Nikisealed CR500 cylinder? Possible? Why?

[WYO522]

My brother recently purchased a 1997 CR500AF. According to the guy he purchased the bike from the cylinder has been Nikisealed? Have any of you heard of this in CR500's?

[frdbtr]

My brother recently purchased a 1997 CR500AF. According to the guy he purchased the bike from the cylinder has been Nikisealed? Have any of you heard of this in CR500's?

Millenium will plate a 500 cylinder as long as it is stock sleeve. If it has had an aftermarket sleeve installed, they won't touch it.

[jbird710]

Can't understand why anyone would do this as any benefit that would come of it couldn't possibly justify the cost and hassle.

[frdbtr]

Can't understand why anyone would do this as any benefit that would come of it couldn't possibly justify the cost and hassle.

If I had a 500 I would do it in a heartbeat. Plating has better cooling properties and you can go multiple top ends without overbore. IMO it is a no brainer.

[CamP]

Can't understand why anyone would do this as any benefit that would come of it couldn't possibly justify the cost and hassle.

Two good reasons. Increased performance and durability. Nikasil provides less friction than an iron bore and it also offers greater wear resistance.

After my next vintage race, I'll be sending my 82 RM250 cylinder to millennium for plating. It's on the standard bore and Suzuki only sells sells standard bore pistons now, so I want to keep from wearing it out and forcing me to use aftermarket pistons.

[Kirkes]

X2

I will be plating my cr 500 when it is time for a top end. This will let me stay at a given piston and be able to balance the crank to that piston weight. Other wise my balance factor would change with each bore job.

[harryhandshake]

why would someone bother plating a iron bore. \

i think there was some aluminum 500 sleeves floating around. one of them would be worth getting plated

[jbird710]

If I had a 500 I would do it in a heartbeat. Plating has better cooling properties and you can go multiple top ends without overbore. IMO it is a no brainer.

Most folks can go through multiple top ends on a CR500 without overboring a standard liner. As for the cooling properties, yeah, but needed? Unless you're running a performance tweaked motor in heavy competition or hard desert riding, I don't see where it would be worth it.

Two good reasons. Increased performance and durability. Nikasil provides less friction than an iron bore and it also offers greater wear resistance.

After my next vintage race, I'll be sending my 82 RM250 cylinder to millennium for plating. It's on the standard bore and Suzuki only sells sells standard bore pistons now, so I want to keep from wearing it out and forcing me to use aftermarket pistons.

That's a little different from the original question. Replacement CR500 cylinders and pistons are readily available and not that expensive. Additionally, how many people can utilize the full potential of a stock CR500's performance? Having higher performance doesn't really by you much if you can't handle the performance the bike comes with.

Not saying plating a cylinder is a bad thing, just that the majority of the folks would be wasting their money doing this to a later model CR500 as they won't realize enough difference to justify the cost.

[XR250rdr]

Most folks can go through multiple top ends on a CR500 without overboring a standard liner. As for the cooling properties, yeah, but needed? Unless you're running a performance tweaked motor in heavy competition or hard desert riding, I don't see where it would be worth it.

That's a little different from the original question. Replacement CR500 cylinders and pistons are readily available and not that expensive. Additionally, how many people can utilize the full potential of a stock CR500's performance? Having higher performance doesn't really by you much if you can't handle the performance the bike comes with.

Not saying plating a cylinder is a bad thing, just that the majority of the folks would be wasting their money doing this to a later model CR500 as they won't realize enough difference to justify the cost.

Most Plated cylinders are all aluminum. The plating is only a few thousandths thick, then the aluminum cylinder transfers heat effectively to the coolant. A plated CR500 cylinder still has a big slug of cast iron in it that heat has to pass through. A plated aluminum cylinder also has very similar expansion characteristics to the piston, so piston to cylinder wall clearances can be run much tighter. Plating a CR500 cylinder isn't going to change how the cast iron expands with heat so the piston to cylinder clearance will have to stay pretty much stock. If you could put an aluminum sleeve in a CR500 cylinder then plate it, now that might make for great top end life but at a pretty high cost.

The wear aspect is nice, but plating a CR500 cylinder is nearly half the cost of a new cylinder, which will last through 5-6 overbores.

I considered doing it a few years ago with my 500 but ended up not being able to rationalize the extra cost.

[WYO522]

Thanks for all the input guys. My brother and I were sad to find out that his cylinder had been nikasealed because we prefer to bore them .080" over. We use 500's as hillclimbers and we can use every ounce of power we can squeeze from them believe it or not! He is currently looking into getting a cylinder with a cast sleeve... There is no replacement for displacement ?

[frdbtr]

Most folks can go through multiple top ends on a CR500 without overboring a standard liner. As for the cooling properties, yeah, but needed? Unless you're running a performance tweaked motor in heavy competition or hard desert riding, I don't see where it would be worth it.

That's a little different from the original question. Replacement CR500 cylinders and pistons are readily available and not that expensive. Additionally, how many people can utilize the full potential of a stock CR500's performance? Having higher performance doesn't really by you much if you can't handle the performance the bike comes with.

Not saying plating a cylinder is a bad thing, just that the majority of the folks would be wasting their money doing this to a later model CR500 as they won't realize enough difference to justify the cost.

True but you will have to eventually overbore the cylinder and eventually will run out of room for overbore and will have to have the cylinder resleeved. A plated cylinder removes that completely from the equation. Yes, you do have to replace the plating after a while but you never have to resleeve or bore the cylinder again. If you want an .80 overbore cylinder, just let Millenium know it and send them the piston you are using and you never have to change the size of your bore again. IMO, it is a no brainer.

[jar944]

Thanks for all the input guys. My brother and I were sad to find out that his cylinder had been nikasealed because we prefer to bore them .080" over. We use 500's as hillclimbers and we can use every ounce of power we can squeeze from them believe it or not! He is currently looking into getting a cylinder with a cast sleeve... There is no replacement for displacement ?

You might want to measure the cylinder, most guys that have the stock sleeve plated wait till they are @ 91mm anyway.

[WYO522]

You might want to measure the cylinder, most guys that have the stock sleeve plated wait till they are @ 91mm anyway.

The cylinder is stock, 89mm. He is problable just gonna mill the head, re-ring, and run it with the nikasealed cylinder. More worried about getting nitrous set up and functioning right now. The season starts soon, and the bike needs some other work done.

[C.R.R.BRAAAPER]

Most folks can go through multiple top ends on a CR500 without overboring a standard liner. As for the cooling properties, yeah, but needed? Unless you're running a performance tweaked motor in heavy competition or hard desert riding, I don't see where it would be worth it.

That's a little different from the original question. Replacement CR500 cylinders and pistons are readily available and not that expensive. Additionally, how many people can utilize the full potential of a stock CR500's performance? Having higher performance doesn't really by you much if you can't handle the performance the bike comes with.

Not saying plating a cylinder is a bad thing, just that the majority of the folks would be wasting their money doing this to a later model CR500 as they won't realize enough difference to justify the cost.

If you replate the cylinder it will not wear as fast a being resleeved. I just had my cr250r cylinder sent for replating and nykasil. The nykasil tranfers the heat better. And if you buy a sleeve you can get it bored when you need a top end but the power valve will need shaved down. And every time you need a new top end it gets shaved down until there is nothing left then you have to replace all of that. Replating is better and last longer than say a LA sleeve kit..

[WYO522]

Now I'm curious... What does Millenium charge to plate a cylinder roughly? I like the idea of an .080 over plated cylinder ?

[jar944]

If you replate the cylinder it will not wear as fast a being resleeved. I just had my cr250r cylinder sent for replating and nykasil. The nykasil tranfers the heat better. And if you buy a sleeve you can get it bored when you need a top end but the power valve will need shaved down. And every time you need a new top end it gets shaved down until there is nothing left then you have to replace all of that. Replating is better and last longer than say a LA sleeve kit..

Plating only transfers heat better when you are comparing a plated aluminum cylinder to a steel/iron lined cylinder. a plated iron cylinder (what we are talking about here) has the same heat transfer as the bare iron lined cylinder.

As for the powervave issue, CR5's don't have powervalves

[frdbtr]

Now I'm curious... What does Millenium charge to plate a cylinder roughly? I like the idea of an .080 over plated cylinder ?

I don't know about a cr500 but a CR250 cylinder is about $200 to $250 depending on if the cylinder has damage. I could call them and ask. If you wanted your cylinder bored out to 91mm then it would probably be more than if they just had to plate it. You will want to buy a piston kit and send that with the cylinder when you do it.

Here's a thought, since you want as much power as you can possibly get from it for hill climbing, call Eric Gorr (who works for Millenium now as their 2 stroke guru) and talk to him about what you want to do with the motor. He could do the bore, port it for you and have it plated. I had him bore my 125 to 58mm (from 54), he had millennium do the bore and plate, he ported it, cut the head, and sent it all back to me with a full top end kit (piston, rings, gasket) all for $450. I am sure a 500 would cost a bit more but he is very reasonable for what you get. He had a cr500af for sale on his site for a while that he claimed 70hp out of so I know he can make power with those things.

Edited April 17, 2013 by frdbtr

[WYO522]

I don't know about a cr500 but a CR250 cylinder is about $200 to $250 depending on if the cylinder has damage. I could call them and ask. If you wanted your cylinder bored out to 91mm then it would probably be more than if they just had to plate it. You will want to buy a piston kit and send that with the cylinder when you do it.

Here's a thought, since you want as much power as you can possibly get from it for hill climbing, call Eric Gorr (who works for Millenium now as their 2 stroke guru) and talk to him about what you want to do with the motor. He could do the bore, port it for you and have it plated. I had him bore my 125 to 58mm (from 54), he had millennium do the bore and plate, he ported it, cut the head, and sent it all back to me with a full top end kit (piston, rings, gasket) all for $450. I am sure a 500 would cost a bit more but he is very reasonable for what you get. He had a cr500af for sale on his site for a while that he claimed 70hp out of so I know he can make power with those things.

I am good with my motor, but I will get ahold of Eric and chat with him on my brothers behalf. With nitrous and my current mods (bored, stroked, & milled head) yes, it's stroked , my 500 is all I can ride and still be fast. If that makes sense haha!

[CamP]

Plating only transfers heat better when you are comparing a plated aluminum cylinder to a steel/iron lined cylinder. a plated iron cylinder (what we are talking about here) has the same heat transfer as the bare iron lined cylinder.

As for the powervave issue, CR5's don't have powervalves

Nikasil offers less friction than an iron bore, which means more power, less heat and longer piston/ring life.

[frdbtr]

I am good with my motor, but I will get ahold of Eric and chat with him on my brothers behalf. With nitrous and my current mods (bored, stroked, & milled head) yes, it's stroked , my 500 is all I can ride and still be fast. If that makes sense haha!

Yeah, I know you hill climbers go a little nuts when it comes to power demand. But if Gorr can get 70hp on a lightly modded 500 without nitrous, I would imagine that he could probably get some good numbers with it too. ?