A Radical New Frame with a V4 or V5

Motorcycle News again got the scoop on a new patent application from Honda, this time for a radical new two piece frame housing a V4 or V5 engine. MCN seems to think this patent application is for a VFR1000, which could be the next Interceptor, or it could be a new Honda homologation special sportbike. The venerable RC30 was also known as the VFR750R after all. Could this patent application be the precursor to a VFR1000R?

Honda Submits Patent for Innovative New 2-Piece Frame (MCN)

This new frame would serve to reduce the overall weight of the bike by cutting out a significant amount of metal that would comprise a conventional frame and using the engine as a stressed member. The patent filing also claims that the invention will help save production costs, presumably by reducing the amount of raw material and welds used to construct the frame.

The fact that there is a drawing in the filing with a V5 engine could mean one of two things. The most obvious one is that Honda is not sure what engine they will be putting in this bike. The second possibility is that there may be two different bikes that will feature the innovative new frame, one using a V4 and the other utilizing a V5. The latter possibility might be a way for Honda to amortize the costs of building such a unique frame across two models instead of one.

How does this all relate to the previous RC61 rumors? It definitely increases the likelihood that the rumored RC61 is either a V4 or V5-engined bike. It doesn't totally negate the chance that there is a 1200 cc v-twin superbike waiting in the wings but it does make it a bit less likely.

If any of our European TOV readers can get a copy of the print version of next week's edition of MCN please fill in any details revealed therein.

If anybody would like to have a look at the patent application, visit http://www.uspto.gov and do a search on patent applications for this patent number: 20070175682. We'd post the direct link here but we're not sure if the USPTO would care for the additional traffic.