http://www.crash.net/news_view...9.htm

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Honda 800 breaks cover, V4 engine.

Dani Pedrosa riding Honda's new 800cc MotoGP machine.
The New Ducati 800, Brno MotoGP Test, 2006
Rossi rides 800cc Yamaha, Brno tests, 2006
Honda has revealed that that its new 800cc MotoGP machine, which made its first public appearance during testing at Motegi on Monday, has a V4 engine.

The machine, to be raced in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship, has been the subject of much speculation - with Honda keeping its engine design secret right until Monday's test.

Honda currently uses an adventurous V5 engine configuration for its 990cc RC211V, but will now join its rivals in switching to four-cylinders for 2007. Ducati and Suzuki already use a V4, whilst Yamaha and Kawasaki favour an inline-4 layout. Honda's MotoGP rivals are all set to use scaled down versions of their existing 990cc engines for the first year of the new 800cc rules.

The new bike was given to factory Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa for the first time on Monday, while championship leading team-mate Nicky Hayden concentrated on improving his 990cc machine for the upcoming title showdown with Valentino Rossi. Honda test riders Tady Okada and Gaku Kamada were also present.


By the end of 30 laps, Pedrosa had recorded an impressive time of 1min 48.210secs - just 0.4secs slower than his fastest 990cc lap in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix and 0.37secs faster than Rossi's Monday best on the new Yamaha 800. However, Pedrosa was 0.8secs slower than the Bridgestone shod Ducati 800, in the hands of Sete Gibernau.

"The first feeling is that the new bike runs well and this is very important - it works normally and everything feels fine," said Dani. "The engine character feels a little different and this is to be expected but the package is quite similar to the RC211V. Some things about the bike feel smaller and the rear seat is much shorter which makes the whole bike look more compact. The bike has some characteristics which are a little more like a 250cc but it's still a MotoGP bike. The lap time today is quite good for a first test but it's too early to say whether it will be faster than the 990. The cornering speeds feel very similar to the RCV – though the corner speed at Motegi is very low because there are many hairpins, so it's very difficult to say definitely whether it'll be quicker. This was a good first test though."

Yamaha's Colin Edwards was the fastest rider on Monday, setting a 1min 46.68secs with the 990cc M1, while Gibernau was a head-turning second fastest overall on his 800 debut. Hayden was fourth quickest, behind Kenny Roberts Jr, but - unlike team-mate Pedrosa - will continue testing on Tuesday, when he will get his first taste of the Honda 800.

"Overall it was a pretty good day - I was able to run 1min 47sec laps easier than I had been over the weekend so even though the bike hadn't changed I feel like I was riding a bit better," said Nicky, who will head into the final two rounds of the season just 12 points ahead of Rossi. "Today we mostly tested some different parts for the clutch, I did some practice starts and tried to find something that worked into the corners and can still handle the starts. We don't want to use anything that's too risky because the last thing we can afford right now is a DNF. I didn't try the 800 because I've got plenty of work to do with the current bike and I don't need to take on too many new projects right now. It looked really cool though and I'm looking forward to getting a crack on the 800 tomorrow."


Leading Motegi MotoGP test times – Monday

1. Colin Edwards USA Camel Yamaha Team 1min 46.68 secs
2. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 800 1min 47.41 secs
3. Kenny Roberts Jr USA Team Roberts 1min 47.64 secs
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 47.70 secs
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 800 1min 47.89 secs
6. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Team Suzuki MotoGP 1min 47.89 secs
7. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 800 1min 48.21 secs
8. Tady Okada JPN Honda 1min 48.43 secs
9. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 800 1min 48.58 secs
10. Nobuatsu Aoki JPN Team Suzuki MotoGP 1min 50.48 secs
</TD></TR></TABLE>




Modified by EngineNoO9 at 10:12 AM 9/26/2006

 

pics:
http://www.motoliam.com/2006/0....html

 

those same pics are on the page that I linked though my load times right now for the original link are terrible... heh

 

...i wonder how much the future street version will cost...hmmmmm

 

prolly as much as the 990 street version cost

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EGlovr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">prolly as much as the 990 street version cost</TD></TR></TABLE>

prolly more.

 

What were the times for the 990 bikes?

 

is it me, or do the 800's seem faster?

 

I dunno. I bet Cardoso doesn't either. Mwahahahahaha!

 

wow.. they're small! The Honda's tail reminds me of a Buell

Seriously, I can't wait for the street going versions to come out. Maybe 3 or 4 years?

 

uh that was free practice 1.... the 990's are faster

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ScareyH22A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wow.. they're small! The Honda's tail reminds me of a Buell

Seriously, I can't wait for the street going versions to come out. Maybe 3 or 4 years?</TD></TR></TABLE>

uh what? it'll never happen. I've posed this question before asking if we'll get some more 750cc bikes or 800cc even... The market isn't there. it WILL NOT happen

 

the 990s are faster now. but that wont last too long. these high revving 800's are going to be sick. (well, they already are but you know what im saying)

 

I really wish honda would make more sport oriented V-4 bikes. A supersport v-4 and a some kind of naked v-4 to compete with the SV650 would be awesome. The VFR is awesome, but its way more sport tourer than anything.

 

Wow that rear is definitely short. I wonder if it'll make a difference in the long straights.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rjay8604 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I really wish honda would make more sport oriented V-4 bikes. A supersport v-4 and a some kind of naked v-4 to compete with the SV650 would be awesome. The VFR is awesome, but its way more sport tourer than anything. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm with ya on wishing Honda would make a true V-4 sportbike. The VFR is an awesome ride, and while it resides on the sport end of sport-touring, it definitely not up to par with true sportbikes in terms of sporting performance.
I wonder why Honda has not already done this...surely they've considered it.
To me, the V4 is the best of both worlds in a 4-cyl. motorcycle. Enough torque so you're not constantly having to downshift to get into the power, yet it pulls harder and harder towards red-line like an inline 4. I think that riding a bike with a V-motor, 2 or 4 cyl. affords a generally more relaxing ride on the street. You don't have to shift as much or worry about staying in a peaky power band.
I think a V4 900cc at sub 400 lbs dry with good suspension and it would be a seriously awesome machine.

 

oooh and already crash tested!

 

doesn't surprise me since it's pedrosa's bike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by miketegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm with ya on wishing Honda would make a true V-4 sportbike. The VFR is an awesome ride, and while it resides on the sport end of sport-touring, it definitely not up to par with true sportbikes in terms of sporting performance.
I wonder why Honda has not already done this...surely they've considered it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

One word: cost.

A V4 has two heads so its twice as complex making it more expensive to produce as well as more difficult to service. Honda is all about sharing engine architectures across several different model lines so a V4 would have to be used in a bunch of different bikes to offset the cost a bit.

Personally I think they could probably sell more bikes if they had their own unique character. The V4 is a big part of their racing history and the current president of the company worked on what I think was their first racing V4.

I think a V4 600RR, 1000RR, Interceptor, 599, and 919 (just give it a detuned 1000RR engine) would be a really cool and unique lineup for Honda. It might cost a bit more but the sportbikes would benefit from a better powerband and a narrower profile, and all of the bikes would sound a lot cooler. I think if the 600RR was light, powerful, and sounded really awesome they could really stand out from the crowd of cookie cutter inline 4 supersports.

Probably pretty unlikely to happen though

 

I &lt;3 v4's and agree. Sadly I don't think we're gonna ever see v4 supersports and superbikes for awhile if ever as well as more 750-800cc bikes :-\ One can only dream I guess

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JMU R1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I think if the 600RR was light, powerful, and sounded really awesome they could really stand out from the crowd of cookie cutter inline 4 supersports.

Probably pretty unlikely to happen though </TD></TR></TABLE>

if the 600rr or any of the other 600 SS bikes actually broke the mold, i would considering buying one. and i bet many other people would as well.

and after seeing the last pick, i need to find me one of those HRC rain suits.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by miketegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
To me, the V4 is the best of both worlds in a 4-cyl. motorcycle. Enough torque so you're not constantly having to downshift to get into the power, yet it pulls harder and harder towards red-line like an inline 4. I think that riding a bike with a V-motor, 2 or 4 cyl. affords a generally more relaxing ride on the street. You don't have to shift as much or worry about staying in a peaky power band.</TD></TR></TABLE>

what does engine shape (v, inline, flat) have to do with power/torque output?

 

the way each motor is typically designed basically sets how the motor will perform - aka if you really wanted an inline 4 to be a torque monster you could do it while sacrificing peak horsepower. The v-shape motor also more importanly gives a better weight distribution then the inline bikes as well as being more narrow. here's the best article I can seem to find on it. Even though it compares v-twins vs inline and not v-4 vs inline
http://motorcyclebloggers.com/...fours/

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tharptroy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

what does engine shape (v, inline, flat) have to do with power/torque output?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Generally V-Fours give a very linear power curve, V-Twins do the same but produce higher amounts of torque per stroke due to their displacement. Inline engines are more peaky but can produce bigger peak gains, with flat or boxer engines acting IMO like triples more than anything else, i.e bigger midrange. However when you get into high tech engines an inline four can be made to act more like a V by changing the firing order. Most MotoGP bikes have very odd firing orders and V angles as well as ultra low friction pistons and valvetrain. The ideal engine would give a completely linear response from tickover to redline.

 

yeah, the top answer was the one I was looking for: nothing really. (weight distribution of course)

its more in the cylinder head design, camshafts, bore and stroke than the engine shape.