Originally Posted by skr00zloose

and niether do yami, kawi, or suzuki 4 bangers. That's why you have to bang 'm down a few gears and rev the snot out of them to really go anywhere in a hurry.

a 600cc honda inline 4 makes half the torque (if that) of a harley big twin, but revs twice as high. A harley will EAT a sportbike off the line, but it redlines at 6k, newer 600's redline around 14k or more. by the time the harley is bout ready to shift, the inline 4 is in the upper revs and is GONE.

It all comes down to what you want, and how you want to ride. I prefer high torque, b/c I don't like to have to be sitting at stupid high RPM all the time to have power on tap. Some people like screaming along at 10k+ RPM. To each thier own. I've always prefered twins (NOT harley's, just using that as an example) b/c I like to be able to just yank the throttle and GO at lower rpm. Twins tend to make more low-midrange power, inline 4's are RPM motors, you have to be up in the revs to REALLY get them to go.

HP is a byproduct of torque production (and vise versa)....remember that class. The only way to get higher HP with low torque is thru higher rev's. The japanese have damn near perfected that (ever seen F1 cars?) but they still get beat from time to time.

twins are more fun, and easier to ride fast. not too long ago the AMA superbike class was limited to 750cc 4 bangers, but twins were allowed 1000cc's, and ducati was KILLING everyone. Not only b/c of the displacement advantage but b/c ducati (a long time ago) figured out how to make a twin damn near rev to the point of an inline 4. (desmo valves=no valve float). you know the japanese took notice when honda started racing the RC51, switching from the v4 RC45 to the Vtwin. suzuki tried (and failed) with the TL1000...

yamaha didn't do much, and kawi kept developing a turd called the ZX7.

Not bad typing for a drunk guy...lol

there in lies your history/technical lesson for the day.

for the record, the most fun I've ever had on a sporty type motorcycle was on a Honda. A VTR1000 (superhawk) to be exact. Wouldn't be competitive on the track, but godamn if it wasn't fun riding on the street.