I further discussed with Them what can be done and what can be not.
I am really excited as it seems I was right when I said there
was a huge potential in this collaboration, and it was worth to be patient.
In fact, now it seems we can get nearly whatever we need, as long as
we run it in batches and I take care of the design (and we are patient).
Up to now, They agreed to produce these RG variants of their stuff:
cranks: in both 54.4 and 50.6 mm stroke variants. My goal is to make a 54.4 mm engine, but as many people asked me about 50.6 mm cranks, then why not? The more parts in the batch, the better. We must discuss details, there are various options to choose among, before issuing the batch produced
rods: the 54.4 mm stroke cranks use Their stock rods but I guess if you want a 50.6 mm crank you'll probably also want to be able to use stock cylinders, pistons, etc., right? We can run a batch of rods that have same length and little pin diameter than stock RG ones, and maybe even just plain straight replacement rods for stock RG engines, if enough people needs that
bearings: snap ring grooved and/or pinned. The custom bearings for the crank prototypes were the most painful thing (ever tried to drill a bearing?), but if we do a batch of them, I'll ask the bearings to be already customized at the factory. Again, we must discuss options for this; I guess people who makes daily use of the RG may prefer bearings that are less racing but do more miles
pipes: it seems making a batch of custom pipes is unexpectedly easy. Their pipes are made by 0.8 mm sheet, the welding look very nice and they are also smooth (i.e. no raw edges between subsequent cones). I was just wondering about fitting a variant of Their pipes (huge! belly) in the bike, but maybe there is other people here who wants pipes built with different specifications?
cylinders/heads: of course. This is THE purpose of the whole project. All the hassle with cranks, bearing etc. was faced just to allow mounting THOSE cylinders. It's what I'll continue working on in my spare time as soon as I'll complete this report and unsubscribe again from the gamma list
Remember, the keyword for all this is: producing lots (batches) of parts. Things made as a single one-off prototype will take a lot while things run in batches will take less and be better. However, I am also wondering about other parts that I haven't still discussed with Them, but I guess They could agree to make, if we make lots of them. Maybe it's better I don't publish things that are already to be discussed, but I'm thinking a lot ;-)