Topic: Some pics of bryanj's ported 500 head....

[MRieck]

That's some nice work Mike, The 836 engine in my K1 is a real "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" with your beautifully engineered stage 3 head, I just can't believe the difference between that engine and my stock K0, it's scary fast!

I'm still playing with the needle position in the 29mm CR carbs, (which are brilliant, 2 screws and the needles are out, how easy is that?!) and trying to get used to the noise from the 5 thou valve clearances recommended for the Megacycle 125/75 cam, but it's getting close, and man, does it fly!

How about you do a photo-article on how to port a head Mike, as much as I'd love to have you build all my heads, I can't afford it, and worse, can't afford the airmail now that USPS won't ship internationally via "Surface Mail", but I'd love to have a crack at doing my own heads? I'm particularly interested in the tools and equipment I'll need to shape those ports into "Mike-like" works of art! Cheers, Terry.

I look at that pic of your bike Terry and I see the carbs, head and valve adjustment caps that all started from my house. . I could do a step by step porting guide....I've got enough heads here to do it but at this point they are all 4 valve pieces. I expect to get some more 550 and 750 heads.
  You have to love the adjustment ease of those CR's. I replced those cover screws with stainless allen heads......even easier to get off with a long ball end.
   That 125-75 is a good cam....it's in Art's bike (and mine) too. Nice top end. You have the oversize intakes and exhaust valves too......nice.

[MRieck]

hei M

that's some sexy shaped metal you are showing. What stage would that be? I've seen you didnt touch much the guides.

+ doesnt the 550 head have the nice 15 deg chamfer on the edge as the 500? That's a very useful feature that I used to build some squish area.

find that strange as the 550 and 500 are supposed to have same valve size, no?

Cheers

TG

That's a Stage2 Yossef. You can certainly cut down the guide which is what I'd do for a Stage 3 head. I'd put the guide in the lathe, cut it down and really taper what was left. That squish area is on the 500 but not as pronouced as on the 550. Bryan's head has .007 removed which certainly diminishes that area. I used the same "wedge' squish area on my head......it does work.
  The valves are the same for the 550/500. You can't go much larger on the intake as it is pretty close to the edge of the seat as it is. Maybe 1mm on the intake. Your idea with the straight runners is good.....I did the best I could "straightening" the OEM pieces.

[azuredesign]

Where's the photos that show imbibing of Chimay? I mean the porting looks nice and all, but I want some inspirational pix as well!

[bryanj]

Mike, if i could get it there duty free you'd have a case of chimey!!

[bwaller]

Gordon I'd like to take a shot at answering your question concerning performance gains but without the carb step . My wifes 550 is fairly mild at 592, web 58a and stiff springs, balanced, porting improvements, tighter squish and 10.1:1CR, a pipe, "squared up" the cam timing and 106 LC's.

It's docile and very "streetable" which is what I wanted for her, and although it needs a touch of clutch to loft the front, wheelies are easy to ride on the throttle once up. It REALLY accelerates. It reaches top-end quickly BUT runs out of wind at 115 and 9200rpm on stock gearing. It needs bigger carbs and I think that improvement alone would really do something, but in this case it runs perfectly as is and my wife doesn't need any more! Even in "mild trim" IT FLAT OUT RUNS AWAY FROM MY 750 and it's a good one albeit mostly stock.

Besides all the other handling & braking improvement goodies, this bike lost a bunch of weight which is indeed part of the performance gain. I'm not sure what single improvement gives the biggest bang because I had decided from the onset that this whole bike would be re-invented and rolled out of the shop that way.

So compared to a stock 500/550 the difference is as you stated night & day. It feels tiny and is a blast to ride.

[mkramer1121]

Mike, its about time you asked for some money!!!! and i will do my best to afford the machining for the block ASAP and build the beast.
Plan is a webcam 58A with a 605 kit and a thin copper head gasket and, if i can get it inspected, a piper 4 into 1.
Should HOWLLLLL

Slight hijack...

Make sure you o-ring the cylinders when you use a copper head gasket or you will be blowing oil all over the place.  Even with aneeling, the copper head gasket may not seal properly.  Ask APTech about that and the fact he had to pull his engine again and use a Yoshimura paper/fiber one instead. 

Here's this from APE's website (hope you don't mind Big Jay):

"HEAD GASKETS

On motors using 10.5 to 1 compression ratio pistons, a fiber head gasket will work fine. For racing applications; where 13.5 to 1 compression ratio pistons ar used, a copper head gasket is required. Also, when using a copper gasket, the cylinder block must be o-ringed to help the copper gasket seal. Cutting a groove around the sleeve and using a copper wire thickness of .039 is common place. Leave about .009 height of wire above the block surface. "

Link here:  http://www.aperaceparts.com/COPE.HTML

[Jonesy]

How about a link Jonesy?

Sorry, I got this confused with the "What can be done with the 550" thread.. 

This is another excellent forum: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=17374.0

Jonesy did an amazing job of putting this porting project up for all us CB550 owners.

Here's the bits:

[Terry in Australia]

Ooh, they look pretty cool, where can I buy them? I don't know of any stores here in Oz, but anyway, they're probably much cheaper in the US, so if you know of an "On-Line" store where I can order some? Cheers, Terry.

[MRieck]

Ooh, they look pretty cool, where can I buy them? I don't know of any stores here in Oz, but anyway, they're probably much cheaper in the US, so if you know of an "On-Line" store where I can order some? Cheers, Terry.

You really need the 4" shafts which are 1/4" dia. I'll post pics if you guys want.

[FunJimmy]

Mike

I'd like to see the pics.

Thanks
FJ

[MRieck]

Mike

I'd like to see the pics.

Thanks
FJ

OK....I'll do that tomorrow.

[Jonesy]

I know the ones Mike is talking about. I don't think the place I went to had them, but it was a bit of a treasure hunt to find them there. The place that had them was an abrasives broker, so they have a large warehouse-style room piled to the ceilings with grinding wheels, belts... you name it. The ones I bought have 2" shafts.

The 4" shaft ones would have been nice as the knurled collet on the Dremel would bark up the edge of the port while working on the deepest parts, so I had to "erase" these spots with a flapwheel upon finishing.

I also tried the conical sandpaper bits traditionally used for porting work, but they seemd to clog with aluminum rather easily. If they come in a variety of grits, a coarser grit might help.

[MRieck]

I know the ones Mike is talking about. I don't think the place I went to had them, but it was a bit of a treasure hunt to find them there. The place that had them was an abrasives broker, so they have a large warehouse-style room piled to the ceilings with grinding wheels, belts... you name it. The ones I bought have 2" shafts.

The 4" shaft ones would have been nice as the knurled collet on the Dremel would bark up the edge of the port while working on the deepest parts, so I had to "erase" these spots with a flapwheel upon finishing.

Yep....even the 4" pieces can "bark" against stuff. You need the Foredom type equipment with the foot control unit. I actually use a Dremel unit fashioned after the Fordom equipment. Slow spped is essential IMO with aluminum.

[Jonesy]

Yeah, if I did this stuff more often I'd probably go that route. (As I pointed out earlier, a Dremel is heavy and gets mighty warm in your hand after awhile, and a pencil grinder gets ice cold!)

I concur on the slow speed. Also, while the carbide cutters are nice, I find that the HS Steel bits have larger flutes, which aren't as prone to clogging with chips.

[hymodyne]

nice work Mike, I'll have my head shipped your way for a stage 2 very soon...

hym

[Jonesy]

Hey, Mike... What did you do to clean up the loose fit of the intake runners to the head so the bores would stay concentric?

[Terry in Australia]

Ooh, I'm getting excited, post those pics Mike, Hondaman has just sent me another set of 836cc pistons and cylinders, with an (unevenly, he said) ported head with big valves, big cam etc out of a drag bike, (100 bucks on Ebay, and I was the only bidder...............) so I'm gonna attempt to correct the port job, woohoo!

Now what do I need, a dremel tool with flexible shaft and stand etc, and some of those cutting bits and flap wheels with 4 inch shafts? Ooh, tools, my second third favorite thing.............     

[UnCrash]

Hey Terry,

You should check with some old timey jewelers.  Their flex shafts are the perfect ticket for you.  I know a jeweler that let one go for $50 recently with foot contolls and all.

Sorry I don't know any that are available now, but these flex-shafts as they're called in the Jewelry industry are a standard.

All the best,

[Terry in Australia]

Hey thanks mate!

[MRieck]

Hey, Mike... What did you do to clean up the loose fit of the intake runners to the head so the bores would stay concentric?

I line them up by eye  and port match them to the intake entrance. You want to make sure you leave enogh material to keep the sealing O ring captured too. When installing them it's pretty easy to line up the runners by sight and feel. You could counterbore the the mounting holes a bit and install dowels but I don't think it is worth the effort. You definitely need the long bits for that job.

[Jonesy]

When I did mine, I slipped a little piece of thin-walled aluminum tubing (found at hobby shops and better hardware stores) over one of the studs. It was just enough to keep the runners from floating around. Only took a minute to install, and the parts remain in perfect index.