Axtell All Bore 107 kit, Seriously Looking

[MrSurly]

at this for the RK.
I like the oversquare design and I already have some big ol' SE heads and recent cam and other updates. Boring the cases doesn't phase me.
Does anyone have experience with this set up or Axtell in general?
Opinions or comments welcome!

[Backroad Mike]

Originally Posted by MrSurly

at this for the RK.
I like the oversquare design and I already have some big ol' SE heads and recent cam and other updates. Boring the cases doesn't phase me.
Does anyone have experience with this set up or Axtell in general?
Opinions or comments welcome!

Axtell has for the most part maintained a fairly good rep.. However, I have seen a few stories in the last year that were not all good. I believe the issues were solved or corrected.

You WILL need some head work because the bore is 4.125 and that's bigger than what your heads accomodate now. These pistons are also Domed so they will need clearanced. They recommend Baisley.. That's another 9 bills. Then you might need a new carb, or bigger TB.

Oh, and you'll probably need a clutch upgrade too.

You have been following Ed's thread right ???

[Big Cheese]

You'll shoot your eye out.

[why_me]

I gave up. I'm putting mine back together stock.

[squish]

Originally Posted by Why_Me

I gave up. I'm putting mine back together stock.

[MrSurly]

Originally Posted by Backroad Mike

You WILL need some head work because the bore is 4.125 and that's bigger than what your heads accomodate now. They recommend Baisley.. That's another 9 bills.

skimmer

[Backroad Mike]

Originally Posted by MrSurly

skimmer

[Bone Stockman]

I seriously considered this for Vader when I did the build last year. You have to bore the cases to fit those cylinders, which means that you're already splitting the cases, so you might as well do something with the crank. I opted to get a new one, increase the stroke, and go to 103 (and truth be told, I should have done the bore/stroke 107 combination, if not gone all the way to 117).

There's talk on other forums that the stock crank is good/safe up to around 120 ft-lbs. This kit would be pushing the ragged edge of that.

[MrSurly]

Originally Posted by '05Train

I seriously considered this for Vader when I did the build last year. You have to bore the cases to fit those cylinders, which means that you're already splitting the cases, so you might as well do something with the crank. I opted to get a new one, increase the stroke, and go to 103 (and truth be told, I should have done the bore/stroke 107 combination, if not gone all the way to 117).

There's talk on other forums that the stock crank is good/safe up to around 120 ft-lbs. This kit would be pushing the ragged edge of that.

I wonder what the stock crank can handle once it is welded?
I'm going to look at all my options on the crank. I'm not convinced that the stock crank can't be retained; obviously once it's outta there that would be time to upgrade it. Going with the longer stroke AND the big-ass jugs is tempting but I don't like the looks of it on paper. I have a belief that the 117" engine would have a shorter service life than the 107" just because of the VERY short skirt that results with the 117. It looks like it would be fairly unstable. I could be wrong, () but that's just the impression I get looking at pics of the different pistons. Of course, everything I do to it will no doubt result in less service life than just leavin' it the F*** alone! But where's the fun in that?
I am VERY familiar with mission creep(!) EVERY project of mine snowballs! I'm trying to figure the best budget-conscious way to get insane power with a flat torque curve in a build that lasts forever...
Nothin' to this, right?

[DAK47]

How much meat do you need to take out of the spigot holes to drop those cylinders in? And does it put you in the same territory as the problematic 110" with the case not having enough material to the cyl stud.

Interesting kit, oversquare like that should make one hell of a revver. Their preimeter dome piston looks cool, like to see some real world feedback on those...

Dirk

[JDsCycleWorks]

Axtell is a great company. A lot of the failures that you see are due to poor tuning. Figure out a budget and work backwards from there on what build will make you happy.

[MrSurly]

Originally Posted by Backroad Mike

Axtell has for the most part maintained a fairly good rep.. However, I have seen a few stories in the last year that were not all good. I believe the issues were solved or corrected.

You WILL need some head work because the bore is 4.125 and that's bigger than what your heads accomodate now. These pistons are also Domed so they will need clearanced. They recommend Baisley.. That's another 9 bills. Then you might need a new carb, or bigger TB.

Oh, and you'll probably need a clutch upgrade too.

You have been following Ed's thread right ???

I've been reading all the info I can find including the complaint threads. There are not many of those, actually. The couple of problem builds I read are 117s with the domed pistons. At least one was resolved by switching to the flattops they offer. Another was fixed by swapping heads. What is encouraging is that they have reportedly legendary CS.
I have emailed with inane questions and then even more inane questions and Ron Dickey (hisself!) has replied right away each time.
I am looking at using the flattops. The info from Ron is that with these heads the flattops will yield a cr of 9.3. Might need to do some 'trimming' to raise that a bit.
I already have the SE heads. These things have beer-can-sized valves! I've read of a few builds with these and the 107 and they seem to work well. My concern would be that they might be too big for the build, not that they would need any port work. The consensus seems to be that porting these might add benefit if you're building a 124+.

I've got a spare TB and a Bridgeport. Bigger is easy.

I believe Ed did offer up his credit card in that thread. I'll go look it up.

[MrSurly]

Originally Posted by DAK47

How much meat do you need to take out of the spigot holes to drop those cylinders in? And does it put you in the same territory as the problematic 110" with the case not having enough material to the cyl stud.

Interesting kit, oversquare like that should make one hell of a revver. Their perimeter dome piston looks cool, like to see some real world feedback on those...

Dirk

From Ron:"The spigot on the stock cylinder measures 4.055….our 4.125 cylinder measures 4.300"
On the 110 problem, I simply don't know. I'm not familiar with the issue.

Originally Posted by JDsCycleWorks

Axtell is a great company. A lot of the failures that you see are due to poor tuning. Figure out a budget and work backwards from there on what build will make you happy.

Thanks for the input on Axtell. It means a lot to hear it from a guy in the business.
A question for you, is it feasible with the SE110 heads to cut the head gasket surface enough to reduce the chamber 5cc? Would this completely screw the intake mounting?
I'd like to get the cr to 9.8~10 using the Flattops. Don't know if that's do-able.

[MrSurly]

Originally Posted by Why_Me

I gave up. I'm putting mine back together stock.

Har Har Har!! You crack me UP!

BTW.. the sig pics. Obviously NOT the same gal. What a cryin' shame.

[Bone Stockman]

Originally Posted by MrSurly

I wonder what the stock crank can handle once it is welded?
I'm going to look at all my options on the crank. I'm not convinced that the stock crank can't be retained; obviously once it's outta there that would be time to upgrade it. Going with the longer stroke AND the big-ass jugs is tempting but I don't like the looks of it on paper. I have a belief that the 117" engine would have a shorter service life than the 107" just because of the VERY short skirt that results with the 117. It looks like it would be fairly unstable. I could be wrong, () but that's just the impression I get looking at pics of the different pistons. Of course, everything I do to it will no doubt result in less service life than just leavin' it the F*** alone! But where's the fun in that?
I am VERY familiar with mission creep(!) EVERY project of mine snowballs! I'm trying to figure the best budget-conscious way to get insane power with a flat torque curve in a build that lasts forever...
Nothin' to this, right?

The all-bore 107 would be a beast in a light bike like Vader. But I knew I needed to address the crank in order to run gears. I didn't see the benefit in just welding mine when I could get the longer-stroke S&S for nearly the same money. Dave can chime in on this, but my understanding is that a 117 can be built to be very reliable and have 100,000 mile plus longevity.

Like I said to Ed in his thread, I really wish I'd had the rotating assembly balanced when I did mine, and I wish I'd gone at least 107, probably 117. Oh well.