Jack, what is or what is meant by ,port volume reduction? I though u wer sayin 2 get the head 2 flow more in and out but the term volume reduction is throwing me off?
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Jack, what is a ballpark cost for the headwork you would recommend for a HiPo reliable streetable XS650 motor
Jack do you add material by welding, or some form of epoxy? I know in the snowmobile 2 stroke porting world epoxy is sometimes used, but can come loose.
Jack, I am just picking your brain here, so I understand if you choose not to answer. In your reply above, you stated, "adhered to the floor" was that just speaking in general, or is the floor more in need of material than the roof?
The properly built 750cc race engines do typically use oversize valves, but to get 69 - 70 RWHP they only need to be slightly bigger ... only about a mm or a bit more.
So if you decide to use Kibblewhite or other oversize valves don't be put off that they aren't much larger than stock.
In the real world, the port size vs. velocity "balance" Griz and Jack are talking about is best obtained with these size valves. A 650-based performance engine would never need oversize valves. (perhaps you'd change the back cut and seat angles, but would not need to make them larger)
Any attempt to maximize the valve size has never been demonstrated to actually add power (except, of course, on the bench racing dyno).
This is the engine Jack was talking about him and Hugh experimenting with...I ran across this vid some time ago and it started me on my journey of reading about these engines and tinkering with different ideas...and man oh man am I no where near even started with the amounts of options and different ideas...I've recently bought an engine that had the top end and a cam done by hoos racing and regardless of HP/TQ numbers the difference in engine performance between stock is awesome. If I were to build my dream XS, I'd probably start with the frame and suspension and perfect that first...then I'd go to the engine...and really decide what I want, not the numbers I want to hit. The weight to power ratio on these bikes can have a big effect also...SO MANY THINGS TO THINK ABOUT...porting/carbs/cams/rephase or not?/weight/sprocket size/tire size/clutch/air box/air flow/oil cooling/exhaust pipes...
Yes, I did Jack. It had the same basic approach Harry used, which was to absolutely minimize anything that would increase the port's cross section. All the work was focused upon the direction changes and, of course, the valve area.
I never obtained flow numbers on a direct comparison basis to Harry's heads, but we did dyno a XS "mule" engine with both of the heads. The difference was minimal, both in terms of the shape of the curve and absolute power/torque numbers.
The Lillie head works great on the street, so I can speculate that the Branch would also.
A street tracker I built in the late '80s had a Shell head and a #1 cam and it was pretty well behaved ... just had to give it a bit more rpm off a dead stop and if full throttle was to be applied it had to be done at a slightly higher rpm.
The Lillie head works perfectly on the street. Tony Guest's tracker has 69 RWHP (with race or av gas) and he says it is both docile at low rpm and ferocious up past 7000.