[Hoosier Bullet]

That's why i'm trying to figure out what parts are actually on this motor. I don't want to slap it all back together and then have the whole thing come apart due to the wrong parts being used, or due to the motor being set up wrong.

It's good to know that it has been modified to a decent extent, because hopefully the parts i've got, plus a bottom end rebuild with better parts) would set me over the edge to truly have something special on my hands.

You are on the right track.  Steel rod, better bearings, alloy 535 cylinder, clubman head, 32 mm carb will get you what you are looking for in a reasonable budget. 

[ace.cafe]

The con rod is stock aluminum, which also means that the big end bearing is the stock floating bush, and probably the main bearings are the stock ones, if not worse.

The rockers are aftermarket, appearing to be Samrat, which would be a good rocker to have, but they don't give any more performance than stock. They are a little lighter, which could help with higher rpms, but they, in and of themselves, do not increase power.

The "Mikarb 28" which you described your bike having earlier is the stock carb.

We understand that you have a basket case on your hands there, and you want to put it together in a good way that serves your needs for the performance level you have in mind.
This can be done.

[JamesJoeyKing]

I'll do some thinking on it, and will try to persuade my father to build this thing the right way. I've been after him to start on this thing for years...

Ace, I'll send you an email once I figure out what we want to do with it. We're working on getting the frame in order right now, the motor will come later, and i'll begin cataloguing parts so I know exactly what we've got.

[JamesJoeyKing]

Final question, however.

I want to know if the heads have been modified. Is there anything obvious to look for?

[JamesJoeyKing]

Here's a pic of the head.

[JamesJoeyKing]

And the underside...

[ace.cafe]

Looks like it has been run hot, with burned-on black oil in the rocker wells.
Appears to have a threaded insert in the spark plug hole.
Stock valves and valve springs/retainers. Chamber looks pretty clean. I presume you cleaned it.
Lash cap looks pretty beat up.
 Valves look seated a bit deep.
Lots of crud/dirt/mud around the outside of the decompressor.
Seen many like this. It has been around the block a few times.

Can't see the ports. If there is a 28 Mikarb on it, it probably isn't ported. They don't usually do much porting in India.
So, probably not modded, but repaired a few times.

[JamesJoeyKing]

I glanced inside the exhaust port, it's pretty nasty in there. Maybe I'll be able to convince my old man to get them re-done "the right way".

[cafeman]

     Before I start building this bike again, I want to know if there is any way to marginally improve the top-speed of these bikes.  I've seen people say multiple times not to go over 55-60 mph to prevent the piston from seizing.  I've seen the alloy barrels, as well as the up-rated oil pumps (but people say the new pump doesn't actually do much to cool the top end?).  Will the alloy barrel cool it down enough to comfortable improve top speeds?  I'm not looking for much, maybe 10 more mph, but just to the point that I don't have to worry about *accidentally* not minding my speed, especially on the roads around here. 

Any help is appreciated! Including any other information that will help me in the future, what to watch for, etc.  Thanks!

-James

I think it really depends on the amount of money you have to "play" with, and how you intend on using/abusing it. While many of us would love to just go "all in" ( simply put, there's "bare bones" all the way up to "nothing but the best", and then the vast waste land in between) how much money you have to play with, common sense, skill set, and time available, etc all play an important role in determining how one approaches a rebuild. You could simply at a minimum source an alloy barrel and have a quality piston fitted to it, do the usual simple bolt-on enhancements along with proper tuning, ride it responsibly (which would be about what you are describing as your intentions) and have a nice enjoyable bike with minimal cash invested, or time, but that would have to be ridden with respect and restraint. If you want to run up to and over 100mph, do 1/4 mile blasts, run down the interstate at 80mph all day, flog it good and rotten, then there is "all in"  But along with that comes the price one has to pay, and work required to get there. You can't have "that" going bare bones, take short cuts, or build on a low-budget only to fall victim to flogging it because the bike can do it. It can do it but odds are it won't do "it" for long.   There's forged pistons, cast pistons, alloy rods, steel rods, floating bush mains, roller mains, big cams, stock re-phased cams, alloy pushrods......on and on. Anything US/Euro aftermarket will be a quality piece in most cases.  Don't build overkill and drain your wallet and bank account thinking it's the only way to go lest the motor will grenade first twist of the wrist.  If you race, ride hard and are abusive then your only option is top shelf. Intentions and cash flow are the key. IMO 

[ace.cafe]

Okay, there is another thread started in the Iron Barrel Engine section, by a guy who has this same NUSA piston.
So, I did a little digging because I became curious about this thing.

NUSA is a Swiss company. It is possible that this was the company which made the 87mm pistons for Fritz Egli and his "Super Bullets". And it follows that is also possible that this company then supplied those pistons to RE for their Lightning 535 models. So yes, it is plausible that this piston might be from a Lightning, or indeed the entire engine may be a Lightning 535 engine. I don't know.

However, I did find the NUSA website, and they have a piston ring page which I linked below. It is in French, and I can't read French, but a translator program might work for you. There are other pages for pistons and other stuff that they make. You could presumably find out more about that piston, and also about getting parts such as rings pins and clips.

http://www.nusa.ch/pistons.php

If it is the Lightning piston, then it should be a 7.25:1 compression dome, which is not really enough for the current crop of performance building products available today. However, it would work okay with standard cams and standard cam timing, for moderate power upgrade like the Lightning had. This stuff has all been surpassed a long time ago, but it is not bad stuff, and it will always do what it did back then.

So, mystery solved!
Personally, I would look at a more modern piston with some more compression(such as the ACE 535 piston ) when contemplating a performance rebuild with the products available today.  But if you HAD to put that back in, presuming that it has no damage or bad wear or defect, it would be better than using a stock RE 500 piston by a long shot.