One of the things which I have taken notice about, regarding some of the internet critics which I have encountered, is a strong sentiment that there should be no measuring equipment used in performance prepping a vintage single. it seems that the prevailing sentiment with these types is that the intake and exhaust flow rates should never be subjected to a flow bench, and that compression gauges are extraneous because we should never actually know what the cylinder pressures are. Presumably, these instruments impart a sort of "evil spirit" into the engine which will render it incapable of performing as desired.
Instead, the "conventional wisdom" appears to be that there is a "black art" to cylinder head preparation, and only grand viziers of this black art are capable of performing the work, which generally seems to consist of drilling a staight channel down the intake, of as large a proportion as humanly possible, and calling it good.
The only thing which is permitted to be known about cylinder pressures is that a very high compression piston should be fitted, regardless of what fuel will be used, or what the cam timing is. It is in the purview of the "grand vizier" of the black art to determine by osmosis what should be done. Under no circumstances may measuring equipment be used.
My initial thoughts on this subject is that the "grand viziers" don't know how to use these pieces of measuring equiipment, and that the use of such might expose the limitations of their time-honored guesswork which was carried on from the earliest days of motoring, prior to the period of the great enlightenment.
.
Tongue firmly in cheek, of course.
You are making a simple problem overcomplicated,the people you refer to are not wizard's, they are "fannies" ( possibly a different meaning in Scots ). And they don't have measuring equipment because they are too mean to buy it.
A compression gauge, to me is an integral part of my service kit as are verniers, and internal and external micrometers. I've had them since the 1970's look after them, and calibrate them regularly. The fannie, sees these items as an unnecessary expense, but still want to borrow them even though they don't know how to read them. Dr Gordon Blair did a lot of two stroke development at Queens University Belfast and it is available for those who want to use it, but like factory manuals, this information is ignored by the fannie, because they see referring to it as an insult on their manhood. There are a lot of good guy's out there, most of them very humble who just get on with it. My most memorable experience as a spectator, was seeing Team Obsolete for the first time, which just showed the gap between old school and the new. I see they own the Arter G 50 Matchless now. Peter Williams could beat Kawasaki threes, and keep up the arse of Agostini's MV on this thing, a very humble man and a genius, both as a rider and engineer. These are the people who often are forgotten because they don't make enough noise.
Merry Christmas by the way, and as far as the fannies/wizard's go, f@$k them.
Topic: Wrong side of the pond (Read 8749 times)