Honda V-twin in the works

PATENT images show that Honda could be working up a new V-twin powerplant that could slot into a range of new bikes.

The patent images show a small to mid-capacity V-twin engine fitted into the frame of a fairly plain and normal looking naked machine. While the overall shape of the bike the engine is featured in should be widely disregarded, it’s the actual engine that’s the interesting feature here.

It’s clearly a V-twin and not a V4, the patent specifically mentions ‘two cylinders’, and features liquid cooling although the barrel of the engine is also covered in retro-style cooling fins.

There is no mention in the patent of capacity, power output, or any other technical information, although with the engine being ‘finned’ in this way it could fit neatly into a classically styled machine or even one of the firms neo-retro range.

Could Honda be working on a modern-day BROS 650?

What sort of bike could the new Honda V-twin be used in?

Fans of the V-twin machines from the ‘Big Red’ back catalogue will no doubt be excited by the news, as the bike evokes memories of the VT500 and the BROS 650, making us think the new machine could be a modern take on one of those.

Fans of the original V-twin Africa Twins will probably not have their wishes fulfilled with this powerplant though. Both the diminutive size of the engine and the fact that Honda seems to be pinning their hopes on a parallel twin for their possibly incoming small capacity Africa Twin will almost certainly put that idea to bed.

As with any patent drawing, the people who filed it hold all the answers, all we can do is speculate as to what the finished bike could look like.