Twins, Triples, Fours...

[Dabz]

I've been riding for a few years now but still don't really know the differences between twins, triples, etc. From reading magazines etc I'm assuming they have different characteristics, power etc...but can anyone explain what the actual differences are? Why do some people choose, say, a triple rather than a four? I've only ever ridden jap fours, and now the triump which is a 4 too.

[mike]

You poor bugger, never having ridden a V twin!!!

Over the summer, blag some gos on other folks' bikes will be the best way.

[marcmywordz]

Go to any dealer and blag a test ride on a few to try em....
great day out

[Dabz]

so what's the difference then? what makes a vtwin so fun?

[mike]

Sound, grunt, especially exiting bends, looks & panache. Only ridden a triple once (150 Speed Triple) so can't really comment but I'm sure the triple owners can tell you more.
I'm now on a BMW 1150GS so still a twin (flat rather than v), just doesn't have such a sweet tone, and the engine looks hideous rather than seductive!! Handles miles better than the looks suggest though so I am more than happy with it.

Ducatis are generally L twins BTW as the angle is 90 degrees whereas the Aprilias are 60 degrees so are proper V twins ;D ;D

[alanTDM]

from what i remember a 4 gets its power from revs thats why most red line at say 14k so to get the bike moving fast you have to rev the nuts off it.
A V usally relies on the power coming from the stroke/bore which gives it more torque so it might red line at say 5-8k depending on bike manufacture,so you can change gear earlier eg short shift aint got to give it the revs to get the bike moving and usally got more mid range punch for overtaking.
A 3 is somewhere in between.

Had a Thundercat for 2years done 28k on it but sold it cause it was to revvy with a red line of 14k
Some one else prob come along and add to this

My TDM is a parallel twin but the firing order is 270' rather than 360'as norm which gives it the torque of a V but the TDM redlines at 8k.

[furry-TLR]

I'll give my take on it quickly...but I'm sure others will agree/disagree with this...

Inline-4's to make high peak power (bhp) have to get into high revs...however the higher reving the bike, the less Grunt (torque) it's got low down.

Sports inline4's used to have a good measure of both (GPz/GSXR750-1100 days)...but these days any grunt inline4 sportsbikes had low down has been thrown out the window to get high bhp and overall higher speeds on the track.

Which is great for the track, but on the road, you want the Grunt to fire you out of corners, provide grip on crappy road surfaces, look after the rear tyre, make low speed work easyier etc etc.

Of course there are some BIG-CC inline4's which still have both power and grunt like the busa/kwak1400 etc...but lets face it, those bikes are aimed at a small group of specific people.


So for everyone else, whats out there...

Well I love tripples, in terms of engine configuration they are well balenced so no vibes (not sure if any of them have a countercrank though?) have highish rpms compaired to inline4's...but have loads of Grunt all over the place but not too much so those used to riding inline4's will feel at home on one, but enjoy the extra Grunt on tap when on the road...and best of all they sound the muts nuts!

Twins...it's going that one stage further, piling on the Grunt even more and takes a completely different riding style, it's hard to get the revs high on a twin without lots of expensive development, hence only the likes on Ducati and Aprillia who still go down that road, but with research, modern technology and different materials they are still producing more and more performance out of a twin....To ride one, well lets just say no matter whar gear your in, open it up from any rpm and the power is always there, can't fault it after owning one for 3 years, and owning inline4's for 2 yrs before that...I'd never go back to an inline4.

Singles....it's that quantum leap again, the big ones with loads of torque like KTM's and such again require a completely different style of riding, bit vibby and a completely flat torque curve so you shoot like a bullet at any rpm...all single powered bikes suffer from low top end speed...but they get there quick and are awesome to ride (I fancy one as a 2nd bike in the garage)

Anyway thats my take...You obviously like the triumphs, so why not give a daytona tripple a go never know might fall in love with it

[mike]

My Tuono cost more in tyres than petrol. Don't get a v twin if you want lots of miles from a back tyre...
It also revved to 11k redline so quite high, but had balancer shafts so no vibration at all (had a go on a KTM Duke a while back and that felt a whole lot more vibey than any chainsaw I've ever used!). I'm unlikely to go back to an i4 (had an FZR1000 about 5 years back) but each to their own, all bikes are ferkin' superb in my book! If I had 2 choices, a 125cc commuter or nothing at all I'd fall in love with the 125!

[Ghost]

so what's the difference then? what makes a vtwin so fun?

Ah Dabz, if ya gotta ask... Go ride one!

Singles are something else too!

I remember someone saying to me years ago that riding a Benelli 4 was like riding a well balanced sewing machine! ;D

[JamesD]

I think every motorcyclist should try a V-Twin at 1 point in their lifetime

Great noise, great power at lower revs.....shortcomings as posted though, tyre wear and mpg but some newer v-twins are much better now than of old. My Firestorm had huge carbs and struggled to get 35mpg