Fullauto Cylinder Head

acotrel · Jul 1, 2016

Met with Ken yesterday and he showed me one of his 750 cylinder heads - VERY IMPRESSIVE. I am actually amazed that an Australian foundry and machine shops can produce such quality in a reproduction item. It is quite an achievement.

Rohan · Jul 1, 2016

It is quite an achievement.

However, such technology and capability has been around a long time, even in Oz.
During the war, the CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Factory) was fully manufacturing the twin row Wasp engines.

They made about 1000 of them. And others...

And a relative recently had a 'little' aussie made flat 6 engine in an ultralight.

I visited the Jabiru factory about 20 years ago.
And commented that the cylinder hold-down studs looked too small, since they weren't through-bolted.
The engines were subsequently recalled to increase the size of these, they should have listened

Holmeslice · Jul 1, 2016

The Fullauto Cylinder Head is the best available bolt-on performance upgrade you can do for your Norton.
Using a head "straight out of the box" I won an AHRMA national 750cc championship against some tough competition.
The development and effort that goes into producing these heads is immeasurable, and Ken is in it for the right reasons.
While they might not be cheap, if you want easy power it's worth every penny.

(I might be biased - I fit them on all the higher-end bikes we do at NYC Norton - road and race.)

splatt · Jul 1, 2016

Still waiting to see mine
WA Australia stands for Wait Awhile doesn't it

gortnipper · Jul 2, 2016

splatt said:
Still waiting to see mine
WA Australia stands for Wait Awhile doesn't it

Go see Ben @ British Imports - he has the new ones and sent me mine last week. Very nice.

Fast Eddie · Jul 2, 2016

Holmeslice said:
The Fullauto Cylinder Head is the best available bolt-on performance upgrade you can do for your Norton.
Using a head "straight out of the box" I won an AHRMA national 750cc championship against some tough competition.
The development and effort that goes into producing these heads is immeasurable, and Ken is in it for the right reasons.
While they might not be cheap, if you want easy power it's worth every penny.

(I might be biased - I fit them on all the higher-end bikes we do at NYC Norton - road and race.)

A great endorsement Kenny. Its just a shame that there are no clear 'before and after' Dyno comparisons to convince the more pessimistic / cautious / plain tight-ass ones amongst us... !

acotrel · Jul 2, 2016

I can also remember a time when Australia had defence manufacturing capability. Where is it now ? In 70 years we have gone from capable to what ?

splatt · Jul 2, 2016

gortnipper said:
splatt said:

Still waiting to see mine
WA Australia stands for Wait Awhile doesn't it

Click to expand...

Go see Ben @ British Imports - he has the new ones and sent me mine last week. Very nice.

It'll turn up, who was the carrier ?, did you get stung gst again ?

gortnipper · Jul 2, 2016

splatt said:
gortnipper said:

splatt said:

Still waiting to see mine
WA Australia stands for Wait Awhile doesn't it

Click to expand...

Go see Ben @ British Imports - he has the new ones and sent me mine last week. Very nice.

Click to expand...

It'll turn up, who was the carrier ?, did you get stung gst again ?

AUSTRALIA POST?

No, 'for re-repair'.

Rosey · Jul 2, 2016

Yes the heads really do look nice especially the latest version with the CNC machined heads and I would like buy in the future for my 850.
But yes we can still and did make good clever stuff here once.

I was told story by an old pattern maker here I shared a workshop with, was during WW2 Defence forces wanted to make one piece cast tank turret.
But the yanks said "It can't be done,impossible".
Well Aussie pattern makers and foundries got their heads together and worked to how to do it and did it ,and produced a CAST one piece tank turret.
The Yanks were gobsmaked and amazed. But at the end of the war they took all technology back to the USA and produced their own.

Just shame various Gumnets want to kill off manufacturing technology in this country.
Brett

ashman · Jul 2, 2016

Its all about greed and making a big profit, we go to China or some other 3rd world country, its cheaper to produce there, who cares if the quility isn't no longer there as long as we can make a big return, its a shame that big business has gone down that road and of course nomal poeple will always pay for the cheapest, how many factories have closed down because of cheap imports, its happening all over the world, we can't compete with 3rd world wages, could you live on less than $10 a day if your lucky.
Well thats my winge for the day, hope 9am isn't to early for a beer.

Ashley

Rohan · Jul 2, 2016

ashman said:
Its all about greed and making a big profit, we go to China or some other 3rd world country, its cheaper to produce there,

Thats what having an Empire is all about, its wealth from the colonies etc.
This has been going on since before Roman times....

Rohan · Jul 2, 2016

Fast Eddie said:
A great endorsement Kenny. Its just a shame that there are no clear 'before and after' Dyno comparisons to convince the more pessimistic / cautious / plain tight-ass ones amongst us... !

We notice that Kenny doesn't actually SAY that the new head made his bike any faster. ??

Or am I reading too much between the lines ?
But winning championsheeps can be more about consistency and not crashing or DNFs,
so a slower bike actually might just produce the goods ....
???

As usual, and as with the balanced header pipe threads, the lack of dyno results shows what
a disorganised bunch Norton owners truly are.
All seat-of-the-pants stuff....

Onder · Jul 2, 2016

If Rohan won the lottery he'd immediately complain about the increase in his tax bill......

Rohan · Jul 2, 2016

Lottery wins aren't taxable ??

All the reports of these new heads are seat of the pants stuff.
Where are the dyno charts to show its real. ?

In a recent report on cancer treatments, the placebo stuff had better results than the real thing.
That really had the doctors scratching their, um, heads.
If you read it on the net, it must be true.....

Fast Eddie · Jul 3, 2016

Rohan said:
Lottery wins aren't taxable ??

All the reports of these new heads are seat of the pants stuff.
Where are the dyno charts to show its real. ?

In a recent report on cancer treatments, the placebo stuff had better results than the real thing.
That really had the doctors scratching their, um, heads.
If you read it on the net, it must be true.....

I'm with you Rohan. Anyone who has spent €3k ish on something for their motor IS most definitely going to think it is better/ faster / etc.

And when we do something that we believe makes it faster, again, we think it is.

Like when I fitted my new 1 1/2 headers to my Commando and tested them on the street, I was convinced they made an improvement. The Dyno later showed how wrong I was.

gortnipper · Jul 3, 2016

Fast Eddie said:
Rohan said:

Lottery wins aren't taxable ??

All the reports of these new heads are seat of the pants stuff.
Where are the dyno charts to show its real. ?

In a recent report on cancer treatments, the placebo stuff had better results than the real thing.
That really had the doctors scratching their, um, heads.
If you read it on the net, it must be true.....

Click to expand...

I'm with you Rohan. Anyone who has spent €3k ish on something for their motor IS most definitely going to think it is better/ faster / etc.

And when we do something that we believe makes it faster, again, we think it is.

Like when I fitted my new 1 1/2 headers to my Commando and tested them on the street, I was convinced they made an improvement. The Dyno later showed how wrong I was.

IIRC- didn't JimC do the flow porting design of the original FA head?

Rohan · Jul 3, 2016

He did.
I'm sure that they are better, and just having a new head has to be good.

But seeing some dyno charts would be the proof of the pudding, so to speak.
Bit like we have never seen dyno charts to show the comparison with balanced and unbalanced pipes...

acotrel · Jul 3, 2016

You have a lot of faith in dyno charts. Dynos these days are based on inertia, and when revved the Norton crank creates a lot of inertia. How sensitive are the torque measurements on most inertia dynos ? I suggest that if you are seeking ultimate horsepower from an engine, the dyno tells you whether you have improved. However with the Commando engine, it is not about power at high revs. It is about midrange and gearing (pulling power). I suggest that most of the guys who buy Fullauto heads, fit them to street bikes and only feel a difference in acceleration. The same improvement might be achieved by a valve grind on a standard head.
If you buy all the fast bits and fit them to your bike, it doesn't necessarily mean you will have a fast bike. What I have found with the 850 Commando engine is that you don't know you have an improvement until you raise the overall gearing and the bike is quicker at the ends of the straights. It is very deceptive.

edgefinder · Jul 3, 2016

Back when we was kids a butt dyno couldn't of been more accurate. From minitrails and up everybody in the neighborhood knew within a couple feet what the pecking order was. Hell we still know, like a ktm 950, sv1000, rz500 and a buell are pretty close. anything changes and you've got some explainin to do.