Johnny C!

Hey gang!
I didn''t intend to buy any engines this weekend, but I
I was offered these in a package deal that I thought
was too good to pass up..

There are 3 K&B''s, all .61''s. None of them look like they
have been ran at all.

I mainly wanted the two with the tuned pipes, hoping
I could use them on an upcoming twin project.

Do they have as much power as a current mfg engine?
Are they reliable enough for a twin? I''m going to convert
my Ultra Stik .120 to a twin.
How much might they be worth?

Also please tell me what you can about the third K&B as
well.

Thanks a bunch!

Johnny C!

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Those are pretty much the current version of the ringed K&B 61

You will find that they run with as much power as any of the latest 61 designs

They liked 11-7 1/2 props

The engines themselves are very reliable but tuning the pipes may be a challenge for you if you are not used to the pipes.

Used 61''s without tuned pipes have been going in the $65 range. Yours would be worth at least that much

Before you run them you could send them off the Clarence Lee and have them made into PDP engines. They will really scream then

rcdude7

My Feedback: (264)

The third one is a .65 sportster. It is a plain bearing engine with NO cylinder liner. The piston is chrome plated aluminum riding in a bare bore and the sleeve bearing is not bronze either. The case is made of a alloy that has very good bearing properties in itself. This engine is noted to take a long time to break-in using a fuel with lots of castor. No cool power here. Not a real powerhouse, but swings a 13" prop at fourstroke like speeds. A nice engine once broke-in.

Mike

jeffie8696

I recently bought a K&B .45 Sportster and it is a very impressive piece of machinery. Mine will turn a master Airscrew 11X6 prop to 12,200 on Sig 20% castor 15% nitro without even breaking a sweat. And it will hand start at IDLE!! with one flip. I''m sold.Likes a hot plug. Loves all castor fuel. I will get another!! You can send me that .65 if you want. I am looking for a .20 or .28 for my Mustang.

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

The K&B Sportster engine series do turn out to be good engines when broken-in and ran on at least some castor oil - the more, the better.

Some of the later Sportster''s crankcases were equipped with bronze bushings, but that was very close in time to when K&B was closed and sold. I don''t think there are all that many of the bronze bushed engines out in the field. The latest versions from Randy & K&B should be bronze bushed.

The muffler on the Sportster series of K&B was a rather ingenious piece of engineering work. Stock, they are quiet and they were known to actually add a bit of a boost in power when compared to the K&B .61 muffler. The original K&B Sportsters were set up to run without muffler pressure and no pressure nipple was installed on the mufflers. Fear not, just let the vent tube hang down a tad under the fuselage and fly away. The carbs were set up to provide extra suction for fuel draw. Later, after a lot of folks complained about not having a muffler fitting, K&B caved in and fitted the engines with the nipple - at a slight sacrifice in power. Why, because the muffler design was upset by the change in pressure when using muffler pressure. But whatcha gonna do? Folks want their traditional features, even when it hurts performance.

As an aside, the K&B .61 muffler also perfectly fits/matches the HB .40, .50 & .61 engines. It served as HB''s stock mufflers for their engines in the previously mentioned size range.


Ed Cregger

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The "65 Sportsters" generally do not bring as much money as the "61 #6550" ringed engines. They didn''t cost much to begin with and are more of a $45 engine.
Their torque characteristics are the opposite of the "61". They like to turn a bigger prop at a slower rpm.

The Sportster is as its name implies . . . It is a general purpose sport engine.

jeffie8696

General Purpose Sport Engine. Right up my alley. Means it will do anything.

Johnny C!

While I had these out for pic''s last night,
I took a look at the fourth engine in the
bunch, an OS Max FX .61. I think I''ll put
the K&B''s up for sale here, to offset the
cost of another FX. I just didn''t realize
what it was until last night.

Thanks for all of the input!

Johnny C!

reincarnate

Johnny C...
PM me about these if you seriously want to sell. I''ve needed a carb for mine forever, and I may just take one.

jeffie8696

Hey I asked first. Like I need one more engine around here.

Johnny C!

I''m glad I checked the thread before I
placed an ad...

PM''s sent...

Johnny C!

MrMotor

If the Sportster looks to be about the same size as the 61s it is a 45 as the 65 Sportster looks more like a 90 size engine.

Johnny C!

Paul,
You may be correct.
I could have sworn that it
said .61 on it, too. But it
does not. Thanks for pointing
that out!

Johnny C!

jeffie8696

If you measure the bore you will find out for certain. I had to do that with mine since it is so huge I was almost surely convinced it was a 60 size engine. Mine certainly acts like a .60!! Love It!! [sm=teeth_smile.gif]

[)](Uh No, I mean, mine runs terrible, yea ,heavy and underpowered and won't hold together and won't start good and you should send me yours so you don't have that headache , yea that's the ticket.)[)] The Mecoa website has good info.

Johnny C!

I noticed a "91" cast into the
back plate on the Sportster, today.

I would assume that it's a date
stamp.

The OD on the top of the head measures 1.975.
The .61's measure 1.750. Can someone
measure theirs to see what size it is?

Thanks again!

Johnny C!

jeffie8696

My .45 Sportster measures 1.78. If you measure the bore it will give you a more accurate indication.

Johnny C!

What would the respective bore diameters be?

I'll pull the head off tonight & measure it.

Thanks Jeffie!

Johnny C!

jeffie8696

The .45 is .85" while the .65 is .938". With all the trouble it's causing you I'm surprised you haven't chucked it in a box and mailed it to me just to get rid of it. [sm=angel_smile.gif] My .45 just impresses the holey poop outta me. And I have several engines here to play around with for comparison. Until just recently I had 6 .40 size engines from 5 different manufacturers to pit against each other. The slower ones got sold. [sm=lol.gif]

Johnny C!

The bore on the Sportster measures .935'ish.

So is it a .65 or a .61?

Jeffie! Make me an offer!
The .61's are still available too!

Thanks again!

Johnny C!

jeffie8696

I don't even know what I'm going to do with this big Ba^@&d . It's really cool though. Now if you are interested in some 1/2As we could deal.

jeffie8696

Since you are measuring the top of a tapered bore I will call it a .65. Be cautious re installing the head bolts. Mine was cheap because one of the threads was pulled out. I had a heck of a time repairing it, but if it ever happens let me know I have a great fix. You may notice my head bolts look a little differnt.

huck1199

It is not a .61, they have ball bearings front and back.

jeffie8696

The Sportsters are all bushing engines. Not a bad thing really, just different.