nikasil vs sleeved cylinders

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Budget_89KDX
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nikasil vs sleeved cylinders

Post by Budget_89KDX »

I was cleaning the jug up getting it ready for reassembly once my parts arrive (thanks inda) and noticed this jug is sleeved.and whoever installed it needs their eyes checked as its not lined up correctly.its obviously not hurting it since it ran great.but I'm curious about the pros and cons of nikasil vs sleeves.the bike ran awesome and I like being able to cheaply overbore and rebuild with the sleeve like my blaster but are there anythings I need to know about a sleeved cylinder.what do you guys use and prefer and why?[/i]
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Post by Julien D »

plating is superior. Longer lasting, better heat transfer, and you don't have to worry about port alignment. Overbore and rebuild is not an option on your 89 anyway. There's no clearance on the power valve. You are correct though, the only benefit to a sleeve is the ability to bore to next size when you rebuild.
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Post by fuzzy »

....and the benefit of plating is that you don't have to bore at all when you rebuild :mrgreen: Plating will last several pistons unless some sort of failure gouges it. Just chuck pistons in it until it wears thin.....'deglazing' in between with some scotch brite...That's it.

On the other side a benefit of a sleeve is the ability to have a failure gouge the sleeve, and be able to bore it out in most cases (taking several would-be piston sizes along the way of course).

The blaster is a non-powervalve, air cooled motor....Different beast. The sleeve is structural.
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Post by Slick_Nick »

Another advantage to a sleeve is that it's infinitely honeable. No need to spend $150 on plating every year. (I ride about 150hrs a year.)
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Post by Indawoods »

Justify what YOU have however you want... facts are a plated cylinder is far superior to a huge hunk of iron in your cylinder.
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

I ride more hours than that and I've never needed to replate :roll:
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Post by gregp »

I have been riding dirt bikes for a looong time. When plated cylinders first started becoming popular, I was deathly afraid of them. This was mostly because I feared that if I was not able to bore them out, I would be buying new cylinders frequently ($$). Time proved me wrong. Plated cylinders are now very standard, even in many four strokes. They have a much longer life than iron liners, as far as I can tell, and they rarely need attention if you take reasonable care of your machine. The KDX cylinder is one of the most durable cylinders I have ever come across. Also, there are many places that offer plating technology at prices that are very competitive with sleeving. I can see no reason to go with an iron sleeve in this day and age.
Plated cylinders seem to hold their tolerances much better than iron, so I can run several pistons through the same plated cylinder without issue. The same can not be said for iron. They wear much faster, so even if you do not have a catastrophic top end problem, you will be looking for an over-bore just to get things tight again.
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Post by Julien D »

Add to that an E series KDX, where boring over is not an option due to lack of clearance on the power valves, and the only benefit of the iron sleeve becomes moot.
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Post by Slick_Nick »

>|<>QBB<
Indawoods wrote:Justify what YOU have however you want... facts are a plated cylinder is far superior to a huge hunk of iron in your cylinder.
Did I miss the part where I said a sleeve was far superior? :roll:

I merely listed one advantage they have over plated cylinders. The fact remains that either one will perform just fine and generally problem free. I bought my bike with a sleeve in it, I did not install one. I don't know where you got the idea that I seem to think sleeves are the best thing in the world, but really, compared to plating there really isn't any difference. Maybe heat transfer is better with a plated cylinder, but I'd be willing to bet the difference is negligible. I've never had mine overheat where a plated bike didn't.

Please, let's keep this forum educational and informative, and leave the smug attitudes out of it.
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Post by Indawoods »

Dude... you have several posts where you try to defend a sleeved cylinder saying that you think it is better. Not just this thread. And by the way... I will post whatever I feel is relevant to the thread if I feel you are incorrect. Nothing smug about it. I suggest you go back and reread your other posts where this topic has come up.

Face it Nick... your methods are shall we say ... "a little unconventional" and should be taken with a grain of salt.
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

>|QBB<[/url]
Indawoods wrote:Dude... you have several posts where you try to defend a sleeved cylinder saying that you think it is better. Not just this thread. And by the way... I will post whatever I feel is relevant to the thread if I feel you are incorrect. Nothing smug about it. I suggest you go back and reread your other posts where this topic has come up.

Face it Nick... your methods are shall we say ... "a little unconventional" and should be taken with a grain of salt.

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Post by Budget_89KDX »

Good info thanks.so being that this topend is real recent I've checked everyhthing out and it looks real good and fresh It should last a good while.I was hoping there wasn't issues with sleeving a plated bore.from what I can see and correct me if I'm wrong but hot spots would be the only problem.and what do you guys mean about the overbore with an E1 because of powervalve issues?mine is an 89 and its definately sleeved and the kips was functional.I'm confused about what you guys meant.
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Post by Julien D »

I don't know for sure. You can bore and sleeve them. But I've been told you can't overbore, and then i've been told you can go one or two sizes up before it's a problem. I'm not sure which is completely accurate as I've never needed to overbore. I just sent the cylinder in for re-plating.
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Post by fuzzy »

To date, the only cyl I've ever sent in for a plate was an iron sleeved, air cooled kart motor. People in the karting world thought I was crazy, but then most have never seen a plated cyl unless they built shifter motors. 28hp @ 15-17k RPM, 100cc motors needed pistons chucked in them after 1-2hours(and it's not an 'at home' job)! I asked langcourt if they could plate iron, and they said yes....and that while rare I wasn't the first. I had 10hours on my motor when I recently sold it, and it was still as stout as the first day I fired it. Iron=soft=sucks....especially when dealing with modern hardened rings.....IMHO.
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Post by Budget_89KDX »

I'm confused?ok so you can or can't overbore and sleeve them without kips issues?mine is clearly sleeved and my kips are still intact and functional.
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

I guess you are not overbored
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Post by Budget_89KDX »

How were they able to sleeve it then?
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

I imagine cuz they put in a standard bore sleeve
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Post by Budget_89KDX »

Don't you have to overbore for the sleeve its self? Forgive my ignorance I'm not sure how they go about this process on a plated bore.
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Post by ldspowersports »

No, a new sleeve would put a bike back to stock bore.....so would re-plating.

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