The once-every-five-years-or-so moment is upon us. Honda is finally ready to release a new motorcycle engine, it appears, and has taken to YouTube to promote its new parallel twin powerplant—see the official marketing video above.
What’s new? Uh, nothing ground-breaking. At this point, there’s no trick variable valve actuation or anything like that, which should keep the price down at least. There’s a Unicam top end (SOHC), with four-valve heads. There’s a 270-degree crank, which disrupts the firing order to feel more like a V-twin, and also offers some benefits to rear wheel traction thanks to the power pulse characteristics—at least, that’s what many riders will tell you.
Actual displacement is 755cc; claimed output is 92 hp at 9,500 rpm and 55 lb-ft of torque at 7,250 rpm. That horsepower figure is just under the current CBR650 platform, and the added torque of the new parallel twin will probably make most riders happier anyway.
Note that Honda hasn’t told us this new 750 will replace any model in the lineup, including the CBR650. However, there are consistent rumours of a complete new lineup, including naked bikes (the Hornet, presumably), sportbikes and even adventure bikes based on this 750. Last week, we even saw a spy shot of what’s presumably the new Transalp, based around this engine, and Honda’s been busy teasing the new Hornet over the past few months. If this isn’t all leading up to a massive announcement at EICMA, we’d be very surprised. And if/when that happens, that will make this 750 platform the foundation of Honda’s full-sized moto lineup for years to come.
