I got the heat cycles done and retorqued the cylinder and head nuts (head nuts turned about 20 degrees more
)
BE SURE TO RETORQUE AFTER A TOP END!
I ran it around the yard pretty hard through 3rd gear. HOLY CRAP! DAMN THING BLEW MY BALLS CLEAN OFF! LOL I was shaking for about 5 minutes after the first ride. My back yard has a lot of 6-8"+ mounds and hills and the suspension ate them up. Didn't let up till I had to grab a hand full of brakes to make the turn.
My first impressions exceed my expectations! I'm EXTREMELY pleased with this bike as a whole and more specifically the top end work that Ken Oconnor Racing did mated with my choice of pipe. The Dmc Alien pipe gives this setup (rechambered head and trail port) a VERY broad power band with a good top hit and just enough over-rev. This is gonna be nice on the trails.
Here's two plugs after doing four laps.
Each 3rd lap included a high load 3rd gear pull from down low to tip top(it pulled nice and clean).
My float height is 20.75mm from the gasket surface, 32.5 pilot, needle clip in 4th from top ( DMC pipe) air screw set. Stable idle, snaps cleanly off idle.
With the 300 main it was blubbery and smoking a lot. It took a lot more clutching down low but pulled hard.
With the 290 it sounds much better and pulls harder and crisper down low and revs out markedly harder.
The plug still looks a bit dark BUT I haven't been able to do a top gear pull.
I was measuring engine temps with a harbor freight IR gun ranging 235-265 around the cylinder and plug. Its about 75 degrees F here. The temps didn't differ much when dropping from the 300 to 290.
I don't have the room for a proper plug chop and I'm currently trailer shopping so ......
OPINIONS? These plugs were only run for a few minutes and developed that much color on the tip. The pics are blurred and appear slightly darker than what I'm seeing. The performance jump from the 300 to 290 has me wanting to drop to a 280 but sustained higher gears/higher loads may require me to stay at the 290.