What's an inline-4 like?

[IcyHound]

I'm on a FZ6. I love it. The low end is mellow. Almost like a car and little torque under 4k. It is great in stop and go traffic because it just kinda drifts forward without issues.

All the power of the I4 is up top. They humm, buzz, and then scream to life. The FZ6 starts kissing its power band at 6k and at 8k its a totally different machine. I love it.

[HYPERR]

I'm on a FZ6. I love it. The low end is mellow. Almost like a car and little torque under 4k. It is great in stop and go traffic because it just kinda drifts forward without issues.

All the power of the I4 is up top. They humm, buzz, and then scream to life. The FZ6 starts kissing its power band at 6k and at 8k its a totally different machine. I love it.

I agree. The 600cc inline 4 from Japan are amazing engines. They don't put out much torque at the lower RPM but it is still smooth as butter and perfectly happy and stress free even at very low rpms.

It's funny because the L-Twin on my Ducati is a torque monster but at lower rpms, you can tell it isn't really happy. It just vibrates the wrong way and you can tell it's sorta stressed.

You would think it would be the other way around....

[Skier]

Wow! That honda is purrrty! Why don't we get any of those bikes here???

Honda did bring those bikes to North America for a couple years. Nobody bought them.

'cept one guy who bought one and rode it to Alaska....... so he can't be taken seriously

Just kidding of course.....

I got mine second-hand so I didn't pad Honda's numbers at all.

I am a cheap bastrd.

[Grey Thumper]

The new twin cylinder F650 is actually supposed to be quite a bit more powerful than the old thumper. The bugs should be worked out of it since it is almost the same bike as the F800s that have been going for a couple of years. You can't go wrong with an SV, but the new F650 looks to be a good machine.

Good point. Yeah, maybe I should give it a try, especially when used ones pop up in a coupla years. The great thing about little beemers here is that people tend to upgrade to the bigger ones quickly and not clock up a lot of ks on their "starter" F650s, or even F800s.

[Ivan M]

I made the transition from a two to a four and loved it. There's nothing wrong with a two of course, but riding a four is more fun for me. You shouldn't have any problems in traffic with an inline four.

[jk333]

Been looking around for another bike, something with a bit more power than my F650, but not much more. Thinking of getting a Japanese middleweight standard, like a 599 or an FZ6, as my wife will eventually be riding my thumper (cough). Bizarrely, I've never ridden an inline four, only singles (ranging from 50 to 650cc), and twins. I've read spec-wise how high I-4 torque peaks are, especially compared to my single-cylinder F650.

My concern is with commuting and slow-speed filtering through traffic, for which the F is fantastic. So anyway, how different do I-4's feel?

They Rock! I have an 81 Honda CB750 and the four cylinder power is amazing. Mine gets ridden in 95% in town driving and its fine. I usually cruise at 3500-4000 rpm.

[gsJack]

Here's a Cycle World comparo that includes some of the bikes mentioned above; Ducati Monster 695, Honda 599, Hyosung GT650R, Kawasaki Ninja 650R, Suzuki SV650 and Yamaha FZ6. I keep my paper copy handy since these are bikes of some interest to me, I've owned and racked up many, many miles on 4 twins and 2 fours. I prefer twins.

http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?s ... cle_id=265

They had a great comparo between all two of the 800cc sport touring bikes, the F800ST and Honda's VFR800 that showed the F800 to be quite the match for the Interceptor. Can't find it online, got a paper copy somewhere in a big pile.

A friend of mine who rode a ZRX1200 when I met him traded it in on a SV1000 and was noticeably faster on the SV in the twisties. He has a 599 now but I haven't ridden with him much since he got it.

[jstark47]

It's funny because the L-Twin on my Ducati is a torque monster but at lower rpms, you can tell it isn't really happy. It just vibrates the wrong way and you can tell it's sorta stressed.

It IS peculiar, the L-twin on my V-strom is the same way. Below 4K it's not happy. Yet my the I4 on my wife's Trophy pulls smoothly and quite contentedly from as low as 2K.

You would think it would be the other way around....

Indeed.

[fireguzzi]

It's funny because the L-Twin on my Ducati is a torque monster but at lower rpms, you can tell it isn't really happy. It just vibrates the wrong way and you can tell it's sorta stressed.

It IS peculiar, the L-twin on my V-strom is the same way. Below 4K it's not happy. Yet my the I4 on my wife's Trophy pulls smoothly and quite contentedly from as low as 2K.

You would think it would be the other way around....

Indeed.

I imagine it has a lot to do with the camshafts they use. the Duc and the vstrom are trying to be sportier then your avg. big American Vtwin with tractor like cams and uber gobs of torque. The Triumph is probably camed to be more streetable then your avg. japanese I-4 screamer.

[Johnj]

It's funny because the L-Twin on my Ducati is a torque monster but at lower rpms, you can tell it isn't really happy. It just vibrates the wrong way and you can tell it's sorta stressed.

It IS peculiar, the L-twin on my V-strom is the same way. Below 4K it's not happy. Yet my the I4 on my wife's Trophy pulls smoothly and quite contentedly from as low as 2K.

You would think it would be the other way around....

Indeed.

I imagine it has a lot to do with the camshafts they use. the Duc and the vstrom are trying to be sportier then your avg. big American Vtwin with tractor like cams and uber gobs of torque. The Triumph is probably camed to be more streetable then your avg. japanese I-4 screamer.

The Concours is also setup more for the mid-range than the top end.