression stroke, the
piston moves up from BDC to
TDC. Both intake and exhaust
valves are closed and the air-fuel
mixture in the cylinder is compressed.
As the piston reaches TDC on
the compression stroke, an electric spark is produced at the spark
plug. The spark ignites the air-fuel
mixture, causing it to burn very
rapidly.
Actually, the ignition is timed a
little before the piston reaches
TDC to allow the fire to spread to
every corner of the combustion
chamber, thus producing high
pressure. This high pressure
forces the piston to move down,
and the movement is carried by
the connecting rod to the crankshaft. The crankshaft is thus
made to rotate.
On the exhaust stroke, the
burned gases are forced out of
the cylinder to permit a fresh
charge of air-fuel mixture to enter
the cylinder. For better exhaust efficiency, the exhaust valve is
opened a little before the piston
reaches BDC.

Exhaust Valve

1. INTAKE STROKE

3. POWER STROKE

2. COMPRESSION STROKE

4. EXHAUST STROKE

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

tion, in other words when its as close to the cylinder head as its going to get, its said to be at
top dead center, or TDC for short. When the piston reaches the bottom of its stroke, (the point
where its as far from the head as possible) its at
bottom dead center (BDC).
The four-strokes are intake, compression,
power, and exhaust. Heres how they work together on a running engine: on the intake stroke
the piston heads toward BDC, the intake valve
opens, and fuel-air mix flows into the cylinder.
On the compression stroke, the piston rises toward TDC, compressing the fuel-air mix. On the
power stroke, the spark plug fires the compressed mix, pushing the piston back down to
BDC. On the exhaust stroke, while inertia carries
the piston back toward TDC again, the exhaust
valve opens and the burned gases are expelled.
Lets start with a look at the four cycles needed to
make an engine run.

being well assume that the valve has opened

slightly after top dead center and closed slightly
before bottom dead center.
The Compression Stroke
The piston comes to a brief stop when it reaches
the bottom of the intake stroke. It then begins to
travel upwards. Both the intake and exhaust
valves are closed during the compression stroke.
The fuel-air mixture in the cylinder is compressed into an ever-decreasing volume as the
piston moves toward top dead center.
The Power Stroke
This is when all the good stuff happens. As the
piston reaches top dead center the ignition system creates a spark at the spark plug tip. If everyBearing Inserts

Oil Hole

The Intake Stroke

During the intake stroke the piston moves from
top dead center to bottom dead center. When the
piston moves down it leaves an open space above
it. That open space, until recently occupied by
the piston, is now empty, and because nothing
has replaced the piston, that open space is an area
of low pressure or vacuum. The intake valve then
opens and a mixture of air and fuel from the carburetor flows into the cylinder.
Why does the fuel/air mix flow into the cylinder? As we all learned in high school physics (at
least those of us not daydreaming about motorcycles) nature abhors a vacuum. Because the
downward movement of the piston has created
an area of low pressure between the closed intake valve and the piston, and the air on the other
side of the valve (in the intake port) is at atmospheric pressure, which is 14.7 pounds per
square inch. The instant the intake valve opens
the higher pressure air in the inlet port will flow
toward the low pressure area in the cylinder.
Now in reality, the process is slightly more
complicated. The intake valve actually opens before the piston reaches top dead center and it
closes some time after the piston reaches bottom
dead center in order to take advantage of the inertial effects of the flowing air. But for the time

Align

Reciprocating movement

Rotary movement

The crankshaft converts the reciprocating motion of the piston/

connecting rod into a rotary motion. Built- or assembly-type cranks
generally use roller-type bearings. One-piece, or unit-type, forged cranks
employ split-plain bearings. Unit cranks require two-piece connecting rods
that are bolted together. (Courtesy American Honda Motor Corporation)

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

thing goes according to plan the spark ignites the
fuel-air mixture inside the cylinder.
As the mixture burns it expands. The expansion
of the burning gas creates very high pressures inside the cylinder, pushing the piston back down.
How high? Anywhere from four to six tons depending on the engines design parameters.
Make no mistake about it, when I say the
gases burn at a controlled rate they do just that.
The last thing you want and the very last thing an
engine will tolerate is an explosion in the cylinder. Engineers equipped with some very expensive and powerful computers spend enormous
amounts of time ensuring that what you get is in
fact a controlled burn.
The Exhaust Stroke
The piston has once again reached bottom dead
center. It now starts to move upward, and as it
does the exhaust valve opens and the piston
forces the spent gases from the cylinder. When it
reaches top dead center the whole process begins
again.
It may occur to you that we need something to
help keep the engine turning over smoothly between strokes. If we relied solely on the inertia
provided by the piston and crankshaft assembly,
the rotary motion of the crankshaft would proceed in fits and starts. It would be very difficult
to keep the engine running, particularly at low
speed. A perfect example of this is a common

Four-stroke cylinders are nothing more than a precisionmachined tube surrounded by air cooling fins or a water
jacket.

lawnmower. Remove the blade sometime and try

to start the mower, chances are you wont even
get the thing to turn over. Energy is stored in a
large mass bolted to, or manufactured as, part of
the crankshaft. This mass is called a flywheel.
The purpose of the flywheel is to store energy
between power strokes. Essentially it uses the
stored energy to keep the engine turning over
smoothly and prevent it from stalling. The
lighter the flywheel the less energy it stores.
Bikes with light flywheels tend to stall more often than engines with heavy flywheels, but an
engine with a light flywheel will also respond to
changes in engine rpm a lot quicker.
As a rule of thumb, high rpm engines, like
those found in sportbikes and race bikes, will
have light flywheels, while touring bikes and
cruisers will have heavier flywheels. By the
same token, single-cylinder engines require a
heavy flywheel to keep their one big piston moving up and down smoothly. Multiple-cylinder
engines with proportionally smaller pistons and
a fair amount of crankshaft mass, needed to accommodate the extra hardware required for their
multiple cylinders, can make do with lighter
flywheels.
The preceding description is vastly oversimplified and sure to give anyone intimately familiar with the internal workings of a four-stroke
engine heart palpitations, but at least its better
than thinking there must be seven little dwarves
in there making the piston go up and down.
The astute among you probably have a whole
bunch of questions by now. For instance, how does
the movement of the piston turn the wheels? How
is the engine lubricated and cooled? Patience,
Grasshopper, all will be revealed.
Now that you have a fundamental understanding of how a four-stroke works, lets look at
the parts that make it all happen. These parts can
be thought of as two major systems: the bottom
end and the top end, as well as a bunch of auxiliary systems. First, lets look at the top and bottom ends.
THE BOTTOM END
An engine bottom end consists of the crankcase,
crankshaft, main bearings, rod bearings, and
connecting rods. These parts convert the up-and-

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

down motion of the pistons into the round-andround motions needed to power the
transmission. All those parts are housed in the
crankcase, along with anything else the designer
decides to stuff in there. On some engines, the oil
is stored in the crankcase (these are called wetsump engines). On others it is stored in a separate tank (these are called dry-sump engines).
Also, many modern motorcycles also house
the transmission and clutch assembly inside of
the crankcase (these are called unit-construction
engines). On others, the clutch and tranny are in
a separate case (these are called non-unit engines). Most modern bikes use the unit-construction design; the exceptions that come quickly to
mind are BMW, Moto Guzzi, Harley-Davidson
big twins, and the Honda Gold Wing.
All engines begin with a crankcase. Most
motorcycle crankcases are built in two pieces,
incorporating a vertical or horizontal seam to facilitate assembly, and are commonly referred to
as cases.
The backbone of the crankcase is the crankshaft. The crankshaft converts the up-and-down
motion of the piston into a rotary motion thats
used to drive the motorcycle. Motorcycle crankshafts may be made of several separate pieces
that are pressed or bolted together. These are
known as pressed, built-up, or less frequently assembly crankshafts. Or, the crankshaft may be
forged from a single chunk of steel alloy, these
are usually called a forged or unit crankshaft.
The crankshaft is supported in the crankcase
by main bearings. There may be as few as two in
a single-cylinder or twin-cylinder engine and up
to six on a four-cylinder engine. The main bearing may be either automotive-type shell bearings, generally known as plain bearings, or ballor roller bearings. Some designs even use both.
Due to their peculiar lubrication requirements
ball- or roller-bearings must be used to support
two-stroke crankshafts.
If the crankshaft is the backbone then the connecting rod must be the leg bone. The connecting
rod connects the piston to the crankshaft. The
rod needs to be both light and strong and it must
be able to transmit the heavy loads imposed on it
by the piston without deflecting. The end of the
connecting rod that fastens to the crankshaft is

FOUR-STROKE ENGINE

TWO-STROKE ENGINE

Needle
Bearing

Piston Pin

Due to their unique lubrication requirements two-stroke engines require a

needle bearing between the rod and wrist pin. four-strokes can use a plain
bearing, although in the past some four-strokes did use needle bearings at
the wrist pin. (Courtesy American Honda Motor Corporation)

Mark

Top Ring
Second Ring

Side Rails

20 mm
(0.8 in) Or More

Oil Ring

Spacer
Gap

Most four-stroke pistons use three rings; two compression

rings and one oil control ring. The oil ring may be cast in one
piece, or the design may use two thin rails separated by a
spacer. As the inset shows, many rings are directional and
need to be installed with the indicator facing up. (Courtesy
American Honda Motor Corporation)

sometimes called the big end because it has a

larger diameter than the end of the rod that is
connected to the piston, which is called, as you

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

The Desmodromic
method of opening
and closing valves,
wherein the valves
are opened and
closed by the rocker
arms, is peculiar to
Ducati.
(Courtesy Ducati)

might have guessed, the small end. Rods intended for use in plain-bearing engines are constructed in two pieces; the bottom cap is
removable so the bearing can be installed into
the rod and the rod onto the crankshaft. Onepiece rods normally use a roller bearing. Depending on the designers whims a built-up
crankshaft intended for four-stroke use may
have connecting rods that use either plain or
roller bearings. However a one-piece, forged
crankshaft, due to its construction, must use rods
with plain-bearing big ends. The crankcase assembly, along with the crankshaft, rods and in
some cases the camshaft is collectively referred
to as the bottom end.
THE TOP END
The top end is everything that fits above the
crankcase assembly, including the cylinders, cylinder head, pistons, valves, and cams (if an overhead-cam design is being used). These are the
parts that control the flow of gases in and out of
the engine and turn combustion energy into the
up-and-down motion of the piston.
Set atop the crankcase is the cylinder, or in the
case of multiple-cylinder engines, the cylinder
block. Each piston moves up and down in the
cylinder bore, which is a precisely machined
hole in the cylinder. Most motorcycle engines
use a cylinder or cylinder block with a pressedin-place liner made of steel alloy. If the liner becomes damaged it can be re-bored to accept an

oversize piston. Some engines use plated bores

instead of liners. The aluminum cylinder is
bored almost to size, and then the bore is plated
with chrome or nickel-silicon to give a hardwearing surface.
Such cylinders are lighter than the traditional
two-piece style and tend to cool slightly better.
In general, they resist wear better than a steel
liner as well. On the downside they are more expensive to make than a standard cylinder and
cannot be re-bored if damaged, although there
are some specialists that will re-plate them or install a conventional liner. Chrome bores were
once used exclusively on race bikes but today are
found on quite a few street bikes.
There are a few motorcycles that use a cylinder block cast directly into the upper portion of
the crankcase. The outer portion of the cylinder
block is made of aluminum alloy (some older
bikes used cast iron), and contains the coolant
passages depending upon whether the engine is
liquid cooled or if the engine is air-cooled.
Technically a piston is any disc or small cylinder fitted into a hollow cylinder that is acted
upon by fluid pressure and used to transmit motion. Throughout this book well run into a variety of pistons that serve other purposes, but this
one is the main man, the Big Kahuna. This is the
guy that does the work.
The piston pin connects the piston to the connecting rod. The piston rings are used to maintain a gas-tight seal between the piston and the
cylinder. Piston rings are also used to control the
oil that lubricates the piston skirt and assists in
cooling the piston. About one-third of the heat
absorbed by the piston during the combustion
process passes from the piston through the rings
and into the cylinder walls. While many different
materials have been used to manufacture piston
rings, cast iron has proven as good as any. Other
materials used include chrome and cast iron with
a molybdenum alloy used as a face material.
There are two types of rings found in a fourstroke engine. The upper rings are the compression rings; their job is to prevent combustion
gases from leaking past the piston during the
compression and power stroke. Normally two
compression rings are used. Below the compression rings lies the oil ring. In the past some en-

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

COMMON VALVE CONFIGURATIONS

Rocker Shaft
Rocker Arm

Valve

Valve Spring

Valve spring
Valve
Pushrod

Adjuster and
locknut

Cam follower
(tappet)

Cam

Cam

Camshaft

Cam follower
(tappet)
Camshaft

In a flathead engine, the cam and valves are located in

the block, below the cylinder head.

In an overhead-valve engine, the cam is located in the

block, the valves are positioned in the head.

Adjuster Screw

Locknut
Gap To Check

(Adjuster May
Be Here)

Rocker arm
Valve spring
Camshaft

Push
Rod
Valve

Cam
Follower
Cam

Adjuster Screw
Locknut
Gap to
check

(A) Pushrod engines may have their valve adjusting

mechanisms located at either end of the rocker arm or
built into the pushrod.
(B) Where a single or double overhead cam design is
used the cam is located in the head, adjacent to the
valves.

Cams may be driven with gears, chains or toothed

rubber belts.

(Courtesy American Honda Motor Corporation)

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

TWO-STROKE ENGINE TOP END

Cooling Fin

Combustion
Chamber

Squish Areas
Piston

Cylinder head construction is pretty straightforward where a two-stroke is

concerned. (Courtesy American Honda Motor Corporation)

gines used two oil rings, one below the

compression rings and one at the very bottom of
the skirt. Current practice is to employ one oil
ring below the compression rings.
All rings are split so they can be easily installed on the piston. Because the splits dont
form a perfect seal the ring ends are staggered
during assembly so that no joints are directly
above each other. In a four-stroke engine the
rings are free to rotate. Allowing the rings to rotate prevents carbon from building up between
the ring and its seat, which would degrade the
rings ability to seal. Because a two-stroke engine has ports cut into the cylinder wall, the rings
cannot be allowed to rotate; if they did, the ends
would likely spring out into the port, destroying
the ring, piston and cylinder.
The piston pin connects the piston to the rod.
Pins are made of steel alloy thats been case
hardened (a process that creates a tough outer

layer of material surrounding a relatively soft inner core). Usually the pin is also given a layer of
chrome plate to increase its wearing qualities.
The tubular, hollow construction allows the pin
to be both strong and light. Four-stroke engines
generally employ a replaceable bushing in the
small end of the connecting rod, while the twostroke engine uses a needle bearing. Again this is
because two-strokes have much different
lubrication systems than four-strokes.
The portion of the piston that the pin passes
through is a reinforced area called the piston-pin
boss. All modern motorcycles use a full-floating
piston pin. In the full-floating design the pin is
free to move in both the rod and piston. It is prevented from working its way into contact with
the cylinder bore by clips or buttons pressed into
the piston bosses. While there are other methods
of locating the pin they are not currently used in
motorcycles.
VALVES AND CAMS
Engines need some way of allowing the fuel and
air mixture into the cylinder, sealing it and then
expelling it once its job is done. In a four-stroke
thats the job of the camshaft and valves.
Every cylinder of a four-stroke engine has at
least one intake valve and one exhaust valve.
They can have more if the designer feels its warranted but they must have at least one of each.
High-performance engines generally have two
of each for each cylinder, and some even have
three intake valves.
Today all valves are located in the cylinder
head. This design is known as OHV (short for
overhead valve), meaning that the valves are located above the piston. This wasnt always the
case. Prior to World War II many motorcycles
had the valves located in the cylinder block. The
cylinder head held only the spark plug. These designs were called flatheads or sidevalves. Today,
the only place youre likely to find a flathead,
outside of an antique show, is on a lawnmower
and even these are being phased out.
The cylinder head of a four-stroke engine
contains the valves, the intake and exhaust ports,
and in the case of an overhead-cam engine, the
camshaft. It also contains the combustion chamber, a carefully shaped depression where the

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

fuel-air mix is actually burned. A two-stroke
head contains only the combustion chamber and
the spark plug. Heads are either bolted directly to
the cylinder, or they may be fastened to the
crankcase with long studs that sandwich the cylinder between the head and crankcase. Often, a
combination of the two are used.
The valves used in motorcycle engines are
called either poppet valves, because they pop
open, or mushroom valves, due to their appearance. Valves are made in either one- or two-piece
configuration. Two-piece valves are created by
spinning the valve head in one direction, and the
valve stem in the opposite direction. A negative
current is passed through one piece, a positive
charge through the other. The pieces are spun at
very high speeds and then brought together. Friction and the opposing charges weld the valve
head to the stem.
To enhance flow through the cylinder the intake valve is always larger than the exhaust
valve. Ordinarily intake valves are made of chromium-nickel alloys. Because they run so much
hotter, the exhaust valves are constructed of
silichrome alloy or some derivative material
such as stainless steel.

The valve seat is the circular opening in the

port where the face of the valve rests between
strokes. The seat is precision machined to ensure a positive seal. Valve seats are replaceable,
although it takes a fair amount of use and abuse
to wear one out. Normally when a valve seat
needs renewing it is simply recut with a special
tool.
Prior to 1980, lead was routinely added to
gasoline to increase its octane rating. The lead
was also thought to act as a cushion between the
valve and the valve seat preventing wear. When
unleaded fuel was phased out, manufacturers
scrambled to install hardened seats, designed to
work with unleaded fuel. As an aside its worth
pointing out that initial concerns over rapid valve
seat failure when leaded fuel was withdrawn
from the market turned out to be much ado about
nothing. In the end it was found that with rare exception unleaded fuel had little or no effect on
valve seat wear.
It doesnt make good engineering sense to
just drill a hole through the head and install the
valve. Valve guides provide a hard-wearing and
accurately-machined surface to guide the valve.
Guides may be made as an integral part of the
In a four-stroke
engine the fuel/air
mix enters through
the intake valve via
the intake port;
spent gases exit
through the exhaust
valve and port. This
one is an overheadcam design.
(Courtesy American
Honda Corporation)

FOUR-STROKE ENGINE TOP END

Exhaust
Port

Carburetor
Intake
Port

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

head or they may be replaceable. All motorcycle
engines use replaceable valve guides. Valve
guides are normally made of cast iron or bronze
phosphor alloys.
The valves are opened by the camshaft;
springs return them to their seats. Common practice is to use two concentric springs to close the
valve. Youd think one stiff one would be up to
the task and youd be right, if closing the valve
were the springs only job. By using two valve
springs harmonic vibrations that might cause the
spring to fail are reduced. Furthermore, two
springs help to prevent valve float. Valve float
results when engine rpm gets so high that the
valve can no longer be controlled by the camshaft. In essence, the valve floats in the combustion chamber, where it can become tangled with
the piston, or even other valves, resulting in
extensive damage.
The other parts of the valve system or train include the valve collar, which retains the valve
springs, and the keepers, which are little halfmoon shaped cotters or locks used to hold the
spring and collar assembly in place on the valve.
As I said, the valves are opened by the camshaft (or cam for short), which usually has individual cam lobes for each valve. Lets digress for
a moment: a cam is nothing more than a wheel
Pushrods may be
located within the
cylinder or in external
tubes, as on this
engine.

with a lump on one side to give it an irregular

motion. Cams are used to bump or lift all types of
things from switches to valves. When you place
one or more cams on a shaft you have a camshaft. Ive already mentioned that the valve
springs close the valve; let me expand on that a
bit. The springs provide closing pressure. The
cam profile controls the closing rate; if the cam
didnt prevent the valve from slamming violently into its seat, valve life would be incredibly
short. The camshaft may be located in the head
directly over or adjacent to the valves, or it may
be located in the engine block.
When the camshaft is located in the head its
called an overhead-cam (or OHC) engine. An
overhead-cam engine may use one cam to open
the intake and exhaust valves, in which case its
called a single-overhead-cam (SOHC) engine.
Or the designer may opt for separate cams for the
intake and exhaust, particularly if the engine is
so wide that using a single cam would present
problems. An engine using two overhead-cams
is called a double-overhead-cam (DOHC) engine. When the cam is located immediately
above the valve it works directly upon the valve
stem, usually through an inverted bucket placed
over the valve stem, or a pivoted finger. When
the cam is adjacent to the valves it works the
valve through a rocker arm.
Engines with the cam located in the crankcase
are called pushrod engines. They take their name
from the long rods that transfer the motion of the
camshaft to the valves. All pushrod engines use
rocker arms to transfer the motion of the pushrod
to the valves. Pushrod engines may use one, two
or four cams depending on the type of engine.
Cams are spun by the crankshaft at half the
engine speed, so if the engine rpm is 4,000 the
cam is only turning 2,000. Why? Because during
the four cycles of a four-stroke engine the valves
are only opened and closed during two of the cycles. The cam(s) are turned either by gears,
chains, or rubber belts, depending on the designers preference and the engines intended
use.
Camshaft design is quite complex. The cams
control when the valves open, how long they stay
open, and how high they open. By and large the
cams control how well the engine breathes,

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

Stopper Wedge
Stopper
Wedge

Tensioner
Wedge

Cam Chain
Tensioner

Tensioner
Wedge

Cam Chain

Cam chain slack is controlled by either a manually adjusted (shown here) or automatically adjusted tensioning device.
(Courtesy American Honda Motor Corporation)

which is tantamount to how much horsepower

the engine is capable of producing.
There are several variations on the two basic
cam designs I want to touch on. One is the camin-head design, which is essentially an overheadcam design using very short, rigid pushrods to
open the valves. This system was used by Moto
Guzzi on its four-valve engines and is still used
by BMW on its oilhead engines. The other is the
Desmodromic method of valve actuation employed by Ducati, which uses rockers both to
push the valves open and pull them closed.
The cam-in-head design as used by Moto
Guzzi on their four-valve engines places the cam
slightly below and inboard of the valves. The
cam is driven by a belt and operates the valves
through a short pushrod and rocker-arm arrangement. The basic idea was to keep the engine
height down, and to avoid using long and flexprone pushrods in what was a high performance
engine.
The Desmodromic system is a somewhat
complicated system peculiar to Ducati. Ducati
uses a conventional camshaft above the valve to
open it through a rocker arm. Another rocker
arm is located below the first. The second rocker
arm has a forked end on it, which rides just below the valve stem tip. Removable keys positively locate the forked end in place. The second
rocker is used to close the valve without using

springs, although on street versions light springs

are used to seat the valves at starting speeds. At
one time the Desmo system had some real advantages on the racetrack. Today its a Ducati
tradition, and a bit of signature engineering.
Now that youre conversant with the basic parts
of a four-stroke engine lets look at how they
actually work.
ENGINE LAYOUT
By engine layout I really mean cylinder arrangement. Lets start at the bottom and work our way
up.
The single-cylinder engine is used when
weight, simplicity, and a strong, wide power
band outweigh the need of almost anything else.
Single-cylinder engines are built in every displacement from 50cc to the appropriately named
Suzuki Dr Big which displaces 800cc. Singlecylinder bikes are easy to maintain, make good
power, and are light and narrow. The disadvantages are moderate-to-high levels of vibration
(overcome with balance shafts) and, for the most
part, a power band and basic design that makes
them unsuitable for high-speed touring.
The parallel twin, in which both cylinders are
located side by side, was a popular design used
by everyone from Ariel to Yamaha. The parallel
twin design originated in the 1930s. Triumph is
generally given credit for building the first, com-

Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance

mercially successful parallel twin. The idea behind the parallel twin was to reduce vibration.
The somewhat flawed reasoning was that two
small bangs would be less objectionable than
one big one. In the parallel design the pistons either rise and fall together, in which case the engine is said to use a 360-degree crankshaft, or
they may have a one-up-one-down pattern, the
180-degree crank. Triumph, BSA, Norton, and
Yamaha were the main proponents of the 360degree parallel twin engine, a design characterized by a fair amount of vibration. Current examCamshaft Drive Belt

Camshaft

Rear Cylinder
Intake Camshaft

Front Cylinder
Intake Camshaft

Idler Gears

Front Cylinder
Exhaust Camshaft
Rear Cylinder
Exhaust Camshaft

Crankshaft

(TOP) Cams may be driven with gears, chains or toothed rubber belts. This
GL Gold Wing engine shows how Honda used a flat-opposed six-cylinder
design to achieve a compact but power ful package. Its camshafts are
driven by toothed rubber belts. (BOTTOM) This gear-driven camshaft
design is used on Honda's V-four engines. (Courtesy American Honda
Motor Corporation)

ples of parallel twins may be found in such diverse bikes as the 250cc Honda Rebel and the
800cc Triumph Bonneville. Parallel twins are a
nice compact design capable of churning out
some real horsepower. Mounting the exhaust and
carburetors is easy because the cylinders are next
to each other. Manufacturing costs are kept low,
in part because youre building two single-cylinder engines on a common crankcase. The big
problem with the parallel twin is vibration; many
of them rattle hard enough to shake your fillings
loose.
The opposed-twin design locates the cylinders
180 degrees apart. The best example of an opposed-twin design is the BMW twin-cylinder engine. Because the cylinders are located parallel to
the ground or wheel axles, the design is known as
a flat twin or pancake. Since the flat-twin crankshaft lies parallel to the frame rails and at 90 degrees to the rear axle, the opposed-twin design
facilitates the use of a shaft drive. As the pistons
move in and out together (reaching both BDC and
TDC together) vibration levels are extremely low.
The big problem with an opposed engine is that
the cylinders intrude on space needed for foot
pegs, and building the intake manifold may require some creativity. However, they are smooth
and easy to design for use with a shaft final drive,
which makes them an attractive engine for touring
bikes. A variant of the opposed twin is the opposed multi, the Honda Gold Wing being the
primary example.
Harley-Davidson, Moto-Guzzi, and Ducati illustrate the diverse nature of the V-twin design.
The Harley uses a 45-degree V-twin with a
unique knife-and-fork connecting rod arrangement utilizing a single crank pin. Vibration levels and torque are high, power output moderate.
The Guzzi uses a 90-degree V-twin mounted
longitudinally, that is, with its crankshaft inline
with the frame, so a drive shaft can be used.
Ninety-degree twins have perfect primary
balance so vibration levels are low. Ducati also
uses a 90-degree V-twin, but it is mounted with
the cylinders fore and aft. Both the Guzzi and the
Ducati use offset cylinders, the connecting rods
running side by side. The 45-degree cylinder angle used by Harley Davidson makes it easy to
mount the carburetor, both cylinders being close

1: Engine Design & Basic Theory

together. The 90-degree version used by Ducati
and Moto Guzzi results in smoother engine operation. The V-twin design provides good torque,
is narrow, and has a good look, making it a popular choice for cruisers. The V-design, especially the 90-degree, can make the chassis
problematic, because the front cylinder may
intrude on space required for the front wheel.
The V-4 exemplified by the Honda VFR is a refinement of the V-twin idea, one that works exceptionally well. The V-4 is practically vibration-free.
Its compact, no longer than a V-twin, and barely
any wider. Its only real disadvantage is that
shoehorning the engine and its peripheral bits into
the frame can sometimes compromise maintenance.
Inline transversely-mounted, (crankshaft sitting at right angles to the frame) multiple-cylinder engines, multiple in this sense meaning three
or more, came to the forefront as the 1960s were
ending. Inline three-cylinder four-strokes were
available from Triumph, BSA, or Laverda, while
inline three-cylinder two-strokes were available
from Kawasaki or Suzuki. Honda, of course, set
the motorcycling world on its ear by introducing
the legendary four-cylinder CB750. The transversely-mounted multiple-cylinder engine has a
lot going for it. More and smaller cylinders mean
less vibration and higher rpm, which translates
into high horsepower.
Offsetting the advantages are increased
manufacturing and maintenance costs. Early
multis often had annoying high-frequency vibrations especially at high speeds; however,
modern designs have more or less eliminated
the problem.
The other disadvantage to the inline transversely-mounted design is excess width. Again,
refinement has taken care of much of the problem, but they can still be a little wide. While several manufacturers have tried to market inline
transverse sixes I personally see four cylinders
as the practical limit. Since no one is currently
marketing an inline transversely-mounted six, I
think Im probably right.

Triumph's venerable parallel-twin was developed in the 1930s. The same

basic layout was used by most manufacturers at one time or another.

The V-twin layout has become synonymous with the laid-back

cruiser style. This Honda Shadow is a modern rendition of a
time-tested engine configuration. (Courtesy American Honda
Motor Corporation)

This photo of a BMW opposed-twin engine shows

the lovelyand functionalsymmetery that
inspired this design. Putting the twin cylinders
out in the wind was also a great aid to engine
cooling. (Courtesy BMW North America)