Megabusa or Megablade?

[Richard]

I've enjoyed various trackdays with my 155 BHP Speedsport, however, I have now come to the conclusion that I want a BEC based on their performance and how I have seem them handle both on the road and on track. (I don't want to spend any more money on upgrading my current speedsport)

I was fortunate enough to have drive in Megablade last week (on the road) which was very impressive. However I cannot decide between a Megabusa or Megablade. Can anyone offer any advice on the following;

1. What price does a well sorted Megablade go for and what price can I expect to pay for a well sorted Megabusa? I also realize that Megabusa's do not come up for sale very often so I suppose I could be waiting a long time.

2. Is the difference in price worth the difference in performance?

3. I've heard the Megabusa can a nightmare on the road, is this true?

The car will be used 50/50 trackday and road.

Appreciate any comments

Thanks

[Matt Seabrook]

I would have thought the extra torque of the busa on the road would be handy as you are going from a CEC to a BEC

[Crash Override]

What about the Megabird?

[Richard]

Thought the Megabird wasn't as reliable as blade and busa?

But then again, I'm still new to this!  

Think I've only ever seen one Megabird advertised?

[Terry Everall]

I know where there is a Megabird for sale!about £12k

Busa will be more and Blade about £9k I guess

Busa performance is awesome on trak compared to most cars except those of high spec

[higgsti]

blades are cheaper because engines easier to source and on paper there isnt much difference in speed.the bird didnt spend as long as the ultimate sports bike so fewer engines about and like the busa needs dry sumping and for the difference in power above the blade isnt worth the extra .this is only my opinion try them all

[busapower2001]

Busa nightmare on road? Nope not one bit. I only use mine on the road and it's a dream.

I went busa purely for max torque. 6th gear 30mph pull away

[jonlewis]

Blade... Excellent, Cheaper to buy, Cheaper to Maintain, Lacking in torque

Bird... Anecdotal unreliability, Mid Range Pricing, Good All Rounder.

Busa... High Prices, High Performance, Much better Torque, lower revs.

I had to make the same decision and went for Busa, but I don't think you would be disapointed with any of them.

[Crash Override]

Don't know where people get the idea the Bird engine is unreliable?  Mine has done 4000 miles in the bike and a further 4000+ miles in my westy with out a problem.

Ok it does have to be dry sumped in the westy due to oil surge but if it's going on track then it's a good idea any way.

I had one problem 100 miles after finishing my westy but that was the dry sump system due to a bit of a design flaw.

Maybe I'm predudiced or been luckier than others, but I rekon it's a good solid motor.

Any way whatever you decide Happy Motoring.

[mb893]

Blade.. the "no torque myth" is just that. Cheap, no frills fun and less complicated than the Busa/Bird variants.

But then I'm a bit biased...

[deadscoob]

The no torque myth is true with all becs. You will notice a big difference when a passenger gets in though. Judging by the average person on this board, a passenger makes up at least 20% of the cars weight

[jonlewis]

20% may be an understatement from the members that I have seen  

[mrblondie]

i know where a very nice yellow busa westie is for sale with lots of nice bits on  

mail me off line if your interested in know more

Blondie

[busapower2001]

Torque is definitely not a problem! Sure a(n additional) person makes up a large percentage of the vehicles weight but there is plenty of torque regardless to propell said rocket machine forwards. The difference with and without passenger in a busa is certainly not particularly noticable. In my opinion people mistake the ease of stalling of BECs for a lack of torque when in reality it is more due to the fact that a bike engine's clutch is set up for hand operation rather than the right foot!

Thinking of a pullaway condition a busa's peak torque (at bikes wheels so at flywheel is greater) is 98.4 lbs ft at  9750rpm and from 2200rpm there is already 70lbs ft. A 1.8 K series has 115 lbs ft at 2200 rpm and 120lbs ft maximum. Sure it is less than than a K series but > 70 lbsft at the flywheel is certainly not no torque! When you then take into account that the gearbox (and diff) is simply a torque multiplier device (sacrificing engine revs for increasing torque or vice versa) then the torque at the wheels in first gear will be very large!

Finally given that BEC engines rev to higher rpms this gives you more "reserve" for a given gear ratio at multipliying up the engines torque to get larger torques at the wheels.

I am not trying to say BEC's are Better than CEC's etc as that has been discussed argued many different times in the past! It is more a case of apples and pears between BEC's & CEC's. I am simply trying to point out that "no torque" myth is just that!

Give me a high bhp/tonne vehicle and an engine with the most revs and most torque any day!

[steve wilson]

Theres a megablade just come up for sale on the BEC website for £9500ono