Motorcycle Engine Types and Differences

Which motorcycle engine configuration is your favourite? Single, V-Twin, Parallel Twin, Flat Twin, Flat Four, Flat Six, Inline Four or Inline Six?

Thanks you for your comments! I do my best to keep up with them for the first few days after a video comes out, but due to the volume of comments on all of my videos, and to the general hustle and bustle of life, I must give up the fight after a while. If you are leaving a question four or more days after a video comes out I can't guarantee I'll see it, but perhaps one of my other viewers knows the answer and can help out. Thanks in advance to those who contribute and share their knowledge. Cheers and stay safe everyone!

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Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0

[dshall]

I've had air cooled, liquid cooled, v twin in both directions, and inline 4. I've loved them all. Guess I'm a simple man, as long as it runs and has 2 wheels I'm good!

[ssmit]

I like the tripples. They sound good, and are very smooth.

[SamiNami]

People hate on pararell twins, but I just want the most reliable engine :)

[robertlindstrom]

Owned a VFR RC36 some 15 years ago. Best engine I´ve ever had, the bike was a ton of fun, too. Very hard to keep to the speed limits, though...

[millinutz]

Fantastic.., the amount of research and editing time you invest for our education and or enjoyment.
Thanks for yet another 1st class production.
Greets from 🇨🇭, Steve.

[didierdidier]

In 44 years of riding I've had a lot of motorcycles but one configuration I like best was my 1999 Honda VFR 800

[nungua]

'..may the spokes be with you' - love it. Great video!

[toofastnobrakes]

In-line 4 motorcycles are like music to me, especially cross planes like the R1

[michaelsmith]

My favourite is the triple and I own/have owned most configurations. Triple sounds good is smooth enough and can be revved hard. Power is more than adequate. (It was a Triumph tiger 800)

[scottstewart]

New sub based on this video. I'm a triple guy - 2020 Tiger 1200. The sound when you pull from third from about 3000 rpms is sublime on the standard arrow exhaust. Hard to describe it.

[exothermal.sprocket]

6:27 correction: KTM 490 (anticipated)/790/890 ADV/R models are not 270° configured, but 285° which has the same firing interval as their 75° Vtwins. Same pressure wave pattern exiting the exhaust system essentially, relative to crank rotation timing.
Firing order: the sequence in which a multi-cylinder engine fires, ie. cylinder x, then cylinder y, then cylinder z, etc.
Firing interval: the timing in which a multi-cylinder engine fires, relative to crank angle, ie. 270° - 450° - 270° - 450° - etc
"Firing interval" determines the ultimate tone/frequency of the sound. "Firing order" is dependent on configuration, crankpin relative angles, balance, all sorts of factors.

[dalastark]

I've got a DR800S and i love it. And the sound. Wow.

[jamesbarbato]

Your videos are my favorite I always look forward to watching them. Thank you.

[I_like_Turtles_and_Hayabusas]

My single 125cc is slow, incredibly boring in a highway and as awful mpg but it doesn't eat sprockets or tires and its incredibly forgiving. I like it.

[marclapalme]

For me my favourite is a 2 stroke triple! I wish the snowmobile manufacturers would bring them back. The sound was awesome!

[donpet]

Riding 50+ years I think Iv actually owned every engine type ! Obviously the best engine depends on what you’re trying to accomplish and what category of use. I don’t own one now, but I think the most practical every day use engine by design would be the new parallel twins with the 270 Cranks

[mueckenhoeffer]

My favorite design? The 5 cylinder radial mounted inside the front wheel. I stumbled across this design at the Motorradmuseum Heinz Luthringshauser, in Otterbach, Germany years ago. No clutch, no transmission, and the engine stopped when the bike did. Oddly enough, two or three manufacturers back in the 1920s tried this design.

Of the more modern bikes, there are so many interesting designs. V-twins and parallel twins are my favorites. Simpler is better.

[mikeopo]

Single on the Vespa, Paralell Twin on the Tracer, V-Twin on the Harley, I use all these three

[videotosse]

Still miss my old V4 two stroke. Talk about character when power delivery and sound is considered :-)

[colindixon]

Nice video, nobody can be upset in the comments this time 😂