To see how
good or bad Alan's engine and general performance work had been, he
subjected the Benelli to a rolling road test and all was surprisingly
okay. Michael of
Urbane Performance gave the bike a good 'wined-up' to see if it held
together and what power it produced. |
Power was 63bhp at the rear wheel
which equates to approximately 80bhp at the crank which is the Benelli
quoted figure and they were known to be typically Italian and wildly
optimistic factory quotes. |
This was the benchmark to see what
improvements can be made from the head flow work underway by Len
Patterson of the
Cylinder Head Shop. Len is porting the inlet and exhaust tracks,
reducing the effects of revers pulsing in both the inlet and exhaust
tracks and even flowing the inlet manifolds. |
Len is also re-shaping the cylinder
head chambers for improved combustion and designing new larger and
improved flow valves that
G&S Valves. These new valves will also suit unleaded fuel. |
Lastly and the initial motivator for
Alan buying a second hand Benelli 900 Sei head from
Benelli-Bauer and having all the excellent work done by Lenny, is to
install good quality valve stem seals and prevent the Benelli smoking,
even though it may be old enough :-)! |