We asked Kuwata why Honda's MotoGP bike has V-4 power yet the new Fireblade is an inline? This "combustion module", proven through 18 seasons of development in MotoGP, goes back even further - to that of the V-4 RC-45 Superbike, whose highly developed top end was adopted as the model for Honda's first MotoGP engine, the 990cc V-5 RC211V (whose engine design project leader was HRC director Wakabayashi). Racing resumed as Honda assisted French endurance- racing teams in the early 1970s, resulting in the twin-cam production CB750F of 1979 and the CB900F/RS1000, with which American Honda entered US superbike racing in 1980. At Honda, HRC (and long before it, No. 2 Research Section!) develops advanced technology for winning, and then in consultation with production and Honda, R&D finds ways to make that technology useful and affordable to all riders in production motorcycles. [Extracted from the article]
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