Author Topic: ludedude...500 conversion questions  (Read 1654 times)

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ludedude...500 conversion questions
« on: August 24, 2005, 04:50:17 AM »
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I think at one of the "other" rides they had stunds pull out of the cases. You don't hear much about it cause it may hurt business.


Was that you? What happened?

Anyone else find this confusing???

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The claimed HP is 72 HP on the 500, it seems everybody rubber stamps that number on all of them, if it is a accurate HP number then my modified 400cc
Pilot engine makes 71 HP because it was right there with the 4 different 500cc mod engines I ran with, I have not run my 440 with any 500's yet but my 440 makes more HP than my 400cc Pilot engine did and it is currently in mild fourm with a single carb, two into one pipe, clutching set to 7700 RPMs design RPMs is 8700 but at the 7700 it pulls like a frieght train up the tallest
dunes (soft sand) ....


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power wise I had my 400 about to the top of its level , MacDizzy said there is a lot more power left if I wanted to go full tilt I seen no need to due to the limits of the driven clutch, brakes, suspension etc.


If the MacDizzy 400 was tp the top level of the pilot....then why put a 440 in that makes more than the 400?

Hare and hoser..opinions from two who have not had 500's done? Ludedude you've had a 400 and now a 500, correct...can we get your opinions please.

Hare goes on about how modifing engines decreases longevity..hoser goes on about how to make more power from your 400 and he always uses statements similiar to "I choose reliability over horsepower"...so do these guys agree....are they contradicting themselves? I'm confused. Hoser's MacDizzy engine had a shaved head, rechambered dome....yet he claims it was a relaible engine...Hare says...well you get the picture.

I'm looking for more power..but not a every other weekend rebuild engine.

ludedude

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ludedude...500 conversion questions
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2005, 10:01:25 AM »
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Quote:
I think at one of the "other" rides they had stunds pull out of the cases. You don't hear much about it cause it may hurt business.


Was that you? What happened?


I did not have any trouble with any of my stunds, they all went off without a hitch  :D I did have trouble with two studs pulling out of the cases though. One was a relocated stud, the other was a stock position/untouched one. You haven't heard much about it because it was due to my stupidity...I blame it on lack of sleep  :P I had to rush to get things together in order to make this trip and should have paid more attention to my building of this engine. The cylinder was bored for a Honda piston, but a Wiseco went in. I did not have a Honda one and could not get one in time, so I went with the Wiseco. I had about 5 hrs on it around home and it worked fine. But climbing the mountain in Coal Creek proved to be too much for the piston/cylinder clearance. So on one high speed climb up the mountain it seized. I went back to camp and started to tear it down. I had another piston and cylinder ready to go, so I planned on just swapping top ends. Here's where the stupidity really kicked in. I did not conclude that the seizure was due to the clearance issue and just went ahead and replace the top end with another of the same setup....wiseco in a Honda bore. So the same thing happened....it was then taken apart and PilotHawk cleaned up the piston and made it possible to re-install it and use it again. When it went together this time I had an air leak that I could not get rid of. It was at the base of the cylinder, so I ended up over tightening the studs to try and get rid of that leak. We got it to a minimal leak and jetted rich and were going to run it that way....headed up the mountain and then the cylinder started to rock! The reason that happened and the reason there was an air leak was the the replacement 500 cylinder I out on was a different year and the tangs for the cylinder studs were different thicknesses. The air leak was due to the fact that the cylinder nuts were bottoming out on the end of the threads on the studs. Because of the air leak I over tightened the studs and hence started the process of pulling them out of the cases. The compression of the 500 cylinder did the rest. DH and PH helped me out again and we put heli-coils in those case stud locations and ran it again..only to seize again due to clearance issues. So there was a lot of wrenching going on :P

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You don't hear much about it cause it may hurt business.
If that was referring to the story above, that statement is way off and just another show of people spouting opinions when they don't know the facts.

As far as the other statements, yes I agree, kind of confusing. Why put the 440 in if the 400 had power to top out the pilot in suspension, braking, etc. I have not followed hoser's build up of  this transplant and why he choose to do so, I thought I heard/read it was gain reliability not power, but I'm not sure on that.

I have had a 400 built up that was I consider pretty much done up as well. It had a MacDizzy ported cylinder, shaved and re-chambered Dizzy head, a carburetor bored by him....he actually built the entire engine. It was piped and clutched and would stand on end and do wheelies on pavement or burn the tires on pavement depending on the clutching. That engine was very reliable, it met it's fate after 2 seasons (~120 hrs) when the oil plug came loose and it lost the counter balancer oil, otherwise I believe it would still be running now.

I know have a 500 in my pilot. It's a totally different beast. I have not had the time in tuning the 500 that I had into the 400 yet, so I may get more/better response out of the 500 yet. As is now, my 400 would easily match the 500 off the line, and maybe beat it in a 1/4 mile. I cannot (yet) get the same "snap" out of the big bore, and maybe I never will....that 400 "worked" :) But the 500 carries more power all the way up to top speed, and has a slightly higher a top speed. You can break the back end loose in the 500 at much higher speeds than on the 400. Because it "rolls" onto its power smoother than the 400, it's power is deceiving....like I said, it's a totally different beast.

In my opinion, had I to do it again..I probably wouldn't do it, I'd stay with a built 400, due to the price, and only the price factor. It's too damn expensive...but if money is not of concern, it's an awesome power plant in my opinion.

dhjunkie

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power
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2005, 11:45:02 PM »
the quest for more power is like penis envy...   in reality it works just fine the way it was set up to begin with.   But, it is human nature to go bigger, badder and faster......  motorsports wise that is.
  Now In my opinion a well tuned stock machine will provide enough challenge for the best of riders/drivers and also keep the reliabily issue to its fullest potential.  The prime thing to remember is that it is recreation riding----  having fun---- not wrenching on a broken machine in a short period of recreation fun.   For me, I guess I have worked out the go fast demons as I get older and now riding sanely  is beginnig to gain acceptance.