09-04-2020, 03:36 AM
(09-04-2020, 02:31 AM)Jim21680_imp Wrote: I too will always love the SV650, as it was my first bike. A great-riding machine, and with an aftermarket pipe, they really sound amazing.....by far the best-sounding motorcycle I've owned.
I've always wondered....does a V-twin offer ANY advantages over a 270-degree parallel twin? I suppose it can be a bit narrower, but literally everything else seems to favor the inline motor. I do remember replacing the rear plug on the SV being a particularly annoying job.
Ask Ducati and Harley Davidson. It seems like they are married to the V-twin concept historically. In Ducati's case, with a narrower engine, there is less frontal area and drag.
A vertical twin has its connecting rods far apart largely determined by the piston bores and location of cam chain. This causes a "rocking couple" vibration. So all the newer vertical twins have counterbalancers, which means a little larger crankcase add a little more weight.
But that's still less than a second cylinder head, etc. And only the Triumph and Royal Enfield twins have the cam drive between the cylinders. And the location of the intakes would be more compact, and allow for a bigger airbox and bigger gas tank.
A v-twin can allow the connecting rods to be side by side (or forked in HD's case), so the vibrations from the "rocking couple" are minimized. Now with 270 degree crankpins and counterbalancers, I can't see any real advantages of the v-twin.