Honda’s new large capacity V3 engine uses an electronically-powered supercharger to provide a torque advantage across the whole rev range. The narrow engine configuration was last used by Honda on their 1985 NS400R two-stroke, but that was a completely different animal to what was unveiled in November 2024 at EICMA. This time round, the V3 is a four-stroke engine and is expected to be anything from 750-1000cc, and is reported to be finding its way to production in a roadster-style bike by 2026.
Motorcycle News (MCN) are reported to have spoken to Honda’s Italian Communications Director, Constantino Paolacci, he said:
“We are very proud of it, particularly from an engineering point of view. It’s important to say that it is a real engine; it’s not a mock-up. The engine is running already on a bench. Next year we could potentially see a full prototype motorcycle with this in, then the year after, we could see the first production model coming. Moving to forced induction is mainly in the pursuit of performance for us, not emissions. The compressor is intended to provide the torque of a bigger engine with a smaller displacement. It will become the base for a line-up of new models, the first of which will likely be a roadster”, he aded.
It’s an exciting prospect, so I took the liberty of imagining what the V3 might look like wrapped in a crossover-style bike. What do you think? Leave a comment on my facebook or Instagram and let me know.
