The liquid-cooled 62 x 54 mm XR23 engine differed from its previous 500cc counterpart in having just two crankshafts, one for each pair of cylinders, rather than four separate ones as on the RG500.

The liquid-cooled 62 x 54 mm XR23 engine differed from its previous 500cc counterpart in having just two crankshafts, one for each pair of cylinders, rather than four separate ones as on the RG500.