Ducati L-Twin engines, they all deliver the power in the same way?

A

Alex

New member
I saw a clip regarding the Ducati 916's engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6K2CUdqURg

It said something like this: " ..the V2 90 degree engine delivers its power in pulses, half the frequency of a 4 cylinder engine, thus more and better control for corner acceleration .. (etc.. and other advantages are mentioned).

So, is this an universal characteristic of all the Ducati L-twin engines ? regardless of 2 or 4 valves ..or other things?

For example i'm asking if a Ducati Monster 620 from 2002-2006 also has this 'feature'.

Any further tips to links, info, documentation etc. regarding the Ducati's engines is of great help.

Thank you.
 
I think this may be what you're talking about. Unless you have a cross plane crankshaft, an inline 4 cylinder will produce a power pulse every 180 degrees of crankshaft rotation. A 90 degree twin with a common crankpin will produce power pulses 270 and 450 degrees apart. Or 90 and 630 degrees apart. A 90 degree twin with crankpins 90 degrees apart will produce pulses 180 and 540 degrees apart. A 45 degree twin with a common crank pin will be 225 and 495 degrees. And then one of those Japanese wanne be V twins with cylinders 45 degrees apart but crank pins 90 degrees apart will fire at 315 and 405 degrees.
 
all V twin engines deliver the power in pulses half that of the 4 cylinder engines..(unless the V four fires 2 cylinders at the same time)..

so for any given engine.. of a rated horsepower.. the twin delivers twice as much as the four on every firing..

both engines deliver the same power & the 4 cylinder will be a smoother delivery than the twin.

as for more control?? would you rather be trying to control 50 horsepower at each firing ..or 25 horsepower at each firing.. 25 is sounding easier to me.. but you get it twice as often..

twins tend to deliver the power at slightly lower RPMs.. but its mostly a personal choice..

the bottom line is.. nothing beats cubes.. so bigger engines produce more power.. & for the same displacement more cylinders means lighter conrods & pistons.. so they rev higher..

dont see a lot of twin cylinder bikes winning races against the big Jap fours..
 
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