Sleeve is a Aluminum Nikasil sleeve freshly honed.I set the valve clearance at top of stock specs out of concern that they were going to tighten up.Take a look at picture of the valves.Very small seat area on them.I also was concerned that they might have been ground after coating.Was hard to tell though since coating is so close in color to the Titanium.I was always told that Titanium valves cannot be ground or lapped since once coating is removed it ruins the valve.Also am wondering if being Titanium where a stainless valve grows when hot does Titanium stay stable or even shrink?
Wayne I will get that FX head off to Timbo if you still want it.How about the crank?
Is the flywheel a lighter version?
Gotta be very careful honing Nikasil, very thin...... What rings did you use? You have to be careful with ring selection too, as Chrome rings tend to 'pluck' material from the bore wall with Nikasil. In an engine used for relatively low hours (like a race motor..... or a 'Dale) plain iron is a good choice. It beds in quickly, is 'kind' to the bore wall and has a degree of self lubrication due to its carbon content.....
Freshly ground seats will generally close up some, regardless of material. Not generally a good idea to grind Ti valves I'm sure. Ti itself doesn't tend to get on well with a lot of other metals when movement is involved. You have to metal spray (usually aluminium) the sides of conrods so they don't rub the thrust faces away on the crank. Untreated rods will easily ruin a crank within a race season.
I have a feeling the co-efficient of expansion is about two-thirds that of stainless, give or take. The head would likely grow more than the inlets do at running temp, so their clearances should open up when hot, but the exhausts would likely expand more than the head does, given their higher running temp, so would tighten their clearances when hot. Given your simptoms, tight inlets are favourite....
You can send the crank with the head to Timbo if you don't mind, I'll ask him to check it over while he has it. It is supposed to have the Z400 and been balanced already though.....
Flywheel is one of the recent batch of prototypes and is a little heavier than stock. I doubt very much you would notice any difference given the relative weight of the crank, balance shaft, cams, gears, chain, clutch basket, plates, cover, gears, shafts, chain, axle, disk, sprocket, hubs wheels and tyres.....
Watch some genius try and say the flywheel makes his quad respond like a golf-cart...... Why not ask Derno if he noticed any difference when racing?
They can be lightened to much lighter than stock if you want to. Balance it afterwards though.
I drew on one or two of them with a marker pen to show people what I have in mind for degree markings and stuff. If yours doesn't have any markings on when you get it perhaps Timbo could send you a pic, or vice-versa.....