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Yamaha seems to be taking a new direction with the three cylinder engine in the new FZ9, and it's one that they have said will grow to an entire range of motorcycles. I think that it is great that they are switching it up, however I have to wonder what ever happened to growing the range of Crossplane engined bikes? The Crossplane R1 with Two Brothers cans on it that I heard running today sounded like music, and not far off what a nice sounding V4 would sound like. I had fully expected an updated FZ1 with this engine but now it is sounding more likely to be a 3 cylinder. So - anyone have an opinion on why they did not put the Crossplane engine in more bikes?

Seems like a missed opportunity to me...

The hell is a "Crossplane"? For a minute there I thought Yamaha went and made a copy of Victory's copy of the Street Glide, but it appears you meant some kind of motor. Guess I'll need to do some research.

Gummiente wrote:The hell is a "Crossplane"? For a minute there I thought Yamaha went and made a copy of Victory's copy of the Street Glide, but it appears you meant some kind of motor. Guess I'll need to do some research.

A long-winded explanation is here:

http://www.ashonbikes.com/cross-plane_crank

Or here is a video of how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTXMtTTKQw

And a video of how it sounds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Om-rrPGI0k

Basically they have offset the crankpins and changed the firing order of an in-line 4 cylinder engine. Yamaha had developed this type of engine at the beginning of Rossi's first tour with them and used it with great success in Moto-GP. They then put it in to a production version of the R-1 which immediately won the World Superbike championship. Beyond the racing success however there is an added benefit: They sound freaking cool. Not like every other inline 4 cylinder engine, but more like a tuned up V4, and much better than any triple that I have heard. It would have put them in a unique position in the market place, unlike the new triple, as both Triumph and MV Agusta are well established in this area.

I personally love triples. I hope Yamaha and triumph get into a great battle of the triples...

Both my '95 Thunderbird and '01 Tiger sounded amazing at full wail. The Tiger especially, as it had the factory "off road (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)" can on it. At a bike event several years ago there was a dyno set up in a trailer, so on a whim I let them strap down the bike and let 'er rip. The noise of that triple brought a crowd to the back of the trailer within seconds, where they all stood slack jawed at the sight of a mud spattered Tiger with Givi top box, saddlebags, crash guards and driving lights being put through its paces.

Big Bang > Triple

Gummiente, yeah the T-Bird Triple that came out around 1995 sounded awesome. Looked great too, unlike the monstrosity that they build today with the same name.

I had a Tbird loved that little bike, I will bet it comes down to money the cross plain probably just costs to much to produce, I love em they are fantastic even the cross plain twin of the tenere is awesome but so is the thought of a triple it's a win win

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2B4bNds5ts

^^This is the new Yamaha. Sounds pretty much the same as the street triple. Big question, will it match the street triple's induction sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3GkaO1moWI (this video gives you some idea of how nice the street triple's induction sound is)

Looks like the Yamaha might be a little cheaper than the ST too.

An FZ-1 with a detuned version of the R1 engine would be pretty hot too.