# Engine RPMs on bikes and cars differ greatly. Why ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-rpms-on-bikes-and-cars-differ-greatly-why/99562>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 22, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-rpms-on-bikes-and-cars-differ-greatly-why/99562 "2002-03-22T18:43:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-rpms-on-bikes-and-cars-differ-greatly-why/99562/1 "2002-03-22T18:43:03Z")

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Curious, does your post have no body text?

For the most part it’s a matter of scale. A bigger displacement engine has more recipiocating mass putting practical limits on RPM. While a bigger engine can be built for high RPM the vibration and noise is a distinct drawback in a car but not as big an issue in MCs. Engine designers can trade low RPM torque for high RPM peak horsepower as appropriate.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-rpms-on-bikes-and-cars-differ-greatly-why/99562/2 "2002-03-22T18:50:31Z")

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The OP is missing, a problem I’ve seen a few times in the last few days. I’ll close this thread and suggest that **xash** try again.