What makes for a bullet proof engine?

[e3steve]

Well, to draw a line under The Oil Cooler thing (for me, at least), I now reckon it's not necessary. If teazer's research surrounding racing engines' oil temperatures -- superimposed upon the length of time that these motors have continued to survive -- is anything to go by, then I'm not prepared to put money and effort into fitting one.

And the two things that have bubbled back to the surface, time and time again, are the quality of oil used and the frequency of a proper service. And after over forty years of sustained abuse The Little Bike still comes back for more; so therein lies the answer to the topic!

[jerry]

Now I will add my 2 bobs worth to this discussion. Loudmouse and I think alike . I personally would leave the road bikes as built by the factory. Points and all. I would change the oil every 500 miles and clean the centrifugal oil filter with the oil change. Always warm up the engine before riding off. Ride the bike as it should be ridden using no more than the 9000 red line. Do periodic maintenance as required without shortcuts or suspect or inferior parts. This combination should give you many years of happy motorcycling. I promise you nothing is bullet proof. As for the race bikes anything goes within the Rule book parameters. Neither the current 350 nor the 500 run oil coolers. The reason for that is that is that the bikes run on Methanol which tends to like hot running engines. Secondly oil coolers add weight to the bikes. It is only if I were running on petrol that I would consider running coolers. Did that with the earlier bikes as we were also looking at Daytona where Methanol could not be used. There is an adage that nothing is for nothing. With the performance in Horsepower, Torque and RPM that are being extracted from my engines service life is very limited with crankshaft, piston, valve and valve spring life being perhaps 1000 miles. Engines are stripped after every race meeting and or practice session. Oil is changed at the same time. Just remember that the harder you work your engines the faster it will wear outand finally if you want to go fast over big distances buy a suitable bike. Nothing is for nothing. All the best Jerry

[LOUD MOUSE]

GOT TA LOVE IT JERRY. .............lm

Now I will add my 2 bobs worth to this discussion. Loudmouse and I think alike . I personally would leave the road bikes as built by the factory. Points and all. I would change the oil every 500 miles and clean the centrifugal oil filter with the oil change. Always warm up the engine before riding off. Ride the bike as it should be ridden using no more than the 9000 red line. Do periodic maintenance as required without shortcuts or suspect or inferior parts. This combination should give you many years of happy motorcycling. I promise you nothing is bullet proof. As for the race bikes anything goes within the Rule book parameters. Neither the current 350 nor the 500 run oil coolers. The reason for that is that is that the bikes run on Methanol which tends to like hot running engines. Secondly oil coolers add weight to the bikes. It is only if I were running on petrol that I would consider running coolers. Did that with the earlier bikes as we were also looking at Daytona where Methanol could not be used. There is an adage that nothing is for nothing. With the performance in Horsepower, Torque and RPM that are being extracted from my engines service life is very limited with crankshaft, piston, valve and valve spring life being perhaps 1000 miles. Engines are stripped after every race meeting and or practice session. Oil is changed at the same time. Just remember that the harder you work your engines the faster it will wear outand finally if you want to go fast over big distances buy a suitable bike. Nothing is for nothing. All the best Jerry

[BLUE62]

I've talked with LoudMouse about this and got some good suggestions with an overview of how he builds up his engines. I figured I'd post up on the board and see what other people think on the subject.

I'll be taking my '67 CB77 down to the frame this winter and rebuilding it. I'm not focusing on a restoration, but rather a build to suite my tastes so nothing has to be correct to the year. All of you purist, don't worry, I've compiled spares of everything that I plan on modifying just in case I do want to go the all original route in the future :-)

My main concern in the first stages is rebuilding the engine. I like to ride for hours on end when it's warm and don't want to be bothered with roadside repairs or adjustments if I can avoid it. While I'd like to get some more power out of the bike, the most important thing to me is reliability. I'd rather the bike have the same power and run like a top for the rest of its life than have more power with the possibility that what I've done will cause any sort of issue down the road.

So, with that in mind, what do you all feel will make for a bullet proof motor? I'm mainly interested in bolt on items and DIY upgrades so no complex machining solutions or crazy welding additions. Example: what are the most reliable valves, pistons, etc. Doesn't matter if its overkill for the bike or the motor in terms of strength/composition. I'd rather spend a bit more on something and know that it will never be pushed to its limit than get something that's just "good enough." I realize that with the age of the bike, the aftermarket and OEM parts can be hard to find. If there's even a chance it exists, please mention it. Thanks.

[BLUE62]

Where did the train (topic) run off the track....I thought we were talking about how to rebuild a reliable - bullet proof motor...and after one comment on oil coolers the whole topic changed for five pages to opinions on OIL COOLERS!!! My Brother works for Chevron - He sent me a beer COOLER for my birthday....Let's start a new Tangent....I think styraform coolers are better than.........

[cyclon36]

As an update, I plan on cryo-treating pretty much my entire engine. If you haven't heard of this before, you should look into it. It prolongs the life of gears as well as other metal bits. I've had friends use it on their brake rotors on the track and had forgotten about the process until recently. Here's a link to a local place I plan on frequenting when the time comes: http://www.evansperformance.com/home2.html