Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Hey, I can top that, this Dirico Speedster has a baker 7 speed gearbox. It's powered by a Harley 110 cu in engine. I gotta go, I'm riding my bike up to my bro in laws in Huntingtown, Md. about 58 miles, it's 42 degrees out right now, no skeeters on this ride.

I'm expecting some C&H equipment on Monday so you'll be hearing more CDI stuff. Adrian's equipment is much nicer looking that my home made stuff.

SrTelemaster150

Anyone that would put a 6 speed gearbox on a 110" stroker really doesn't have a clue about stroker power bands.

My 86" Pan head would pull 7.8 second 1/8 miles & hit 135+ MPH @ 5200 RRPM W/a 4-speed using Andrews 2.60 low & close ratio 3rd gear.

W/6 speeds you will either be geared way too high in 6th gear or way to low in 1st for good acceration before the shift. The ratios will probably be too close for utilizing the broad power band too. A big inch hog need to be able to stretch its long legs.

hsukaria

"I don't ride scooters, that's for sure."

I never rode a scooter, but I did ride my son's Go-Ped a few times, I confess.

I once had to conduct a test on the F-16 (many years ago), I was under a wing with my test instruments while the GE F110 was blasting 30K lbs of thrust at Max Afterburner. I had trouble breathing and my heartbeat was irregular from the vibes. Luckily, I only had to perform that test once. There was a visible vortex (mini tornado) extending from the engine intake up to the hangar ceiling, and about a 30 foot purple flame out the exhaust. Of course, to the regular ground crew, that was a daily chore. Maybe I will classify that sound second after the Saito sound?

stang516

hello I have a saito 91-s put bearings in the engine, but not sure how to set the vavle timming. can u please help me find how to set the timming

SrTelemaster150

The small/medium sized Saito's have cylindrical tappets. You can remove the tappet for the inlet valve & insert the appropriate sized pin through the lifter housing to engage the hole that is in the cam lobe for this purpose.

Use rubber bands around the case to hold the crank @ TDC. Instal the cam/housing W/the pin locating the cam. Remove the pin after the housing is secured, insert the tappet & finish assembling the engine.

Somewhere in this thread there are posts W/PIX of this method, but RCU has the worst "search" function on the entire World Wide Web so good luck finding them.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

That's a pretty good experience under the F-16. My high school best friend and I did survey work at the Atlanta airport in the early 70's when they were building the parallel runways, new tower, and new terminal. He was a party chief and took me to the end of a active runway and we got right up behind a 747 as it set the brakes, and ran up for takeoff. We had to squat down facing away. It took a long time to find where my hardhat blew off to. I was picking sand out of my hair for days afterwards.

I think your video has won the best sound so far, Dan. I hope the contest of sorts isn't over yet.

Dave, I thought those mostly hauled cargo for the short field, short hops. I used to see them a lot around Atlanta.

flyingagin

Oh man, you got that right. And it is worse since the upgrade. Heck I can't even find something I posted. better luck with google find something inside of RCU.

Ken

FNQFLYER

Shorts 330 and 360 hmmm akin to flying torture only bested by the Skyvan, Didn't like hot and high and fortunately all I ever had to do was look at them. Didn't the US military use them called them Sherpas as I remember. On a/c engines I saw a guy suffer concussion (sort off) after standing betweeen 2 RB11's running at ground idle and then moving to "flight idle". When it comes to "burner rumble" te CFM 56 is pretty hard to beat on start up though the P&W 4000 comes a close second. On Saitos and shaft runs (I don't advocate them OF) we had one yesterday when a trainer / sports model shed a blade and the remainder hit an electric fence and jolted the prop loose on the shaft all at t/o p[ower, interesting.

Rudolph Hart

I like your avatar ken,it's my favourite do anything aeroplane.

Re sound who would like to hear a double row fg168?

acdii

Cub got a new engine.

Rudolph Hart

Hey dave no offence intended as you know but that bike looks as if it should come with a pto (power take off) point so you can run a hay baler or seeder on the farm.It's too tractor like for me but beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Sr big factories do big customer surveys (like the mt rushmore project harley just did) and they put more gears in boxes now because customers riding speeds and habits have changed,or so they reckon,there's still a few of us tamed down rednecks left over here.A fair dinkum fast rider uses almost all front brake with maybe a touch of rear brake to back it into the corner,According to harleys own survey most harley riders do just the opposite and a big complaint was harleys bad brakes,so harley linked back and front brakes,so they got to use the front brake even if they never touched the front brake lever,after that the harley guys loved their brakes.Now if they could just take all that fat wide stuff off their bikes they would'nt be clogging up corners and you could pass them easier.

Ok dave looks like we are in for a lot of conversation about cdi conversions in the near future,it sounds interesting.If you were going thru a gallon a week on glow ignition i might think it's worth the hassle of an extra battery and the chance of interference.Plus they loose that unpredictable irregular lumpy sound,it tames them too much.

Rudolph Hart

Acdc beautiful engine,you don't run a cowl ?

ps now you'll be doing four point upward rolls

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

The Dirico may look utilitarian, but they sell as fast as they make them, they really do have 7 gears. They are made by Steven Tyler and his brother in law, Craig Dirico, the modern trend is to have more gears available to keep engines in their most efficient rpm band. It can be an advantage whether seeking power or economy.
My ride to Md. yesterday was very nice, not a fast one, I spent about half the time in 4th gear. Riding through Amish Country the speed limits are mostly 40 mph. The scenery was beautiful so the 59 miles went by quickly.

I hope I receive the .45 today You mentioned the lumpy sound that is eliminated. The 1.50 and the 1.00 both accelerate much more smoothly and cleanly and quicker I believe.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Dave, you know that those speed limit signs are really just suggested speeds, right? The Valentine One is your best friend. I can give testimony to the money it has saved me. With the remote indicator, it is pretty good for bikes.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Well, when traveling through that part of Maryland coming up on an Amish horse and buggy is quite a surprise if you're over-cookin it. Black skid marks on the road and brown ones in my shorts is not for me.

Curiosity get the best of me and I pulled the cylinder off of my old FA .40, and to my surprise it has a ring, That makes it a MKII. ABC construction is obvious.

acdii

Plane is still under construction, so the cowl hasn't been touched yet. I have a habit of putting the cowl on after a few flights too, but in this case the cowl will go on before first flight since I will be able to reach everything without removing it and I know this engine is running good cowled. I had it cowled in the P-51 and it ran great, all the way to the ground.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

The early FA .45 came today and I put an hour on it using WildCat 10% with 18% synthetic lube. The compression out of the box was pretty sad, Peter Chinn mentioned the soft compression. At the end of the 60 minute run the compression is pretty snappy. A green colored grease came out of the vent for 20 minutes and also out of the front bearing. There is actually a container of that grease included with the tools. This engine broke in completely different than any other Saito, the no ring piston probably responsible for that. During the 10 minute run at 4,000, which actually started out at 3,900 the engine accelerated to 4,800 at the end of the first 10 minutes. I thought the engine was going to quit when I first started it but it stumbled around at 3,900 and then smoothed out to 4,200 then slowly went to 4,800.

Engine==Early Saito FA .45 with ringless piston and bolt on head.
Glow plug==Taipan 4c
Prop==Bolly 11.5x6
Fuel WildCat 2/4 10%
Max rpm so far==8,960
Idle==nice easy 2,200

I did my usual 10 minutes at 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 6,500, 7,000 and then 7,500. I added two extra 500 rpm steps at 6,000 and 7,000 since this engine is different.
Note to self, remove saw dust from board.

PS note the rivet looking thing in the center of the intake bulge. it is a pin that goes right across the intake port just behind the intake valve. The black circle at the end of the vent tube is actually green.

Rudolph Hart

Congrats dave sounds and looks like you have a nice engine.I thought others would be curious but since no one has asked i will.That rivet looking thing you mention and i can see in the first pic,what does it do and if you get time can i see some pix from different angles? i've never seen anything like that before.If you are getting oil out of the front bearing why is that happening,different bearing seals or has one side been removed?

ps if you were runng a bit of castor and some castrol r i'd be tempted to dip my finger in the oil and sawdust just to see what it tasted like

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Thanks Pete, For a show and tell, I will remove the head and check that out, I'm not one bit afraid to pull an engine apart, that's what bolts are for. A lot of folks think one should keep an engine exactly like it was made, this one has 2.5x16 Phillips Head like screws in the rocker covers. They will quickly become socket head screws but I'll keep the stock ones.PS, no castor has gone through it yet.

Clarence Lee said that the ringless .45 he tested was hard to start when hot because it had week compression but would start quickly when cold. This one has snappy ABC like compression whether cold or hot.

One other point to ponder, this one has aluminum rockers.

Rudolph Hart

When you say harder to start hot did he mean the cylinder expanded more than the piston when hot? i'd like a close up of the rocker covers off please,could you spill a bit of castor over one ?

C'mon all you shadow/ghost readers and old regulars too.This is interesting if it ever was..an old 45 a bit different than we usually talk about trev..and all you other guys out there.Get off your butts and have a say whether you feel like frankenstein or not at the moment.Disclaimer: this does'nt mean sr too,no sense of humour

Hey barry every time you talk about suggested speed limits it cracks me up.I always get this mental picture of somebody with the power to arrest me and crush my bike suggesting his own interpretation of suggested

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Okey Dokey Pete, here are some pitchers I tookin, as the Beav would say. I managed to get a picture of that pin, it appears to go through to hold the bronze port inserts. The engine does not appear to have a sleeve, it's nearly a circus act to get the rocker assembly off and especially back on. I flipped it cold this a am one time and compression is that same as yesterday hot, very good. I am amazed at how clean the WildCat 2/4 runs. I did not wipe anything. The valve lash was just slightly looser than when I set them yesterday when it was still un-run. Without the head on and no valve spring load the piston slowly drifts down through the bore when I place it at at tdc. If this ain't enough splainin I can come up with more.''PS, I am going to re-read PeterChinn's test and see if he mentions the sleeve or the lack of one. One last thing, there is no head shim/gasket.

He does, its a direct chrome plating, no sleeve.

SrTelemaster150

No head gasket might explain the lack of compression when cold.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

That's not the case with this one, it has great compression hot or cold. I just put another hour on it but ran a Zoar 11x6 and a TurboHeader. The rpm was 9,953, idle about 2,800 the Zoar is just too light.

Rudolph Hart

The early engines look much nicer than the new ones.

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Pete, there is a reason that the .45 is better looking, the rocker covers have little wings on them. They are not interchangeable.