Who is considered the best 2 stroke engine builder in the US?

???

 

Erv Kanemoto

Who tune's Kradget's bike? Speedwerks?

 

Roland Cushway out of Vallejo California is pretty good. Has built and tuned numerous F2 championship winning bikes on the west coast.

 

Do you want a builder or a tuner?

 

There's quite a few great ones: Cushway, Biganski, Stargel. . .

What do you want built and how much speed can you afford?

 

Depends on the bike.. YSR, Honda or Yomama 125 or 250s..etc.. I don't think there's a 'best' either though. if you can't ride, you can't ride. Also, Himmelsbach placing 3rd on a bone stock out-of-the-crate-that-day 125 at Jennings last year also proves it ain't about motor.

 

FG in NJ

I would have to put Frank Gianninni up there on top of the box. He is in South Orange NJ. Not only was a he factory rider in real MGP; but an unbelievable wrench. People from all over the world send him vintage moto GP's to restore. I would put top three anywhere when it come to 2 strokes.

 

http://www.swedetechracing.com/

From '02 to '04 I had a 2000 TZ250 with one of their engines and the thing was a rocket!

Chris Pyles has the bike now and says the same thing. At this years USGPRU Summit and Road America events the bike had everyone covered on the straights, the corners were up to him.

To each their own but my experience with Swedetech was great. Reliable engine, lots of power, great service and a fair price.

Good luck.

 

Rolland Cushway & Kevin Murry

I can attest to Rolland Cushway's brilliance. He also tuned for a World GP team before it was called MotoGP and from what I've heard, tuned for Kevin Schwantz for one of his championships. They people in the AFM call him YODA for a reason. He's 10X more meticulous and anal than anyone I've ever met. If your stuff isn't 100% completely clean, he'll turn you away. However, he'll also work through the night on your bike so you can race it in the morning. He's one of those genius types who's forgotten more about the two stroke motor than we'll ever know.

Kevin Murray, great guy and great tuner. He's got a full dyno shop in house and a flow bench for cyl. porting etc. He does custom head shaping & profiles to suit the tracks you run and your fuel. He "gets away" with a lower head volume (more HP) than any one else because of the years he's spend dyno tuning and testing his engine combinations. He also advertises custom sand cast cylinders to use a square bore HRC piston on a yamaha. There are people in this world who can "build" you a nice motor and then there are people who can re-design a factory racing motor and consistantly make more horse power than the factory. http://www.mce-racing.com/

I've met and worked with both of these guys and can honestly say, they're both amazing builders.

My 0.02

 

What would it cost to have a TZ250 rebuilt top and bottom from most of these guys? Just curious. I was playing with the idea of betting the parts together and having one of the pro's put the engine together during the off season and then maintain it myself.
One of the things about getting a used GP bike, looking for all of the weak points in prior care/maintenance. I am sure these fellas would find lots of things I would not see at first glance.
Ken

 

roland cushway ?

 

MCE Racing

MCE Racing pricing from their website.

Yamaha TZ250 (2000 or newer) $1610.00 [new crank] $1960.00 [rebuild]

Yamaha TZ250 (1999 or older) $1400.00 [new crank] $1550.00 [rebuild]

This is assuming you ship him the motor only. He is at a lot of the west coast races and can pick the motor up from you there.

I suggest you buy a 125 and rebuild the motor yourself :up: Better yet, since you now you really need a 125, I'll trade you mine for your 250

Good luck with the rebuild. No matter how you look at it, it's not going to be cheap.

 

Roland is hard to work with, and best to work in person with him. Once you have worked with him, you will understand how he does things and it can only make you a better 2-stroke wanna be tuner in the end. I just sent him my 2001 RS250 Engine to perform his magic on, and even though the engine was spottless (to my untrained eye), he still found a couple areas I should have addressed. I now know better. Having worked with him allowed me to be at reach 95% of his expectations (mineral spirits and contact cleaner are your friend).