New Honda 755 cc parallel-twin
Honda are finalising development on what essentially seems to be a down-sized Africa Twin engine.
Honda say the engine is all new, but like the Africa Twin, it’s a parallel-twin spinning a 270-degree crank with four-valves per cylinder driven by a single cam.
At 755 cc it is a lot smaller than the current 1084 cc Africa Twin engine, but specs suggest this new engine is in a distinctly sportier state of tune.
That makes sense as it seems as though the first model to receive this new engine will be a spritely new Honda Hornet naked-bike, which Japanese sources suggest will be referred to as a CB750S in their home market.
We also expect it will end up in a more affordable ‘son of Africa Twin’ adventure platform somewhat similar to the original late 1980s XRV650 and then XRV750T Africa Twin from the 90s. Well, we hope so anyway… If the rumours coming out of Japan are true then an adventure bike powered by this engine will be dubbed XL750L.
With just over 90 horsepower at 9500 rpm this new engine makes almost double the power of the original XRV650 V-Twin, and is only 7 kW shy of the latest Africa Twin, despite displacing 329 cc less than the current CRF1100L.
The quoted peak torque figure for the new engine is 75 Nm at 7250 pm. That is well down on the stout 105 Nm of the Africa Twin, as one would expect with such a capacity deficit.
Fuyuki Hosokawa – 23YM Honda Test Project Leader
“The Hornet has always been a very special motorcycle for Honda. Exciting, engaging performance has always been matched to lithe, agile handling.
“Before starting this project, we thought long and hard about what kind of performance we wanted to give to the rider. We knew that it was essential to keep the classic Hornet top end power ‘hit’ and at the same time, as a new generation Hornet for modern times, we wanted the engine to have a really strong torquey feel and ‘throbbing’ sensation at low to mid rpm.
“Our aim has always been to match these to the lightest, most agile handling possible, to make every ride – even in town – as engaging and fulfilling as possible.
“To get the kind of performance and lightweight handling we wanted, we knew we had to develop an all new short stroke twin-cylinder engine, with a 270° crankshaft. This would not only deliver that top-end rush, but also the sporty low-down torque, ideal for riding in urban environments and powering out of corners on the open road.”
Righto Hosokawa San, just make sure you give this new Hornet some decent suspension settings out of the box, rather than the under-damped set-ups that we have come to expect from Honda in recent years…
