Makes it sound like there are a bunch of loose nuts and bolts bouncing around inside the cases. :twocents

 

Have you done this mod?

http://www.motophotos.com/rc51online/Mods/Cam%20Silencing%20Gear%20Guide/index.html



How are your results now given some time? Any reliability problems?
If anyone has the sound files still (I read up on the old thread) I'd love to hear them (factoryrc at hotmail)

With regard to sound it may put in the mind of a Ducatti with a dry clutch. After looking at the instructions in your link I have deemed this mod as one that I should not attempt. My luck is so bad that after completion, I would hit that starter button and the entire engine would come running out of the bike. Good luck.

 

IMO its not really worth it for street ridding. Plus It makes it even harder to hear if something is going south. I haven't done this mod for the record. So this is just my assesment from reading the topics.

 

No way those parts weigh 15 ounces.

 

Thorsten has the same weights listed on his website.

I think WIM- has done this mod.

 

wow that's quite a bit of weight savings and that's unsprung weight!!! Hmm to me that sounds worth it, but sounds like i m going to have to have my mechanic do that

 

I would hit that starter button and the entire engine would come running out of the bike.

So.....then you're familiar with Ducati?:woot:

 

No way those parts weigh 15 ounces.

that's one once shy of one full pound. are you suggesting more or less?

 

Cam silencers unsprung weight....???? When did the cam silencers come mounted on the suspension??

 

......I think he meant "Rotating Mass"......:woot:

 

that's one once shy of one full pound. are you suggesting more or less?

Less. I'd guess about half of that, but I'd be guessing.

 

:banghead DOH!

yes rotating mass....I was talking to a friend about weight loss via unsprung weight 520, mag rims, etc and i got side tracked.

just weight one day i'll type TITTIES instead of tires.

 

I did it, didn't notice any quicker revs. also didn't like the sound. A Ducati clutch rattles when it's disengaged only, this was a constant clatter, worse at idle.
I also got thinking about gear lash and valve timing and decided I wanted the valves timed as precisely as possible. Without the spring gear on there there is a lot more free play between the cam gear and the idler gear. I realize that under load the cam gear is only contacting the driving face of the idler gear, but seeing the lash in there still made me doubt the mod.

I put them back on.

m2cents
karl

 

The good thing about having a street RC51 bike and a race version is that I can tackle all the mods I come across and try them on the race bike before I attempt them on the street bike. I got bored last winter and had just recently acquired the race RC51. Most of the popular mods had already been done so in hopes of inspecting the engine and adjusting the valves before the race season, I pulled the engine out and studied up on the cam gear removal mod.

I am not a skilled tech and must admit that I was skeptical of losing nearly a pound of rotating cam mass. With the engine out the mod was painfully easy. I am amazed at how well engineered the RC engine is and how it allows a greenhorn to engine work like me to dig right in with confidence. I completed the mod, adjusted the valves, and put the bike back together again.

Time came to start the bike and see what had changed. Here is what I found. Earplugs are a must when standing withing feet of the bike even at idle. It's not that loud but the pitch it makes is high and will make your ears ring after a while. The engine does rev quicker but that is with no load on the bike. When in gear, it rides just like it used to in terms of acceleration. Finally, I put all the removed parts in a sandwich bag. Each cam does in fact have nearly a pound of extra weight removed when this mod is completed.

Maybe it is the unusual looks I get from competitors as we line up for the start of the race that make me happy I did the mod, but if I had it to do over again, this would definitely be a mod kept strictly to the race bike.

 

I did it. pretty easy actually. i never had any problems with then off. the sound was pretty cool, it fools alot of people who dont know what an rc51 is. i really never noticed quicker throttle response or and other advantage, but i am sure the lose in gyroscopic mass is a good thing.

 

i'm just thinking, you'd notice better acceleration if pistons or crankshafts were made lighter, but a lighter cam assembly won't influence it since it's just there to respond off what the crankshaft (?) is doing via gears.

it may be more correct to assume that having a lighter cam assembly will rob less power off the engine since it takes some energy to drive those gears and cams. Benefits to dyno curves, who knows, inconsequential? barely noticeable? probably.

 

The fact that no average rider could tell the difference or make use of the minimal gains from this mod could be said about hundreds of mods to any bike, yet when you apply a few of them together, you realize a combined benefit that the average person can feel and use.

The old drag racers' saying went, "take off 10 pounds in 10 places and pick up a tenth in the quarter."

 

The only time I notice a quicker rev or better throttle response is when I am warming the bike up and it is in neutral. One slight touch of the throttle and it starts picking up revs much faster than an RC51 that still has the silencing gears. Once it is in gear and carrying the load of the bike and rider I don't feel a difference at all. I also agree that most mods don't really do much bit when you start to put them together you begin to head in the direction of better performance gains. And there is nothing wrong with that.

 

It doesn't make sense that this mod would produce a noticable increase in anything. The rotating mass is very close to the center and very small, relatively. It certainly doesn't rob any power. Racers get rid of this kind of shit, 1. Because every ounce counts. 2. Because it is one less part to detonate. and 3. Because they can.

It's the kind of thing I might do. But I wouldn't expect it to make any measurable difference in any aspect of the engine.

 

The fact that no average rider could tell the difference or make use of the minimal gains from this mod could be said about hundreds of mods to any bike, yet when you apply a few of them together, you realize a combined benefit that the average person can feel and use.

The old drag racers' saying went, "take off 10 pounds in 10 places and pick up a tenth in the quarter."

no one here said you have to feel a difference to make a mod worthwhile

 

no one here said you have to feel a difference to make a mod worthwhile

Several people here have already said they didn't feel it was worth their time. Say that about enough mods individually and you end up down enough power and keeping enough weight to make a difference.

 

My rc has had them removed for close to 3 yrs now, it hasnt produced any ill effects to this date.....It's 15 0z of rotating mass out of the engine and off the bike, with the weight of the rc any little bit helps.......

 

I say skip breakfast and take a massive before your ride, bigger gain


Tom

 

My rc has had them removed for close to 3 yrs now, it hasnt produced any ill effects to this date.....It's 15 0z of rotating mass out of the engine and off the bike, with the weight of the rc any little bit helps.......

you don't mind the constant noise? How is it at speed?

 

The sound it makes is in my opinion pretty sweet once you are in gear and moving. Unlike a Ducati dry clutch, the RC51 never stops making the noise through the entire rev range. I notice that no matter what rpm you are at, it never gets louder. So, in my experience with the mod on my race bike, I notice the sound a lot at idle and up to about 40mph. After that the exhaust note and wind passing by the helmet starts to take over the higher pitched cam gear noises.