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Transfer Port Enhancement with Piston Ramp

On page 117 of "Two Stroke Tuners Handbook" Gordon Jennings wrote how one could grind transfer and
exhaust port ramps into the piston crown to test porting ideas without grinding on the more expensie
c!linder" He suggested it as a temporar! trial for porting without mention of the aspect # would like to focus
on here"
Flow Restiction in Ports
On page 11$ Jennings wrote% "There is a er! considerable contraction of flow through an! sharp edged
orifice& and such orifices ma! be made effectiel! larger b! proiding them with a rounded entr!"
#mproements in flow in the order of $' percent could be had were it possible to gie the port window
edges a radius of& sa!& 1() inch"" Here*s his illustration%
His focus was on rounding the edges of the port whereas mine is on rounding the edges of the piston top
where it is ad+acent to the transfer ports as a means to reduce flow restriction due to the near,-',degree
edges" .hat # did was # ground down the piston edges /ad+acent to the ports0 "1mm at a )' degree angle
to hori2ontal" 3ctuall! # made the transition cured somewhat at the beginning and end of each "ramp""
The more the edges are "in line" with the desired flow& the more efficient and less restricted that flow will
be" #n other words& for the same area of opening !ou can hae more flow as if the piston had alread!
moed farther down and out of the wa!"
To be safe this mod should onl! be done when there is at least 4mm between the crown edge and the top
of the piston ring" /5ine has 4"1mm0
Transfer Ports Enhancement with Piston Ramps
.hat # did was # ground down the piston at a )' degree angle to hori2ontal that gae the e6uialent
of "1mm higher at each port" 3nd # made the transition cured somewhat at the beginning and end of the
"ramp"" 7or the same area of opening !ou can hae more flow as if the piston had alread! moed farther
down and out of the wa!" Jennings had wrote that differences and inconsistencies of the transfer ports tops
mostl! affect +ust the low and mid range power because at top rpms the time that those inconsistencies are
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significant is too short" So in regard to the transfers intake flow being less restrictie with this mod # would
sa! Jennings has explained wh! the biggest effect is not in the high rpm range" The engine doesn*t hardl!
recogni2e this mod at all aboe 7''' rpm" #t reall! affects onl! the lower rpms which is how it broadens the
powerband without changing top rpm porting" #t also bleeds off the crankcase pressure at low rpms which
allows the ma+orit! of the intake charge to enter the c!linder at a lower speed so that it doesn*t loop around
and exit the exhaust port as much" This allows more of the intake charge to sta! in the c!linder for
combustion which is how it increases power at lower rpms"
I have only done these mods on my 55cc reed-valved engine and 48cc piston port engine so can't
speak of experience with bigger engines. Bt I wold try it in a heartbeat on a bigger engine !p to
"#5cc$ becase of the difference it has made with my small engine. I expected to lose low rpm power
bt instead have actally gained some. I go p one hill at #%mph whereas I sed to go p at #&mph. I
really woldn't of believed it withot experiencing it.
'hen I changed my port timing from "&(.#) *+,- exhast. "#/.5) transfers to "&#) exh. "#8)
transfers I incorporated this mod. It maintained the same top speed bt gained more low end power.
+he following 0ote is a very important point which explains the low rpm power gain1
2these engines spend so mch time in the low revs says that the mixtre spends more time crossing
these bondary layers that yo have chamfered giving yo the gains yo've seen2.
3y final thoghts is that this .8mm ramp will have the greatest effects on engines w4o a high peak rpm.
+he higher rpm an engine is ported for. the less noticable will be this mod becase the lower rpm
range that this mod effects wold be farther from the existing powerband. 5omeone with a "4.&&&
peak rpm engine tried this and reported that he got no benefit. 3y engine peaks at 65&& rpm. 5o any
non-screamer engine with enogh space on the piston to pt a ramp on it can probably benefit from
this mod. 7n my 55cc a .8mm piston ramp adds ( degrees transfer port dration. 8or the same
dration change a 9onda "#5 !with 54.5mm stroke$ needs a "."mm ramp. and a 9onda #5&cc !with
6#mm stroke$ needs a ".45mm ramp. *lso. the longer the piston stroke !ie: larger engine$. the faster
the piston speed at the same rpm. I believe that the ramp effect is not reali;ed at high rpms. 5o if my
55cc engine gets the most benefit at less than %&&&rpm then a 9onda "#5 gets the same benefit
below #"&&rpm and a 9onda #5& at below "(54rpm. +hese figres depend on the piston speed at
transfer opening.
'ith for strokes taking over the motocross world I think the last remaining competing two strokes
need every little trick in the book to be competitive again. 4 strokes main advantage is the wide
powerband they have. +his mod restores some width to the # strokes powerband.
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Vito's superstock pistons have a bevel on the exhaust side that is 1.5mm down at the side and 2.5mm
from the ring. One customer of theirs told me it increased his Blaster's power ever!where but Vito's
don't make an! claims other than to sa! it raises the powerband. "# Blaster has a 1$5cc single c!linder
engine with 5%mm stroke.& # person on www.bansheeh'.com wrote( ) used them in m! cousins
Banshee a while ago. *ut about +,5 hard seasons on them. -e claims he could notice a seat of the
pants difference in power. -e did prett! well in his heads up class. Onl! thing that beat him was a
./0+51 dirt bike. #lso used one in one of m! Blasters. ) could notice it being a lil more pepp!. )t also
held up 'uite well. #s far as ) know it's still going strong and that was about 2,%!rs ago.
But ) don't recommend a piston ramp for the exhaust since it would have the opposite effect in that it
would benefit high rpm power and lessen low rpm power. #t slow piston speeds the port 3exhaust or
transfer4 would have a greater port duration. #t the transfers that would benefit low rpm power b!
lessening the pressure at port opening. 35he higher the transfers are6 the less the crankcase
compression ratio.4 #t the exhaust that would onl! benefit high rpm power at the expense of low rpm
power.
5he higher the crankcase compression ratio6 the more of an effect this mod would have. 5o accuratel!
determine !our ratio click here.
7nfortunatel! the +8cc and 22cc have reall! good transfer port timing that would be thrown off too
much b! addition of transfer ramps. )f !ou bu! a taller piston or lathe off 2mm from the c!linder base
then !ou can do the ramps. 9omewhere in these pages ) list where !ou can bu! a 1mm taller piston for
the +8cc. :ith it !ou can add 1.8mm ramps. 5he 55cc and 21cc c!linders have too low transfer ports
that allow !ou to utili;e 2mm transfer ramps. #lso raise the 55cc transfers 1mm6 and the 22cc
transfers .5mm higher for a perfect port duration of 11% degrees. 5hen for perfect exhaust port
duration of 15% degrees raise the 55cc to 25.+5mm and the 21cc to 25.2mm from c!linder top.
-O<=
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