Among the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, since Yamaha's VMAX discontinued sales in the North American market around 2018, in the following years, the only Japanese manufacturers that still have V-shaped four-cylinder engines on sale in the world's major mid- and large-size car markets are the Honda: Sport Tourer/Street VFR800F (the North American version is called the Interceptor), VFR1200F, and Adventure VFR800X Crossrunner、VFR1200X Crosstourer。
In 2016-2017, Honda entered the domestic market at the VFR1200F, the world's first model equipped with a DCT dual-clutch transmission, with an official price of 238,000 yuan at that time. At that time, the official prices of the CTX1300 and STX1300 equipped with transverse V4 engines, which were about to be discontinued, were 235,000 yuan and 218,000 yuan, respectively.
Since last year, even in the relatively "tenacious" North American market, the Japanese manufacturer's last hope for a production model of the V4 has come to an end: after withdrawing from the European and Japanese domestic markets in 2017-2018, since last year, Honda's four models with the last two V4 power platforms have not appeared in the official list of models on sale in the US market. This means that the Japanese V4 is officially extinct in the world's major mid- and large-sized car markets. At present, only the only V4-powered models on the market are those from China and two European manufacturers.
In the past decade, the V4 engine models and market performance of Japanese manufacturers have not been impressive, and compared to the core trend of the entire market, in the past few decades, the inline four-cylinder engine has always occupied a major position among Japanese manufacturers, and the V4 is more brilliant in the era of VFR400R and RVF400R.
Unlike the Aprilia Apulia and Ducati Ducati V4 models, Honda's four models on both V4 platforms, except for the VFR1200F with 170 hp (175 hp for the Apulian Tuono V4 and 217 hp for the RSV4, 168 hp for the Ducati Diavel V4, 208 hp for the Street Fighter V4 and 215 hp for the Panigale V4). horsepower) (the Honda VFR1200X has 127 hp compared to 170 hp for the Ducati Multistrada V4).
Is it the V4 machine type, its power characteristics are difficult to be accepted by users, resulting in a sluggish market? I personally from the "ancient" level of V45 (Magna 750), VF750F, VF400F, VFR400, RVF400R, ST1100, to the modern STX1300, VMAX, have been in contact, in addition to some early styles, the machine heat is a little large, than the same level of inline four-cylinder more crazy sense of acceleration, better in the middle, The low-rpm torque output is one of the advantages of the V4 machine. The RVF400R, ST1100, and STX1300, which have been driven for a long time, are even more impressed by their excellent handling. Perhaps, the terminal price, is the core factor that makes it difficult for the V4 machine to go further.
It's no secret that the main dynamic characteristic of a V-two-cylinder engine is an almost runaway acceleration (e.g. KTM's LC8 platform), while the V-four is a V2 with a slight increase in smoothness. The Japanese manufacturer's V4 model has been withdrawn from the market, further narrowing down the already small number of options on the market.
For Chinese manufacturers, in the short term, I am not sure whether this is an opportunity at all, after all, the threshold for V4 is not low, and the gap is there, but many things often need to start with the first step, eat away little by little, and face the challenge head-on.
下面的图片，Honda 2010 VFR1200F（资料图片）。
下面的图片，Honda 2018 VFR800F Interceptor（资料图片）。
下面的图片,Honda 2016 VFR1200X Crosstourer DCT(资料图片)。
下面的图片，Honda 2017 VFR800X Crossrunner（资料图片）。