Having a very quiet day at work and been dreaming all day and what better that dreaming about bikes. So, I ended up thinking about V-twin and Inline 4 engine. So, I thought I will post this up and see what you guys have to say about this two engines and I might learn something from it.
I have a never own a V-Twin bike (my bike history are NSR125, CBR600FS and 99 R1) and as far as my knowledge go, V-Twin produce more torque in the low and mid range and Inline 4 have more top end speed and power, So V-Twin give you more power out of a corner and off the line compare with inline 4.
Therefore, my opinion is unless you use your bike on the track a lot V-Twin seem to be more fun because you can get the available power/torque at the low and mid range on the day to day use, Inline 4 on the other hand, you don’t really use its power on a day to day bases because they are at the top of the rev count.
i’ve only ever owned V-Twin’s (SV650 AND 1000), but i have rode many IL4’s…
plus points for V-twins is torque…you dont have to rev the nuts off them, tho the SV6 did need to be revved!!
out of corners they are better, you can get the power down earlier…and IMO because you arne’t chasing the revs for power…your less likely to highside, Twins are vibey, can be annoying when your not in the mood for it! plus they also have awesome engine braking…this to me is a big plus…hammering through twixties i rarely brake, just roll off the throttle…
then theres the sound!! a big Vee on full chat with open pipes is beautifull!!! and at idle they thump like a heartbeat!
then there’s IL4’s…nice and smooth not as vibey as a twin, they do sound good but they just dont sounds as good as a Vee, i have rode Gixxa’s…R1’s…etc and they are fun but they just dont do it for me, the only thing that would sway me is the smoothness and top end power, the IL4’s i have rode have superior handling to my SV, this is another bonus…but put me on Superduke or RSV mille or Ducati…and you can keep your bloody IL4’s!
as Adz said singles are fun too, specially S’Moto’s!
Well I have a V twin in my collection and it’s bloody fantastic … it toddles around with loads of grunt and bluster dumps power on the road in huge dollops and sounds gorgeous. Oh yeah it’s an MT 01 … the fast Deep Armor one of course. I do have a couple of IL4’s which are gr8 in a different sort of way. :D:cool:
As has been said, the V-twin has the low end grunt, and I find it pretty addictive but the vibes can be a bit wearing on a long run. Having had an old IL4 for many years I think that on long motorway runs I would go for the smoothness of the four but for day to day V-twin every time!
Did I sow a seed of interest the other night?? Hope to see you again soon!
Sort of, but the main reason for getting the power down better in corners (without risk of highside etc) is that the power is delivered in pulses rather than the more consistent pull of a four.
Since the “pulse” has longer moments of on/off power, during the off period it allows the tyre to regrip, whereas the four wouldn’t and is less forgiving if it starts to lose it.
I used to prefer ILF’s in my younger days, but as I got older I’ve started to really appreciate the lower pull of twins and bought one last year.
For town riding they are waaaay better than fours. the low and mid range is far more useable on the road without having to get the revs up to generate the power.
That said, a sunny sunday in the twisties can be good fun with a four screaming up in the higher revs - ideally its best to have one of each
had a SV 1000 for the past year and a half, think i’ve pretty much mastered (or got used to it) it now so am gonna be looking into summin else. Thought about an IL4 but think I might get a triple, as someone else said, seem to be best of both worlds.
It’s a misconception that a V2 produces more torque than an IL4…in most circumstances, with like-for-like capacity, an IL4 will produce more torque and power than a V2. However, the way they deliver their drive feels completely different.
Without going on about why, the most noticeable differences are that an IL4 will feel smoother, will lose traction more suddenly, and has a top end surge, whereas the V2 will vibrate more, loses traction in a more predictable manner, and has less top end surge.
Because riding a V2 needs to use its torque to maximise drive, and has less of a power surge than an IL4, it can feel lazy, or even slow, but is invariably deceptively fast. I also find with a V2 that I can get on the gas harder coming out of corners whilst still cranked over, as it’s less likely to suddenly spin-up. However, I also love the buzz of thrashing an IL4.
There’s a vast range of different engine configurations out there you can buy - singles, parallel twins, flat twins, IL3s, V-3s, flat 4s, V-4s, square-4s, IL6s, flat-6s, V8s…
You’ve even got the current R1 which apparently whenever stopped by plod, asks “Is it because I is a V-twin?”
This is exactly how I felt when I test rode an SV1000, thought it felt slow and lazy until I looked down at the speedo:D Have to say I absolutely hated it (first time I’d ridden a twin) and much prefer the 4. Got a triple now and it’s a very good mix of the two:)
Very true my IL4,s produce much more torque and mid range than my V twin Superduke and have a lot more top end (you don’t have to rev the nuts off my Il4’s to get them going)
I always find it funny listening to people going on about there V Twin grunt.
on my old mille i can roll the throttle to 3k rpm and them full acceleration (not on off)and it will wheelie.on my k2 gixxer 1000 it wouldnt wheelie till 6-7k rpm,now my gixxer had about 30 bhp more and probly more torque to
and at idle they thump like a heartbeat!
