How different is a V-Twin to In Line 4?

[trickysax]

Basically, I've had the Bandit for nearly 5 years now and have been very happy with it (comfy and great for commuting) and things are starting to go on it - its a P Plate with 43k on so its done well so far! I've been looking at other bikes and saw an SV650 K4 on sale in my local bike shop. When I asked about it, they asked "Have you ever ridden a V-Twin before?". I thought it was an odd question and they just said the two types of engine are quite different.

So, what are the differences?

All help welcome!
RF
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

V- Twins tend to feel more torquey at lower revs. Also more engine braking than on a 4.

Get a test ride if you're not sure. The SV650 isn't bad particularly V-Twin like as it's not in a high state of tune.
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[snikks]

As I understand it, an Inline four is more "peaky" and has surges of power - the V-Twin is a smoother power delivery and more torquey.

Hard to speak with authority, as though I've ridden both, my twin was a 125 and my I4 is a 600. I do love the screaming howl of the I4 as the revs get high
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[HD]

V-twin has low down grunt and the IL4 has peak power.

All depends on what you are after. Some riders chase after the screamings IL4's for their topend power whereas other riders like the torquey engines to pull them out of corners and from a stop.

All personal choice and, as said, a test ride may be a good way to find out what your after.

HTH
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[yen_powell]

Can't say I've really noticed a difference and I've had lots of both.
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[G]

Often it's not to do with the engine configuration, but the intended purpose. For instance a 748 will probably be more 'revvy' than your bandit, as it's trying to eek a fair bit of power for sporty purposes out of a limited engine size.
The TRX850 only revs to 8k rpm, yet actually is distinctly 'power bandy', presumably down to it's 5 valve head.

Sports twins are often pretty unusable low down because of the nature of the power delivery - meaning the smoother inline 4, at least at higher capacities, works better.

The SV650 is similarly bland to the bandit, not sure there's a massive difference. Neither has much low down go, but suspect the SV will be missing a little top end.

[Polarbear]

If you go for the larger capacity bikes (1000's etc.) it makes a hell of a difference.

I dislike big twins, in fact I bloody hate riding them. I hate that lumpy feeling at low revs. My mate has a factory Aprilla and I find it god awful to ride but he loves it and is bloody fast on it. Sounds good as well!

Horses for courses really.
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[pinkyfloyd]

An Inline 4 sounds like a bumble bee farting in a tin can.

A V Twin sounds like the devil and his horsemen coming for you on a thundery night.



To the Polarbear dude. My V2 is great at low revs. Only lump is the muppet on the seat.
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[G]

[pinkyfloyd]

[c-m]

V engines are often heavier and worse on fuel than in line fours
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[G]

I do appreciate that some people would prefer their vehicle to sound closer to a tractor than an F1 car.
Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.

[Seb]

All the IL4s I've ridden have been far more refined than any VTwin I've owned, even my Futura was utterly agricultural compared to my near 20 year old XJR.

Don't get too suckered in by the 'loads more bottom end thing' with V Twins either, my ZX9 could pull away smoothly if rather slowly in 6th gear and proceed to roll along almost at tick over with no lurching or juddering whatsoever, rolling on from that was glacially slow but it'd do it. Accidentally trying to pull away in second on the Futura usually resulted in it stalling and the SP1 was bad enough in first, let alone any other gear.

V Twins tend to have a flatter power delivery compared to a similar IL4 though, my Futura's power was pretty much a flat straight line with virtually no power band to speak of once past ~4000rpm. The SP1 had more of a rush past 6000 but it still felt flat compared to my ZX9 which pretty much went banzai past 8k.

Don't get me wrong though, it might sound like I'm bashing them but I actually prefer the feel of a V Twin. To me IL4s just buzz whereas I find V Twins are easier to get a feel for what they are doing. That and you just get more drama with a big twin, on the SP1 it really didn't matter where you were in the rev range, when you opened the throttle it felt and sounded like the world was ending The ZX9 was every bit as loud and likely quicker but just didn't deliver the same excitement unless it was screaming away doing silly speeds as a result.
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[rac3r]

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[Teflon-Mike]

Split the difference....
V4
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[stonesie]

[Kickstart]

Hi

V or inline engine makes pretty much no difference. Main thing it affects is packaging of the engine in the bike with some effect on the power pulses (at the limit it might make a minor difference to how the rear wheel loses grip, but unlikely any road rider or even 90% of track riders will be that close).

A twin compared to a 4 will either have a longer stroke (and longer stroke engine tend to be lower reving, with power biased to low revs) and / or a FAR wider bore (which will give a worse combustion chamber shape).

Power is torque x rpm (torque is the turning effect of a force, nothing to do with a flexible power delivery), so you can make more power by either making more torque or making torque at higher revs. The basic limit for revs is piston speed, so the longer the stroke (which a twin will have) the less revs so the less power, but maybe more torque from the longer stroke.

However a lot of how an engine feels is down to what state of tune it is in (and a longer stroke engine could be said to be in a lower state of tune by default), and also things like how much of a flywheel effect it has (ie, bigger fly wheel will mean it revs up slower, but the weight of the crank itself will have much the same effect as the weight of the flywheel).

All the best

Keith
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[Villers]

The actual outright performance of the V-twin against a similar sized IL4 is also a lot less. My RSV should have something like 130hp, from a 1 litre twin. A litre IL4 of the same year will be looking at 150-60? Ignoring that, my litre twin will just and so pull away from a 2009 ZX6R.

The important thing for me is that I couldnt live with 600's anymore, eventually found my 6R to be like a torture rack and the noise was just another one of my senses it annoyed. The V-twin lets me enjoy things more. The Hayabusa would out perform the engine in the RSV at pretty much any revs, I don't buy into this torque talk either
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[stonesie]

[Kickstart]

Hi

For grip, a twin has a bigger gap between power pulses, but the power pulses are bigger. Hence you the thump can break traction but then has longer to regain it (this is happening something like 100 times a second, so not something you will feel directly). Practically means that it breaks away slightly earlier and less violently.

For speed revving up, the pistons are not going to make that much difference (in the time the revs take to rise from 4k to 5k the pistons will probably have gone up and down 100+ times). But a big and heavy crank (heavier because it needs to support a longer stroke, and also needs to cope with larger and more violent power pulses, and also with a true V twin having no main bearing between the 2 big ends it needs to be stronger to compensate for the lack of support) and flywheel will need more effort to accelerate or slow down.

All the best

Keith
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[clancy]

[seb421]

I Ride both a Firestorm and a Blade (RR3) Regular

If some one said to me you can have any bike you want for free it would have to be a 1098/1198 or the 848 (not into the new one)

The inline 4 is a buzz and the RR3 is super light @168kg but the power delivery is so very different


Power >
On a Twin you can really lay the power down out the corner, they dont have the top end pull of a IL4, From the lights a big twin is a monster they surge away with instant lumps of torque that dont require it to be revved to the moon to get the most out of it, Engine braking is amazing on a twin if you have come from an IL4 such an aid when late braking

its cat and mouse over the mountains until the fuel light comes on and you go shit!! while the lads are wondering why your flashing the lights trying to get them to slow down

Feel >
The twin wins hands down, the inline 4 feels like a lump between your legs, a lump with power! but the twin has something about it, you feel more connected with the bike, the vibes.

Noise >
i prefer the noise of a large IL4 with a decent can, makes you want to ride like a nob tho, well it does me i want to hear it screaming, The twin is like riding along with gods plumbing under your seat, it thumps it bangs and it has soul

As a commuter bike id take a twin, feel much safer on an icy or wet road with a predictable smooth low down grunty twin, but then there shit on fuel...

To be honest i love them both, but would take a modern twin over a modern IL4 any day.

[yambabe]

[G]

[Blau Zedong]

While I agree with G on the gearing thing, it's irrelevant as it would be virtually impossible to set say, a S1000RR and a Ducati 1198 with the same gearing as most of the difference is set in stone with primary drive and gearbox ratios designed to suit the engine's power characteristics. You wouldn't get enough change by simply swapping sprockets. So the argument that the Twin is only gruntier due to gearing and that if you geared a 1000 IL4 the same it would develop more thrust is meaningless, as it can't be done.
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