Section 04
Engine as Layout
An engine is a packaging decision before it is a power figure. Where the cylinders point decides width, height, wheelbase and how willingly the machine leans.
Start here
The flat twin
Cylinders in the airflow and mass carried low, at the cost of width and a torque reaction when you blip it.
Photo: BMW Boxer Motorcycle in Madrid, photograph of the Boxer Engine in color · Wikimedia Commons
All of Engine as Layout
4 pieces
- 01
The flat twin
Cylinders in the airflow and mass carried low, at the cost of width and a torque reaction when you blip it.
- 02
The L-twin
Narrow and long, which pushes the wheelbase out and puts the rear cylinder where the airflow is not.
- 03
The inline four
Smooth and wide, and it sits high because the crank has to clear the ground.
- 04
Firing order and feel
Uneven firing intervals change how the tyre is loaded and how the machine feels at the edge of grip.