i am going to start building a spare engine that i picked up. i have to get the crank done by falicon and also some block work done. has anyone bored out their or another 54 block?
what oversize pistons are availible? is the cylinder nikasil? any other things i should know

 

My '02 was bored over 0.25mm at the Honda dealership (previous owner had it done). Used all Honda parts. I believe this is the largest overbore that can be done without resleeving. I do think there is a 1mm overbore kit listed aftermarket. Guy spent $3200 to have the motor totally rebuilt with just under 20k miles. Why he just didn't buy a used motor I'll never know.

 

i know its going to be costly but i want to build it myself so i know its right.

my main concern is if it has a nikisil coating or if i can just bore and go?

 

To the best of my knowledge the 954 is nikisil coated. The max bore you can go is 1mm over factory. The power really comes from stroking the engine. Do a search on here, there are quite a few results to read on it from those much more knowledgable than I in this area.

 

yup, 1mm is all you can do with a bore.... it IS nikasil plated.


have you started searching for machine shops that do nikasil plating? there aren't too many... and from what i've found (because i am in the process of building a motor), you're looking at $65 or so per cyl for a bore, then another $175 to re-plate the nikasil. so figure around $950+ for that.

what DEWALT was talking about is a bore (more of a hone) that makes the cylinder round again and you use oversized rings... (it's for motors that have very bad piston slap - cyl walls are "egg shaped")

what are you looking to do with the motor? if you're going on the track, i would NOT stroke the motor. piston speed would be way too high in the upper RPMS.... which is where you're motor would live on the track...and if you're going hi-comp pistons, you're way too likely to throw a rod..... (you'd probably be into this somewhere around $1500 for the crank, $1500 for rods, and $500 pistons) if you did throw a rod, all of that is ruined... so is the top case and the bottom case.

that's a LOT of money to throw at the bottom end.... what are your plans for the head? that's where most of the gains are. if you got lighter valve springs, that'd free up a lot of power. aftermarket/custom grind cams are available - but the increase the valve overlap and the duration - that kills some bottom end power.


wiseco and j&e both make aftermarket pistons for it. generally, they're 12.5:1 and 13.5:1 - which is a pretty big bump from our 11.5:1.


i don't know what your plans are, but i've seen that you do like to do trackdays... which is all fine and dandy... but think about how many more track days.... or some other mods (like carbon fiber wheels - better value for the track) you could purchase ..... and if you grenade that motor... it's all gone....

just some things to think about.... i know i was kind of all over the place.... but if I were to do this - it'd NEVER see the track....

 

thanks guys
conrice yes it would see the track but i doubt i will go to 1mm, i will go just enough to get the scoring out of the cylinder. as for the crank i have a good one that spun a rod berring falicon will build up and grind to factory spec for about 400 buks.
i dont want to go crazy with it just build a good reliable engine, i will do a little head work but honestly i dont know what. there is a local guy here that is great with a top-end, so it will go to him. i hope to only have about 3k in the motor by the time im done. as for the add ons and other days it sounds good but i already have the pvm wheels and wont run them on the track! if i trash the bike i can sell the wheels to fix the bike. lol

 

well, as far as a crank rebuild, that's a good idea not to stroke it (so that you aren't going to have to worry about revs) - are they going to lighten and re-balance it as well? that'll make it rev faster. and as far as a minor hone to get the scoring out (so long as its not THAT bad), you shouldn't need a re-plate necessarily. they'll just make it straight, they're will still be enough nikasil left -and you'll use the .25 bigger rings.

are you going to put aftermarket pistons in it? if so, i have set of pistons that could go in it (they're actually an un-used set of pistons that came from jake zemke's fx 929 team) that i need to un-load - because i'm deciding to bore a mm on mine. the pistons are 75mm (stock bore)


if you're going for a head work, i'd port and polish, lighter valve springs (frees up a lot of power), aftermarket cams (webcams makes some drop in ones for around $750).

 

They actually put .25 rings and .25 pistons in my engine when rebuilt. Not sure what the clearance limits are but maybe mine was beyond using just the .25 rings after a light bore/deglaze. A look at the service manual may answer some questions.

 

we have talked about enlarging the oil galleys, lightening, balance, and tapering the trailing edge more. for the jug im going to go the bare minimum then sourci piston or ring as needed. i have to take it to the local shop and have it looked at. if its still able to use stock i will definatly pick up those from you. if not i will be in a whole new budget range for the build. for the head im not sure what i will do yet it will be a build in progress as i get some cash the wife doesnt see!!

 

.0008 - .002 is the service limits for piston-to-cylinder wall gap. - that's not very damn much

i know i was able to .012 in on the feeler gauge so i figure i'm around .006 (which i know... its a ****ty way to measure) - either way, i know i'm WAY out of spec. your .25 is .009 in.



that's sweet. can't wait to see it. did they give you any idea of how much weight they thought they could shave off?