Honda Motors reveals new 400cc water cooled engine

This 400cc four stroke twin cylinder engine here, is expected to power the new Honda CBR400R which will compete with the Kawasaki Ninja 400R. Honda is currently targeting the Japanese market and it is not sure whether this CBR400R sports bike will be making its way to other countries. If this bike comes to India in the near future it will rival the KTM Duke 390 and Bajaj Pulsar 375.

Yoshiki Nagahashi, head of development for the new engine at the Honda R&D’s Motorcycle R&D Center, said, “We approached power characteristics and component configuration with emphasis on precise linear acceleration and deceleration, as well as responsive control in full-body maneuvers like braking and entering and corner exit acceleration. We discussed what makes and engine cool with the design department from the very start of planning, and developed it with the aim of making an engine that would please the majority of our domestic customers while meeting the demands of the development members.”

As a result, “We focused on the characteristics of the most frequently used low and moderate RPM ranges to make it easy to handle for an entry-level user, and set the maximum RPM at 9,500. We chose a straight two-cylinder water-cooled engine to match these engine characteristics. In order to improve intake performance up to 9,500 rpm, we researched the optimum valve size, and used a bore stroke of 67 mm by 56.6 mm,” he added.