V5. Honda power. 2005 will see the bike in its 4th year. Customer bikes all over the place (7 bikes?), a successful design, and for a time even emulated by Kenny Roberts, this has been a successful engine. The engine makes something around 240bhp (though rumours have suggested as much as 260bhp) with the power band coming in fairly low in the rev range. It drives off corners well, and Honda has continued to refine its torque characteristics with RAM air ducts, shortie exhausts, and electronic and computer changes. The pace of development of this bike now seems almost over. the early rapid developement replaced by a more matured refinement. The engine clearly has most of the rest of the field by the scruff of the neck.
Of interest is just how tall these engines are, Honda engineers have stacked the gearbox vertically behind the crank, leading to a stunningly short but tall motor. As Honda uses a 72° crank, they have clearance in front of the motor, but the exhaust pipes still end up going a long way south, and seem even to run round the sides of the sump. One other point worth making, though not apparent in these images, is that the RCV211 carries its engine very high in the chassis. The crank shaft is a significant height above the line of the front axle, which should make the bike a bit top heavy. Note the large white plastic protector over the crank end.
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