Motorcycle Use
Modern inline-four motorcycle engines first gained their popularity with Honda's SOHC CB750 in the 1970s. Since then, the inline-four has become one of the most common engine configurations in street bikes. Outside of the cruiser category, the inline-four is simply the most common configuration because of its relatively high performance-to-cost ratio. All of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers offer motorcycles with inline-four engines, as does MV Agusta and BMW who employ both longitudinal and transverse-mounted engines. Even the modern Triumph company has offered inline-four-powered motorcycles, though they were discontinued in favour of a triple.
The 2009 Yamaha R1 has an inline-four engine that does not fire at even intervals of 180°. Instead, it uses a crossplane crankshaft that prevents the pistons from simultaneously reaching top dead centre. This results in increased torque at lower engine speeds.
Read more about this topic: Inline-four Engine
Famous quotes containing the word motorcycle:
“Actually being married seemed so crowded with unspoken rules and odd secrets and unfathomable responsibilities that it had no more occurred to her to imagine being married herself than it had to imagine driving a motorcycle or having a job. She had, however, thought about being a bride, which had more to do with being the center of attention and looking inexplicably, temporarily beautiful than it did with sharing a double bed with someone with hairy legs and a drawer full of boxer shorts.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Today, only a fool would offer herself as the singular role model for the Good Mother. Most of us know not to tempt the fates. The moment I felt sure I had everything under control would invariably be the moment right before the principal called to report that one of my sons had just driven somebody’s motorcycle through the high school gymnasium.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)