twin vs inline 4

[F4sSprintST]

I grew up on I4's and liked my triumphs 3, but for the street I'm McLuvin the V-Twin


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[Süsser Tod]

Originally Posted by kevin_stevens

That's not entirely true. Torque comes from specific firing instances, and for the same displacement, those bangs are simply bigger and more powerful the fewer cylinders there are. You can design *around* the basic characteristics, but they are still there and still affect the final design of the engine. Nobody is going to confuse a Panigale with an S1000RR.

KeS

That's correct. Eventhough the oversquare engine allows it to rev higher as it keeps the piston speed lower it also makes for huge pistons. Then you have the valve area, which no matter what you do, will always be smaller the less cylinders you have. And if that wasn't enough, filling a larger cylinder with less valve area will always end up in lower VE efficiency.

If Ducati's engineer had managed to engineer out the V-Twin traits out of the Superquadro they wouldn't need an extra 200cc to make the same power as the S1000RR HP4, and proof enough of it's remaining v-twin"ness" is that it makes quite a bit more torque than the HP4.

[old fzr1000]

man... guess i'm one of those weird one's ... don't like twins at all! think they are best suited for cruisers. find myself too often bouncing off rev limiters trying to ring a little more out of em just don't feel like i'm getting it done.
on the other side, looove winding the shit out of an inline and it's smooth power delivery. once spent all winter rebuilding a tl1000r that i bought crashed with 8k on it. finished in spring and sold it 3 weeks later. for what it's worth, don't like the sound either. again, nothing compares to a winding inline. own a first gen r1 and it has more of same tq as most all twin sport bikes PLUS looooves to rev.

[Sequentialshift]

Originally Posted by old fzr1000

man... guess i'm one of those weird one's ... don't like twins at all! think they are best suited for cruisers. find myself too often bouncing off rev limiters trying to ring a little more out of em just don't feel like i'm getting it done.
on the other side, looove winding the shit out of an inline and it's smooth power delivery. once spent all winter rebuilding a tl1000r that i bought crashed with 8k on it. finished in spring and sold it 3 weeks later. for what it's worth, don't like the sound either. again, nothing compares to a winding inline. own a first gen r1 and it has more of same tq as most all twin sport bikes PLUS looooves to rev.

Horses for courses .. hell ,some folk actually enjoy flying !!!!!

[Tony216]

Originally Posted by old fzr1000

man... guess i'm one of those weird one's ... don't like twins at all! think they are best suited for cruisers. find myself too often bouncing off rev limiters trying to ring a little more out of em just don't feel like i'm getting it done.
on the other side, looove winding the shit out of an inline and it's smooth power delivery. once spent all winter rebuilding a tl1000r that i bought crashed with 8k on it. finished in spring and sold it 3 weeks later. for what it's worth, don't like the sound either. again, nothing compares to a winding inline. own a first gen r1 and it has more of same tq as most all twin sport bikes PLUS looooves to rev.

I felt the same way the first time I rode a v-twin (except I like the sound of a v-twin). The more I rode them, the more I like them.

[Davidka]

I wish we could see more cross-plane in-lines. I like the character of my V-twin but the format of an inline is superior in terms of space, weight and simplicity.

[outhouse]

There both a blast on the street.

The 600 i4 did sound like I was murdering it to get all the power.

The 848 twin does seem to give me more control midcorner.It is easier to ride with less skill

[USAFgsxr750again]

some day, i'll get to ride a vtwin and see what all the hooplah is about. i do love the sound of some Vtwins, but i'm fine with the I4 "bogginess" down low. I've never had a problem with I4s getting out of the hole except when in the wrong gear... but easily rectified. i do see how vtwins make it easy to ride. kinda like the Busa, i got lazy with it since i could just leave it in 1 gear and never need to shift until i hit the limiter, but who really needs to shift at 120 on the street?

some day i hope to have an RC in the garage, next to a VFR, next to the 750. oh YEAH!!

[cubic]

i havent had the chance to ride a vtwin yet, only a v4. love the sound of the twins and definatly will get on when i get the chance. only twin there are around here are rc51 and they are overpriced as hell

[No Coast Rider]

I recently got my first V twin coming from a 1000 cc inline 4, and I really prefer the engine character of the V twin to the 4. More power readily available and I can be lazier with the downshifts. The inline was easier to ride in the rain and snow however, because you could just bog the engine down in the low end and not have to worry about spinning the tire. With the V twin you have so much power off idle that you have to be very careful when it's wet out.

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[NYC Diesel]

Originally Posted by No Coast Rider

I recently got my first V twin coming from a 1000 cc inline 4, and I really prefer the engine character of the V twin to the 4. More power readily available and I can be lazier with the downshifts. The inline was easier to ride in the rain and snow however, because you could just bog the engine down in the low end and not have to worry about spinning the tire. With the V twin you have so much power off idle that you have to be very careful when it's wet out.

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I've never road a twin except the 250

But I agree with NCR, I daily ride my zx9(going out into rain in 20m) and the low torque of the I4's really help you feel comfortable when the roads are wet or icy. I honestly think liter bikes are the best commuters because you can commute all day out of the powerband and still be faster then 90% of the other vehicles on the road.

[steingar]

Difference is in-line 4's are faster.

[oic0]

For the same displacement I4s are faster... but I don't race and don't have to follow any sort of displacement limit so that doesn't matter much

I tend to act worse driving a twin. An I4 requires a bit of premeditation before acting up. You have to downshift and wind her up. A twin, the law breaking starts as soon as you twist our wrist. Also the fact that you can lay down some serious power without working the motor hard or drawing attention to yourself with a wail makes you more likely to do it.

[CBROldMan]

Starting to think getting a twin this spring will be a fun ride although now, instead of trading in the 600 i4, I want to get another bike--a twin.

When I was 17, I bought a used single cyl 1968 BSA 441, and it was tons of fun. Was never able to kick start it even with the compression release lever and had it backfire my knee almost up to shoulder height...thank god I lived where there were lot's of hills so bump starting became the norm.

Fond memories of the sound though: the 441 was a awesome sounding thumper--the sound of that engine made me smile everytime I rode it.

[Catog]

I have never ridden an I4. I own a twin. It is fun and has more torque than hp. It is a metric 800 and just about any bike out there will eat it up. It is a Suzuki vx800 and was designed to be an all around ride. My next bike will be a liter bike. I really want a twin liter bike but those are either expensive or hard to find. So I might settle for a 4 or a triple.

My bike is an 800 but it feels more like a 600. It puts out 60hp at the crank and at the wheel it is more like 40 because I'm at 7k feet. Well, it's a fun bike but its not very fast.

My thought on twins is that they are great for cruisers. That instant torque is good. I can put it in 5th at 25 mph and pull up to 90 pretty quickly. However I feel like a 4 will make more use of the torque and will be faster and of course that is true.


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