Originally Posted by Fly911

but it doesn't have the rev happy character of the flat sixes. And the typical American sounding burble exhaust note, due to the odd firing nature and "impossible" exhaust scavenging. Could that be changed?

Any one...???

Originally Posted by UKenGB

I'm not sure what advantage a 'cross plane' V8 would offer since each bank has less inherent balance than a 180° in-line 4. For several years Yamaha (who also 'invented' the 5 valve layout and licensed it to Ferrari who used it for some years) have used a 'cross plane' crank in their R1 (1000cc in-line 4). This is to enable better grip characteristics due to the uneven firing order that results. However the additional vibration caused by the 'cross plane' crank requires balancer shafts that a regular 180° 'flat plane' in-line 4 in otherwise equivalent bikes does not require. .