After
some CAD calculations Honda found that the Bore & Stroke was ideal in it's
current ratio and so those measurements remain the same. Engine width has been
reduced at the crankshaft through the repositioning of many components. Moving
the crankshaft starter gear has realized a 3-degree improvement in available
lean angle.
The
engine runs new skirtless slipper pistons. These forged items
are much shorter and 15g lighter than before. Very thin 0.8mm top rings are
more resistant to high rpm 'flutter' when running in the aluminum/ceramic
composite cylinder sleeves. More weight has been trimmed from the piston pins,
8 grams each.
The
ultra-hard carburized connecting rods borrow some design cues from Honda's VTR
World SuperBike machines with their 'nutless' design. Threaded bolts screw
directly into tapped holes in the body of the conrod instead of the
conventional bolt/nut combination which saves around 35g per cylinder,
amounting to another 140g overall. All these weight changes are very
significant with the revs these 600cc machines are capable of. To put a
number on those 'revs', let's raise the bar to 15,000 before red-line.