Anyone got both a V7 and a V85, or swapped from one to another?
I have an 85TT but keep looking at a V7 Sport or Special. “on paper” the difference in wet hp per kg ratio is minimal (c0.015).
How do they compare “on tarmac”?
Cheers
1 Like
Interested in this too but for going the other way.
Power to weight ratio differences are quite a bit different when you add 80+kg for the rider on each bike
1 Like
I wish I was only 80kg 
I think we all wish we were 80kg kitted up in bike gear. Those days are long gone for some of us, along with a back that could cope with a sports bike riding position.
Assuming a 90kg rider, the power to weight for bike with rider is 0.218 hp/kg for the V7 or 0.251 hp/kg for the V85. This means that in reality, the V85 has a 14% better power to weight ratio. With a heavier rider, that difference will increase.
As an engineer, I don’t like the mix of imperial (horsepower) and metric (kilogram) but I’m too lazy to convert it!
1 Like
I have both. V7 is a 2021year, it doesn’t feel much slower to me, although I haven’t tried touring or 2 up on it. The V85 is a lot comfier leg position and the suspension soaks up the bumps much better. I like them both, replaced a Tracer with a V7 as a winter bike, I decided don’t like chains drives, been using it every week.
1 Like
I understand that there are a number of internal differences in the engine internals of the V85TT compared to the V7 such as titanium inlet valves and two oil pumps, presumably to cope with the additional heat generated with the additional power produced?
1 Like
This is where I found the information on the V85 engine
lighter crankshaft as well I think
1 Like
And, I believe, a bigger throttle body.
The new V7 sport has an increased size vs the standard V7 but still not as big as the V85 if I understand correctly.
I wonder why they didn’t put the V85 engine in the V7 Sport. It would be more expensive but a great bike.
3 Likes
Great thought Steve. I, like others, am hoping that once the new factory is up an running attention will be turned to some interesting R&D. 
It’ll take a while before we see anything new. Starting up new production lines takes time to get them running correctly and then R&D of new vehicles takes years. I used to work in automotive R&D and we were working on vehicles around four years before they were launched and then as soon as they launched we’d start on the next generation. Cars are quite a bit more complex than bikes though and have much bigger R&D budgets (we spent half a million on an active engine mount)