If a motorcycle offered different engine choices...

[totalmotorcycle]

i read some where that the katana600(the bike i have) is actually a 750cc engine with sleeves and small pistons in it to make it a 600cc engine, anyone know if thats true. and if it is why not do that with other bikes, let someone buy an r1 or whatever but sleeve it so its a 500cc size engine and reduce the power?

I think the Katana 750 is just a bore job on the Katana 600 engine, but I could be wrong as I've never researched into that exactly.

But your idea of using "sleeves and smaller pistons" isn't a bad idea as you could "upgrade" or "downgrade" the engine...

Mike.

[MASHBY]

I think a 125 six cylinder would be fun just think each cylinder would be 20cc.

Mind you I think bikes are slowly going this way look at the new C50's and C90's from Suzuki touring packages sport.Same bike different Engines and packages.

[Keyoke]

There are already certain bikes out there that come in a couple of sizes -

CBR125, 600 and 1000, the XJR is available in 400, 1200 and 1300 amongnst others.

Although the frames do change a little between these bikes, there are some exceptions - the frame is identical between the CB250 superdream and the 400 version.

So, perhaps the industry may already have figured this is a good idea?

[scan]

There are already certain bikes out there that come in a couple of sizes -

CBR125, 600 and 1000, the XJR is available in 400, 1200 and 1300 amongnst others.

Although the frames do change a little between these bikes, there are some exceptions - the frame is identical between the CB250 superdream and the 400 version.

So, perhaps the industry may already have figured this is a good idea?

I'll keep a lookout for my ZRX2400RR. Although they may have to make it a V (eight!). Bosshoss, lookout!

[TechTMW]

Just for the heckuvit, I'd love to see another iteration of the Rotary Engined bike.

[d2mini]

The Triumph Bonneville i just bought came with two choices.
It's listed as two different models (the regular bonneville or the T100) with the T100 also having a tach, knee pads, and cooler paint job to go along with the extra power.
But basically its the same bike, one is just an upgraded version of the other. Just like cars.

[suckingair]

I think a 125 six cylinder would be fun just think each cylinder would be 20cc.

Mind you I think bikes are slowly going this way look at the new C50's and C90's from Suzuki touring packages sport.Same bike different Engines and packages.

Harks back to the racing of the 60's with 6 piston 350's and 8 piston 500's.. They do sound good when flying around a track, but they are as rare as hen's teeth now. And the plumbing was amazing to look at..

[oldnslo]

Me too. I had a Mazda RX-7, and I thought the engine was great. High performance in a small package. Kept waiting for the 3-rotor, or the 4-rotor, thought they would be hot stuff, but never happened.
I would think the smoothness would be nice in a bike, along with the willingness to rev.

[isaac]

That'd be great to have a super small, nimble bike like my GZ, but with a GS 450 or 500 parallel twin in it to double the horsepower. That'd be the ultimate in-town bike. 0-60 in 4 seconds, 350lbs dry.

I agree with the whole "image without the power" theory. Keep the cc numbers painted in a small font, and an R1, Hayabusa, or ZX-10R would lose little of the mystique and sex appeal if they had a 500cc twin or 4 banger in them. They'd still be faster than 99% of cars to keep people in awe, but wouldn't be psychotically fast to keep their deaths to riders ratio at about 1/2.

[Toyuzu]

Too bad the Morbidelli never went into production...

I think that had a 1200 CC V-8. Motorcyclist, or was it Cycle World...? made this comment: (Not verbatim, just quoting from memory)

"Sorry, Harley. This bike has the best exhaust note of any motorcycle ever built by any manufacturer"