Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese motorcycle manufacturers produced countless small-displacement, four-cylinder sportbikes. Unfortunately, times have moved on and, with the exception of the Kawasaki ZX-25R, most beginner sportbikes have moved to inline-twin or even single-cylinder engines. Chinese equipment manufacturer Colove is not affected by this trend, since it is developing a 399 cc in-line four-cylinder for a potential small-displacement supersport.
The engine developed by Colove will not, however, be a rehash of the four-cylinder 400s from Japan's golden era. Where the Honda CBR400RR, Kawasaki ZXR400, Suzuki GSX-R400 and Yamaha FZR400 easily developed 60 horsepower, the Colove inline four-cylinder will produce 74 horsepower at 13 rpm and 500 Nm of torque at 44 rpm .
With a larger bore and shorter stroke (59mm x 36,5mm), the square architecture also helps the mini mill rev higher than its 400cc forebears. The 13,1:1 compression ratio contributes to the power profile of the inline-four.
This announcement from Colove shows that China's motorcycle industry is evolving at a rapid pace. While the brand recently introduced its latest parallel twins in the 800X adventure machine or 321RR sports car, many analysts believe the 400cc inline-four supersport could enter production in 2022. At this rate, we can't wait to see how Colove uses the new powertrain outside of the sportbike market, but they're not the only Chinese company innovating at the moment.
Benda recently revealed the LFC700 inline-four and the brand is currently developing 4 cc and 1 cc V198 platforms. Some speculate that Benda will leverage the 496cc V4 for a future sports car similar to Honda's VFR496 of the 400s and 80s. If Colove and Benda put the new four-cylinder engines into supersports, we could have a second arrival of small-displacement four-cylinder sports motorcycles. Of course, we will have to wait for official announcements from the two brands, but this promises an interesting future!
