G'day

Firstly, ASP and Magnum engines are made by Sanye in China. They are practically the same. Magnum are made for a US company and ASP is a Sanye brand.

I have had a few and most were fine though I did have one 61 four stroke with a leaking head and a friend had a 70 with the same problem. Both were fixed by simply (and quite cheaply) buying new heads. I did buy a pair of Magnum 30 four strokes to put in a twin but they were so different in performance that I gave up on the idea.

More recently several 91 four strokes have been used at my club. I was helping a friend with one today and it runs extremely well now that I have tuned it and put a decent plug (Enya #3) in it. It also runs perfectly happily inverted and inside a cowl.

Another friend has an ASP 180 which is a real powerhouse in a Sig Four Star 120 built from a kit.

I would be quite happy to buy one. I mostly use Saitos and I have some OS four strokes too but I think the ASP/Magnum engines represent excellent value for money. If you buy ASP from Just Engines in the UK or Magnum from a reputable dealer in the USA, you should have no problem should you need warranty service. Here in Australia, things are more fluid as most are imported by small importers and sold on a certain auction site or imported very cheaply from Hong Kong by the end users. Parts from Hong Kong are very cheap (when available) and Just Engines seems to have most parts but at a higher cost.

One thing I will say is that they do need some running-in AND they do like some castor oil in their fuel mix. The quality of the machining is good but not up to OS or Saito standards. A nice slobbering rich first couple of runs will wash out any little bits that should not be in there. You can see them on your finger if you put it near the exhaust outlet (not too close though or you may get burned). I have found it necessary on a couple of engines to open the low speed needle a little to get the engine to run rich enough initially. The initial settings of the carbys are a bit of a lottery.

Cheers

Mike in Oz