Guest John T Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Anyone here using the titanium pushrods that Mike Rich has? Was wondering if they quiet the ticking from the valves since the clearances are almost nil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 Hrmmm, I dunno if they quiet the "ticking"... as honestly I don't really notice it that much. However, the Ti rods may?? Mike says that the advantage is that they are a bit more stiff than the OEM Al units, and certainly lighter than the ChroMo alternative. His rods have steel caps/guides that keep them from galling. He says the main advantage is to tighten up timing/valve-duration. I've thought about them later on when the engine is really loosened up. al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gthyni Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 How much does a set cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 ...don't quote me, but I think it's either $75 per pair, or maybe it was $175 for the set of 4... something like that with a "75" in the figure They might be neat to have, but I doubt they make much difference. I think these might be a diminishing returns kind of mod, but fun never-the-less, if you can't find another way to spend $200 I may look into it when the engine is apart for the engine paint rebuild this Winter.. We'll see... al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gthyni Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 They might be neat to have, but I doubt they make much difference. I think these might be a diminishing returns kind of mod, but fun never-the-less, if you can't find another way to spend $200 Unless you plan to raise the red line over 8000rpm they probably make no diffence. For higher revs we would need all the help we can get lightening the valve train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John T Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 The reason I asked about them is the fact that I am running a different cam that runs bigger clearances than stock. I rode a short distance the other day without my ear plugs and really noticed the clatter. The fact that Ti rods run .002 Thou. clearance (I think) may keep th racket down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrt Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Are these the same pushrods that Raceco used to sell? I have a set of those, but they're not installed in my round head engine yet. BTW, what is Mike Rich's contact info? I'd be interested in sending some work his way. Cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callison Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 These are probably the RaceCo parts, since Mike bought a lot of their Guzzi stuff when they opted to drop the marque, but you'll have to ask him. Mike Rich Motosports 21 Jerusalem Hollow Rd. Manorville, N.Y. 11949 (631) 874-7032 red38@msn.com (I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrt Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Thanks! Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RacerX Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 John, if you're trying to tame the noise, I'm sure the Ti-rods would help... along with those, I am going to be trying a set of needle-roller bearings for the rocker arms. A shop here in SoCal sells them. I have yet to hear anything bad about them, and he's been running them in Guzzis for about a year or so. I'll drop them in, and post to GuzziTech.com with the results. Todd@GuzziTech.com GuzziTech.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeff Kelland Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 Ti's main advantage is its resistance to corrosion. It is also lighter than steel and stronger than aluminum. It is not very stiff however, which is what we are after in a pushrod. aluminum is stiff, and light, so is good steel in a well designed part. The v11 responds well to additional valve clearance as this results in retarded cam timing which improves midrange power. It has also slightly increased my mileage on the highway. IMHO spending money on Ti pushrods is silly but it's your money. I will stick with the stock pushrods and .006 in. and .008 ex. I don't notice any increase in noise, and it without a doubt has improved the "feel" of the engine. I really don't believe I will have any difficulty with the stock pushrods. I think the pc111 was money well spent and I will probably buy a Stucchi x-over, but overall I find my engine runs quite well as is. 7250 miles and counting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_roethlisberger Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 I think the rods that Mike sells are some special honey-comb structure that is extremely stiff, moreso than the stock Al units which he says can flex under load, and he says the Al rods often have scoring in many cases showing how they have, and the ends tend to mushroom over time esp if you have an aggressive cam. His Ti rods also have ChroMo ends so they don't gall. At least I think that's what I remember him telling me. It's been a while though. al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callison Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Just got off the phone with Mike Rich. Titanium pushrods are stiffer and lighter than stock as well as being nearly indestructible. Chromemoly pushrods are heavier and will beat up the valvetrain. $198.50 for a full set (4) of Ti pushrods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John T Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 I just got off the phone with Mike Rich and have a set of his Titanium pushrods in the mail! He has maybe three sets left for now. He told me that Manfred Hecht (sp) did some testing and found that the stock rods would flex slightly at high revs causing power loss. Ridgid rods like the "bullet proof" ti. rods won't flex and you might see up to 3hp gain near redline. He is also getting ready to unveil his piston set. Pure drop in, no balancing needed and around 10:1 compression ratio. He said higher was no good for street motors. Crap, now I have to put those on my birthday list. P.S. I had to laugh when he called the stock cam a "lawnmower cam" Mike Rich is da man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrt Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 John, if you're trying to tame the noise, I'm sure the Ti-rods would help... along with those, I am going to be trying a set of needle-roller bearings for the rocker arms. A shop here in SoCal sells them. I have yet to hear anything bad about them, and he's been running them in Guzzis for about a year or so. I'll drop them in, and post to GuzziTech.com with the results. Todd@GuzziTech.com GuzziTech.com Todd, I'm interested in dropping in roller bearings in the rocker assemblies also- I have been hunting for some bearings for about a week now. A spare set of rockers are at my Father-in-law's now awaiting his magic touch. Actually- they'll go into my round-head engine. Couple of questions about needle bearings in this application- 1) I'll probably need to cut down the oil that runs through the pins (less backpressure with bearings). Any idea on whether or not I need to blank off and put a smaller orifice in the oil supply? 2) needle bearings tend to wear in an application where they move back and forth, but not actually roll. Any comments on this? Heard any info regarding wear on the rollers? Along with the noise thread- I was reading the old Tips book (vol 1), and some fellow drilled a hole in the rocker holder-thingy and drilled and tapped out his rocker pin, then fixed a second bolt to hold the pin more stiffly (this on an eldo, I think). Said it quieted things down for him. There's only one stock- on the upper lobe. I never thought of the bolt as actually holding anything- the bearings should do that job- but it was a fun read. And John, if you're trying to quiet the valves- ha! Come listen to my Eldorado sometime! Oh my gosh, but those valves are loud- we're talking loudspeaker loud, some kind of harmonic oscillation that couples to the cooling fins kind of loud. I scare small children and make grown BMW riders cringe when I run about 4K rpm. I wear earplugs. Cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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