Why do you not ride a twin?

I have a twin and a four. I find them both great in their own ways. Just need the one in between.

Originally Posted by skeetly

WTF are TVSF

Only the best regional section of the whole forum. You should feel proud have had the privilege to post in such a hallowed area of the forum.

[Spiderman]

tbf, i just gone from a Bandit 600 to a brand new SV650 as i prefer twins simply because of there useable power. The bandit was good, but your always wanting to take it close to the red line to get anywhere..

i've had 2 sv's now, a good all round bike. But got bit bored of it, and wanted something with a bit more power. So now traded my sv in for a z thou which is quite scary which is good for me any ways. Also got a street fighter gsxr 600 and with the gearing on that then its all good home

[KnightRider]

IL4's all the way for me. I think supersport 600's have all the power you really need on the road, a thousand is probably over the top but I will reserve judgement till I have tried one.

In terms of usable power, I find the IL4's perfect for my riding style. However, you do have to ride them differently ie keeping the revs up above 7k if you want acceleration. In the same way as with a twin you need to keep it between 4-8k.

IL4 pros
For me, IL4 is a smother delivery of power. You have an insanily fast top end if you suddenly get the urge to make progress rapidly, but then when you are on the motorway you can chuck it in 5th and cruz at 6k rpm.

Twin negatives
Not much choice in my price range - SV650's are not exactly the most hard wearing of bikes in the winter. Dont like the lumpy engine, it is a bit like driving a diesel (lots of power in a small lump, vs an IL4 which is like a petrol supercar with progressively more power. IL4 tend to be lower which is great for me as I am a shortarse.

[sandman]

What he said apart from the short **** bit

[ogden]

I ride a four rather than a twin for the same reason I drive a petrol car rather than a diesel - low down torque's all fine and dandy until it runs out. And it will run out. Very quickly.

The idea that IL4 engines don't make torque low down is entirely driven by small peaky engines. I had a bandit 1200 years ago and if you think twins make gobfuls of torque, that was something else.


The thou is the most versatile bike I've ever had. I've used it for commuting across central London, Sunday scratching round the Cotswolds and a 2200 mile tour round France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Whether you want to ride balls-out or trundle along at a moderate pace the engine is the last thing you have to worry about (wrists and bum will complain long before the power delivery becomes a chore). And, crucially, it doesn't have the vibes you'd get from a twin.