Hey guys! I’ve never started a thread here before, never had a need to… until now…

A few months back, I was talking to Randall & Eric (Richard’s Recreation & Horsepower Research), and he said that they had a new CNC Digitized Race Head and that they needed a “guinea pig” to try it out on. Let me think about this… Drive to Kentucky, put a race head on my bike, and dyno it until it runs perfect… It was a tough decision, but I decided to go.

The reason they needed my bike was because it had the 730 big bore kit on it. This head had been tried and proven on the 800’s (anybody see the results from Dunefest?), but little had been done with it on the 730’s. So here’s how it all went:

When I first got down there, I had a 48HV carb, ported intake, 730 jug with 13:1 compression, stock head with HR3 cams, ugly stick exhaust, No-toil filter, and a Vortex X10 cdi. The first task was to tune it “as-is”. We spent the first day tuning the carb, and trying different cam combinations until we got the most power we could. It is a very tedious and time-consuming process and I gained a whole lot more respect for the time and effort Randall & Eric put into developing products for our machines. It was also fascinating to see how the different variables (jetting, cams, exhaust) affect the performance of the engine.

Now that we had a baseline (about 64hp at peak), it was time for the fun stuff, so we put on the ported head. And when they say ported, they mean ported! You should see this thing. It doesn’t even come close to resembling the stock head. The openings are HUGE[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]!!! The valves are HUGE[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]!!! It was amazing[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]. So now the whole process starts again. Tuning, swap cams, tune some more, try another cam on the intake, tune some more, try another cam on the exhaust, tune some more, and on and on and on. You get the idea. What we ended up with is a set of HR4 cams specifically for the 730 with 13:1 piston CNC digitized race head and single carb.

Now what you’ve been waiting for, the results. I gained 12hp at peak[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img], gained 7hp in the midrange[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img], and lost nothing on the bottom[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]. I expected some large gains, but nothing like this. I posted the chart on my picture page. These heads aren’t cheap ($1700-$1800 I think), but they are worth every penny. Another thing worth every penny was the trip to Kentucky. Just when I’d think we were done, Randall would want to try something more and would end up squeezing out another horsepower. But the best thing about it is the piece of mind knowing that your bike is tuned right. No more riding around wondering if I should keep tinkering with the tuning. Now I know. I drove 7 hrs each way to get this done and it was worth every minute of my time.

The other chart shows the difference between the stock carb and the Lectron carb. For trail riding I prefer my stock carb, for dunes I like the Lectron, so I switch back and forth just like I swap my tires. So I threw it on and dyno’ed it too. That’s another impressive gain.

The first ride was at Little Sahara, OK, and all I can say is WOW. I now need new tires, my 8 paddle haulers just weren’t enough, I couldn’t get a hole shot and the engine would rev so quick that that pesky rev limiter would kick in, but even with those problems, and my 270lb a$$ on the bike, I was winning lots of races. I’ve never had to hold on so hard in all my life!!!

And last but not least. Anyone who has been reading this forum for long knows the reputation Randall and Eric have, and I just want to say it again. They are friendly AND knowledgeable. You can’t find better people to deal with. It may be my bike, but it was treated like it was their own. Nothing was too good, and good enough wasn’t good enough. Only perfect would do.

 

Very good report and awesome numbers. Horsepower/Speed cost money...how fast do ya want to go...Im glad you had to get-u-sum, [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

Ya, it gets to a point where you've got so much into it you just have to go all the way (it's worth it though). Don't anybody say 800. Net yet anyway.

 

Nah, you will be very pleased with the 730 for a while. Especially after you get the right tires/gearing down for the sand. You will be turning some heads. Congratulations.

 

sssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone cuz then they will get them sum and we will all be in trouble LOL[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

LOL, yeah before long the HPR bikes will have to start racing themselves to compare who is the fastest of the group....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] Gotta love it[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Speaking of gearing/tires. I have ordered (should be here this week) 22" extreme triple buff 10 paddles. I also went to a 14 tooth up front due to my weight. Think that'll work?

 

Oh yeah. That should do the trick. You might even need the 15 tooth with that kind of horsepower.

 

NICE NUMBERS Tim!!! I don't think I'll be able to play anymore. JK Looking forward to running with you and your clan again sometime soon. John.

 

I've still got a stock jug and a 14:1 piston taking up room in my garage. And oh yeah, I know where you can buy a nice race head[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]