Yamaha’s next R1 and R6 will be powered by triples, says Visordown.
The U.K. mag says the new three-cylinder motor Yamaha showed off at the Intermot show will be the basis of the company’s next-generation sportbikes. They don’t name the source of their information, but claim it’s reliable information.
Yamaha has been building three-cylinder snowmobiles and outboards for years, but hasn’t built a motorcycle around a triple in quite some time. However, as Visordown points out, in a world where manufacturers are trying to cut costs everywhere possible to keep prices down, it’s a lot cheaper to build an engine with three cylinders, than four. Triumph has been selling them for years, and MV Agusta has jumped on the bandwagon. Perhaps it’s time for Yamaha to start cranking them out, and bring the engine design even further into the mainstream.
