Hey Paul,

I am a Mechanical Engineering Undergrad student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and I just got my XR600R running last night. I'm a huge forum fan and have owned many RX-7's in my 5 years of having a driver's license. Because of that I'm a huge 2-stroke fan as well since the Wankel Rotary Engine is basically the most successful (in my opinion) commercialized engine used in the drivetrain of a vehicle. They are my 4-wheeled passion and I've always loved bikes as well. I'm a newer forum member and probably your newest subscriber but I do enjoy reading your entries and look forward to your future posts! I guess I'd love to hear what you get to do for a job every day as a topic - being an inspiring ME and all. That's more selfish though, and most of the time people want to be very mysterious and informal on forums which I understand. [i wrote that before reading your "Who the Heck is Paul Olesen?" post - never mind about that!]

 

I'd be curious on reading you tackle the topics of:

Non-oxy fuel in bikes - pros and cons

Picking the correct oil weight for your riding and location

Things to check for in the powertrain when purchasing a used bike

 

Those are just 3 right off the top of my head. Thanks for the posts and I look forward to reading your entries in the future!

Austin

Hi Austin,

Thank you for your suggestions on future blog post topics!  You have some great ideas for future posts and I will try and work them in in a timely manner.  Congrats on getting your XR600R running and I hope you enjoy riding it! I have a lot of friends that love RX-7's however I've never owned one myself but I'm sure they would be a fun ride to have.

Paul

I've put about 104 hours on the only injected two stroke in production (motorcycle). I'll have to say it has worked extremely well. I understand the mains are lubricated by the transmission oil- perhaps one reason they recommend 110:1 ( I run 100:1) The light weigh (163lb) and minimal components all fit into a great package. Mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks for sharing your experience with your injected two-stroke.  I'm curious as to which one you have as well?  Once you separate fuel and oil it is surprising how little oil it takes to lubricate the top end!  I'm glad to hear you like the bike and hope one day there will be more options out there for two-stroke fans and folks that cherish a good power/weight ratio.

Paul

So you plan on bringing some Thiel/Overmars RSA love to the TT common man? I like it. As for your engine do you still plan on a custom primary drive and driven gear? Assuming you are keeping the engine square I would think a cr500 primary would work out. Its spaced for a 79mm stroke, is already 2.5:1 and fits the 450f transmission (basket)

I'll leave the RSA love to Mr. Thiel and Mr. Overmars however I'll do what I can to share what I know about 250cc singles, designing parts, fuel injection, oil injection, and using simulation tools to design an engine.  I have the utmost respect for Mr. Thiel and Mr. Overmars and in fact consider them to be a couple of my idols. The amount of quality info they've shared is impressive and hopefully one day I can do the same.

Thanks for pointing out the CR500 primary gear situation.  I wasn't aware that it was a direct swap with the CRF450 basket.  If that is the case then it might be possible to use the existing parts.