CC stands for “cubic centimeters,” sometimes also for “cubic capacity” or “cylinder capacity.” It refers to the capacity of the engine. A 300cc motorcycle has a displacement engine with a capacity of 300 cubic centimeters, which is the same as 300 milliliters.
Car engines, motorcycle engines, and other types of engines are measured in cc. The cylinders inside your motorbike’s engine have a capacity measured in cubic centimeters. Higher cc engines are usually more powerful, but this is not always true. Horsepower measures engine power better than cc.
Car engines have more than one cylinder, and you add all of the cylinders up when measuring a car’s engine capacity. If there are four cylinders that each have a 500cc capacity, the engine has a 2.0 liter capacity in total.
Motorbike engines are smaller and sometimes only use one cylinder, though many have two or more cylinders. More cylinders usually mean more speed and power.
It is not always an advantage to add more cylinders. For example, an engine with three cylinders may be less responsive than one with only one. However, powerful bikes use multi-cylinder engines.
Modern three or four-cylinder engines are better and more reliable than they used to be. Most of the disadvantages of three or four-cylinder motorcycle engines have disappeared with improvements in engine technology.
People sometimes associate “cc” with “engine power” and “speed,” but there is more to speed than engine power and more to engine power than cc. Engine capacity matters a lot, but you should not underestimate what some smaller engines do or assume that any high cc engine is powerful.
What is a Good cc for a Motorcycle?
It depends on what kind of bike you are looking for. If you want a bike that can get you around in a city, even engines below 300cc are good enough. However, you probably want to go fast on an open road sometimes. In that case, go with something more like a 500cc engine, even if you are just starting out.
Some smaller engines are more powerful than others. Sometimes, engines as small as 300cc or 400cc perform reasonably well on highways. However, you usually want to go higher than that if you are using your bike outside of the city.
If you want to go really fast, you need a powerful engine. Often, it will have to be approaching 1000cc. Superbikes that are built for speed have large, roughly 1000cc engines.
If you want to take your bike on a long trip, you should get an adventure bike. Adventure bikes should have a 700cc engine, and many have 1200cc or bigger engines.
An engine does not have a super high capacity to be a good engine. Engines over 700cc – certainly over 1000cc – are more than powerful enough for the open road and for going very fast.
Does More cc Mean More Speed?
Yes, bikes with larger engine capacities are usually faster. This is especially true if you are on a straight stretch of road and don’t have to make turns. Bikes with more engine capacity are usually faster.
Other things matter. The rider’s weight matters, the weight of the bike matters and the mechanics of the bike matter. Even if the engine is powerful, there are a lot of things that can slow a bike down. Lighter bikes are faster than heavier bikes with the same engines.
It is also true that horsepower is a better measure of engine power than cc. CC only measures the capacity of an engine, not how powerful it is. Horsepower directly measures power; cc only indirectly relates to it.
For example, two bikes with engines a little under 1700cc might be very different in power. One engine is a 200hp engine, the other only 90. Even though they have similar capacities, a Yamaha VMAX is more than twice as powerful as a Yamaha MT-01.
Sometimes, an engine with a much smaller capacity can be more powerful. For example, a Yamaha R1 is a little less than 1000cc but is still a 200hp engine. It is still true that a higher-cc bike tends to be faster and more powerful, but there are a lot of exceptions to this rule.
What is the Highest cc on a Motorcycle?
You can get bikes that approach 2000cc or go over 2000cc. Are there any bikes with absurdly large engine capacities? What is the highest cc on any motorcycle?
You can get a bike with a 6000cc engine if you really want it. The Boss Hoss BHC-3 uses an absurdly large 6200cc engine that produces an incredible 445 horsepower. Most other high-cc motorbike engines are a little more than 2000cc, relatively tiny.
Is there anything with an even bigger engine than the Boss Hoss? No one has ever made a road-legal bike with a bigger engine than the Boss Hoss has. Custom bikes with even bigger engines (at least 8300cc) exist, but the Boss Hoss has the biggest engine for any commonly available bike.
There is not much demand for motorbikes with engines that are as large as car engines. Usually, an unusually large motorbike engine is only around 2000cc.
How Many cc Should a Beginner Motorcycle Have?
If you are just getting started, 500cc might be good enough. You can ride fast and accelerate fast with a 500cc engine, and you won’t have to spend a fortune on a 500cc bike. Some 500cc engines are more powerful than others and will seem more than powerful enough to beginners.
500cc engines are not top-of-the-line engines. There is a huge difference between a good 500cc engine and a good 1000+cc engine. If you are more experienced and want a powerful bike, 500cc might not be enough.
In a race, 1000cc engines are much better than 500cc engines. If there is a long, straight part of the track, a 1000cc bike can go much faster than a 500cc bike. If the track has more turns, you may have more of a chance with a smaller engine capacity, but 500cc bikes are not racing bikes. Start with a bike that has a 500cc or 700cc engine.
Some bikes have small, 250cc engines. For some people, these are decent motorbikes. If you use them in a city where there is a lot of traffic and not a lot of opportunity to go very fast, 250cc might be good enough.
However, motorbikes with more powerful engines are more fun. You will be disappointed by your bike’s performance if you start with a 250cc engine.
Start with a 500cc, 700cc, or 1250cc bike, depending on what you can afford. Make sure you consider other things besides the engine. You need a bike that is comfortable for you, and there are plenty of features you might want over a somewhat more powerful engine.
Does More cc Mean Fuel Consumption?
Usually, higher cc engines are less fuel-efficient. A higher cc engine not only uses more fuel but uses more fuel at the same speed. This is because it is harder to get a good fuel-air mix with a bigger engine. Not every bigger engine uses more fuel than every smaller engine, but that is generally true.
Every engine has an “ideal range.” If you run an engine above or below its ideal range, it will be less fuel-efficient. Sometimes, you will get less efficiency with a smaller engine if you are running it above its ideal range all the time.
How Many cc is a Police Motorcycle?
The world’s police forces use fast, powerful motorcycles. Their engines vary in capacity. A lot of police motorcycles use 1100cc, 1200cc, or 1300cc engines. There are also police motorcycles with 1800cc engines; others are 800cc or smaller.
Motorcycle police use different motorbikes in different countries. Motorcycle companies compete with each other to make motorbikes used by police forces.
Police motorbikes have been used for a long time. The first police motorbikes were used back in 1908 by the Detroit police force. They were Harley-Davidsons. The police have been using motorbikes since not long after motorcycles were invented.
A lot of police motorbikes today are also Harleys. Some Harley Davidson police bikes use very large engines (the FLHP police road king uses a 1868cc engine) or relatively small ones (such as the Sportster Iron 883, with an 883cc engine).
Other police departments use BMWs. The BMW F750 and 850GS models are popular with police forces. They also use more powerful BMW bikes, such as the BMW R 1250 RT-P. Many police departments in Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, and the United States use BMW bikes, some of which have relatively small engines.
Honda’s ST1300PA is also popular in some countries, gradually replacing the older ST1000 Pan European that is still in use. These bikes have powerful 4-cylinder 1261cc engines and have a low center of gravity. Police in Scotland, Australia, and Japan ride ST1300PA motorcycles.
Not all police bikes have the biggest engines, but they never have small engines. Police forces need powerful bikes. Some of the engines are below 1000cc, but they are never truly small engines.
