It's one of those phrases that people throw out into conversations - 'Oh, yeah, the Yamaha R1: it's got a cross-plane engine' - and you just know they have no idea what that means. So, what does it mean?

Video: Yamaha's Cross-Plane engine explained

OK, so this might not be the most exciting video we've ever posted but it is a very well put together video that goes a long way to explaining exactly what separates Yamaha's cross-plane R1 engine from almost every other in-line four cylinder engine out there and it's really interesting!

The thing is, it actually goes much further than telling us why its called 'cross-plane' and delves into engine balance, firing orders, the Yamaha racing 'Big bang' engine and gives us examples of why the sound of flat-plane and cross-plane engines is different. It even delves back into two-stroke MotoGP history, talking about the Honda V4 engine, which introduced big-bang firing order thinking into racing, despite it actually reducing power but which, conversely, made the bikes easier to ride and more successful.

He goes into the differences between radial and bias-ply tyres and the effect they have on power delivery and lap times and just puts everything largely in layman's terms that are easy to understand.

Maybe it's super-nerdy, but I found it fascinating.