FireHead

You don't see too many of those kits around any more. Every once in awhile you see a used on on eBay. I only rode one bike that had the kit in it, and it ran pretty hard, but I think it had a longer stroke cranks and some other stuff done to it as well. I know the person who owned the bike paid some one to do all the work. I think the kit is one of those deals where only a few talented people could ever get them to work. :shrug:

I agree. RNBRAD always has the best neutral, informational, links to add to most discussions. :thumbsup: RNBRAD I want to apologize to you if I came off like a twat when I replied to your post. I got a little bit worked up at blaster 668 and I think I let it carry over into my reply to your post. :shoothead:

Yeah, there is only one Klemm Research that I know of. He was the guy to go to for Kawasaki trike stuff. I agree with Banchetta about the silencers. :thumbsup: If you ever feel the need to get rid of those pipes give me a shout.

Awesome link! (as usual from RNBRAD) I would add a sub-group of Billet to the Forged Piston category in that pistons can be also made from a billet in addition to a forging. Most small quantity racing pistons are actually made in this manner. The article at the link you provided does not go over the cam turning process which is unfortunate as it is very interesting (maybe just to my nerdy self). :thumbsup:

Can I purchase what they have pictures of on their website? :smile:

Maybe...................but, it's not like anyone has totally gotten out of hand in the thread. Everyone has kept it fairly civil. Normally, somone tries impress their point of view on some one else by personally attacking them or swearing at them. So far, that hasn't happened. :thumbsup:

I forgot that you said you were just starting on the team. I get sort of excited over the SAE student competitions for some reason. You're right a good assembly model of the car should be able to tell you where the CG is. I saw that car at Washougal (I was a judge) and they have pictures of the rock crawl course at Washougal on their website. I never participated in any of the Mini Baja East competitions as you have to make the car maneuver in on the water. It was a little too Monster Garage like for me. I wouldn't assume that the other guys on the team have thought of everything. Just be prepared to deal with some hacks with big egos. All of the SAE teams that I have met have them (I was one of them). They seem to be a bit more prevalent with the FSAE kids. Generally the teams lack skilled folks in the areas of welding, fabrication, machining, and composites. CAD jockey are a dime a dozen, but finding one that understands how parts are actually made and tolerances that need to be followed is rare. The biggest key to succes is getting the car done early and testing it. You have to finish every competition at the event you go to inorder to place well. You can do shitty on all the competions at the event and still place well. I would estimate that at the end of the race weekend there will be less than 20 cars still functioning out of over 100 entrants. Also, the static events (presentations) are just as important as any of the dynamic events. Like I said, if you need to bounce ideas off of some one or just need advice or ideas give me a shout. I competed in the west and midwest races on several occaisions and towards the end of reign as team captain we actually place very highly and won several parts of the events. What does the car use for gear reduction and a transmission?

I have not ever seen them before. I have heard of Klemm research though. Back in the days of threewheelers, Klemm was one of the best names in the business for race engines and pipes. I am sure they are great if he put his name on them. They are certainly unique. :thumbsup: I am not sure if Klemm is still in business making parts. I think I saw that he owned a motorcycle dealership somewhere.

It looks like the auction was cancelled. What was it?

I get that alot.

What dalegoldston said aside, what are you trying to say there?

I don't think it is a scam necessarily, but it's certainly a bandaid product. What I mean by this that the traget customer is almost certainly someone that is into modifying their ATV or motorcycle, but only has a moderate small amount of experience doing it, and they certainly have a limit of what they feel they can accomplish mechanically on their own. That being said the product will probably not do any harm or negatively effect performance. What is does do is give someone a mod that they can do themselves and it may increase performance if they have an aftermarket air filter or other intake mods that cause air to flow in a manner that is not advantageous to the carb or engine. Thus, you may feel a seat of the pants performance improvement. I would think that the potential for some sort of felt performance increase would increase if the application were a single cylinder, large displacement engine as they would have the strongest and longest intake pulse in the ATV and motorcycle market. :thumbsup:

I agree. :thumbsup:

It's all about keeping it real. :biggrin:

I have no idea who Rick Hetrick is or his company. I really don't follow any sort of ATV or MX racing, unless I happen to see something about it in a magazine. I am not asking anyone to back down from their opinion. Everyone is most certainly entitled to one. Back to the issue at hand, cast vs. forged pistons, you seemed to have something confused. The piston bore size depend on not only the piston design and construction, but the cylinder construction as well. A forged piston does not alway require more clearance than a cast piston, that is a misleading generality. However, a forged piston will always require a bore with a higher tolerance when it comes to taper and a position in relation to the crankshaft (a Banshee uses a crank guided piston (otherwise that's not always true)). In regards to me not knowing what I am talking about..............you might want to think that one over a bit. :shoothead:

I will agree that Pro-X makes the best cast piston for a Banshee. If I was just replacing pistons in a stock bike that did not require and machine work done (remained at stock bore size) then I would certainly use a cast piston. I say this based on the fact that a cast piston requires a different set of bore dimensions and tolerances versus an identical forged piston. You will probably never see a performance difference between a cast piston versus a forged piston except for in longevity of the engine. With properly machined cylinders and correctly installed pistons, a forged piston will always last longer and stand up to more abuse from high compression, high rpm, detonation, poor fuel quality, etc. In regards to you Dodge Viper example and the piston construction being changed from cast to forged, do you know what engine generation you are referring to? The have changed piston construction two times that I can think of, for different reasons both times. At the moment they are currently running forged pistons from the factory, but you are correct in that not always being the case. One time they changed the pistons inorder to bandaid a problem they were having with the cylinder liners distorting, during normal heat cycling, more than a forged piston could accomodate. The the higher CTE of a cast piston solved that problem until the next generation of their V10 came out. The other time that I can think of that the piston construction was changed from forged to cast was when they changed the piston design which began having sea;ing issue at about 25k miles with spirited driving (I think there was actually a voluntary recall on this). The reason the piston construction was changed at this point was due to the piston supplier availability more than anything else. I apologize for the second long post in this thread, in a row. Like Brad says, it's not the most publicly well understood issue and it is certainly not the most cut and dry. I will also appologize if I happen to come off being an ass. :thumbsup:

A forged piston is not more likely to cold seize than a cast piston. A cast piston could be considered more forgiving than a forged piston as the are less dense and will plasticly deform when stressed. Therefore, your cylinder bore can be more out of round and tapered, but yet still function with a cast piston compared to a forged piston. Basically, if the machinist and machine tool that creates the the bore is with intolerance ofr position, taper, and concentricity in repect to the piston construction you will never have more problems with a forged piston over a comparable cast piston. In fact it will be the other way around. I am curious as to who these big name builders are that have told you this, as it is quite a load of b.s. :thumbsup:

I break all of my engines in on an engine dynamometer. If that is something that you can pull off I would be happy to supply to with a load and speed profile. :thumbsup: Do not ever break in an engine at a constant state of full throttle. Who ever told you that probably has difficulty getting out of bed in the morning without being run over by a truck. :shoothead:

Pictures? :thumbsup:

Make sure you offer them in different colors for different riding styles. If you do that then people will need to buy several instead of just one. :thumbsup:

I swear I just made a good size post in a thread on this topic within the last week or so. :thumbsup: If y'all don't fin what you need, let me know.

I was having trouble following your mathematical process there. The angle finder ought to solve al your problems. :thumbsup:

I think he started a new thread with pics in it. :thumbsup:

There are several internships available at my current place of employment (granted i might not be there by the summer time) as well as in Germany and Japan. I also know some folks in some other organizations in North Carolina and California that are looking for some summer interns. I think many of these internships are paid, or stleast they cover housing and transportation. :thumbsup: In regards to the OSU baja car on the website: What does it weigh? Why were those particular wheels chosen? Do you know where the CG of the car is? Do you know how well it did in the rock crawl at Washougal? I have actually seen a few of OSU's past cars in person. How many of the folks in the team picture are still on the team?

You'd better put a sticker on it and sell it on eBay for $5000, before someone else thinks of the idea. :thumbsup: