Every Major Motorcycle Engine Type Ranked From Worst To Best

 Motorcycles come in many shapes and sizes. There are retro-inspired café racers, adventure motorcycle-style scramblers, and speed-oriented sport bikes. They have gotten both smaller and bigger with a variety of designs to cater to a bunch of different lifestyles. You may be familiar with the small bikes that zip around crowded metropolitan areas around the world and cruisers that you can hear coming on the highway a mile away. With so many variations, it's hard to keep track -- especially since those new designs have come with several different engine configurations. 

When it comes to motorcycle engines, a lot of it comes down to personal taste. Some folks like the smooth high-speed of larger engines, while others prefer the smaller, more agile engines for use in deliveries and weaving through city traffic. As such, a list like this has a large degree of preference to it. However, based on what we've seen, we think we can get a reasonably accurate ranking of every motorcycle engine used today. 

In general, we weighed not only the power and balance of the engine but also its popularity and use cases. Most motorcycles are used in crowded cities worldwide, so we put a bit of extra weight on motorcycles that are adept at that kind of behavior. So, technically, yes, the V4 is a more capable engine than a parallel twin, but parallel twins are much better in the city than a V4, so we think the parallel twin is better for most types of motorcycle shoppers. Let the games begin. 

Alternative And Rare Engine Types

There are a lot of motorcycle engines out there and not all of them are popular enough for a list like this. So, we thought we'd take a minute to highlight some of the rarer and more unique examples of engines that you probably can't get. For example, there are only a handful of five-cylinder motorcycles, and most aren't for sale anymore. Honda did make a five-cylinder engine, but it was used almost exclusively for racing. So, while these engines exist, you can't really get your hands on them without a lot of effort. 

However, what we really wanted to highlight here is the unique fuel turbine engine of the MTT Streetfighter, one of the fastest motorcycles in the world. You wouldn't know it just from looking, but the powerplant in that thing is something special. You can technically buy an MTT Streetfighter, although they reportedly cost well north of $150,000, depending on the year and who you ask. It sounds like a jet engine because it's essentially powered by one. Only serious collectors should even consider trying to find one. 

There are also EV motorcycles available. Zero Motorcycles sells some, as do a few competitors. Some are highway capable and get decent range for how small the battery packs are, while others are scooter types for getting around town. However, this is an emerging technology that is almost certainly going to improve over the next decade or so. EV engines aren't bad, but they're still not quite there yet.

V8

It's incredible to think that V8 motorcycles exist in the wild and that you can actually buy one. There are very few examples of this, but perhaps none more notable than the Boss Hoss. These come with slightly modified versions of the same V8 engine that comes in a Chevy Corvette. Nope, that's not a typo, nor is it a joke. These things have sports car engines in them, and it's hilarious. However, there are plenty of other examples of V8 engines in motorcycles, such as the ancient Curtiss V8 or the Lazareth LM 847. They are all massive.

So, why is this monstrosity at the bottom of the list? For obvious reasons. There are only a handful of examples, so it's highly unlikely that most riders will ever run into a bike like this. The engine isn't the hardest to work on, but it consumes fuel like crazy. They are also huge, unwieldy, loud, and heavy. Bikes made with V8 engines are not for weaving in and out of traffic -- they're made to go mostly in a straight line. That puts a hard limit on the type of buyer who would want something like this. 

On the plus side, when made correctly, V8 motorcycles are super fun. Reports are that the Boss Hoss, at least, rides surprisingly well for its massive size. There's usually plenty of power across the torque range and it'll get you to highway speeds as quickly as any V8 can.