Carpenter Questions

Most, if not all the folks I know or have heard of that had their own guys install a Carpenter motor kit or, subsequent to the Carpenter shop's install, had their own guys attempt to improve on Bob and Eddy's tune(s) or retune the bike independently, thinking that they know better, have ended up with trashed motors or major headaches until their tampering-induced problems were corrected by the masters, i.e., Bob and his primary wrench, Eddy.

Moral of the story, what they offer is prrrrrrretty proprietary and almost always installed to be balls on, bulletproof perfection, so DO NOT MESS WITH SUCCESS!!!!! They completely stand by their work product and I know for a fact that they have corrected others work products after the others messed things up.

Tripps said:

265 kit, different animal, higher compression and built/tuned for high octane, Paul.

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Remember that the Carpenter all mechanical engine upgrade kits originated with a 200 kit and a 240 kit. Both have been refined over the years, in many cases by customers that wanted to push or expand the original performance envelopes with different cam and piston combos. Hence, the so-called 265 kit which is simply a 240 kit on steroids and gets up to or around 285 hp with the addition of larger fuel pump.

1olbull said:

Yes indeed Paul.
Rob had his first Carp build done by another mechanic when in Hawaii.
He had some major issues and eventually sent his bike to Carpenter.
Rob is now in 24 - 7 boner mode!

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Yer supposed to see a Dr if it stays up more than 4 hours.

In regard to your questions:

Anyone with the skill, knowledge, and tools can do the instal. Keep in mind the R3 motor has some unique challenges. Is your local mechanic willing to back up his work with his wallet?! My triumph master tech ****ed the job up...this is a 20 year motorcycle mechanic trained on the Rocket maintenance in Hinkley... they backed their screw up with their wallet, will yours?

Tuning... see next post.

Vibration, not increase, actually, it’s smoother in most places.

Fuel, that depends on your particular build but most will happily run on normal old 87octane. Mine for example requires 92. The dual plug quad valve pent-roof design head is highly resistant to detonation.

That you tube video has been up for years, I have a feeling it’s the result of owner/operator error. I’ve never read the full story though.

Reliability wise, the head changes actually improve the design and make failure of a valve, bucket, or shim getting spit out less likely. Other wear items can and will fail, like on any bike. Cam chain guides, stator, ignition switches, engine sensors, tps sensor, all things you can count on failing at SOME point.

My very strong recommendation is that you factor shipping in as part of the expense and just send it to NJ... ensure it’s done right, and if something goes wrong with a part or during install, it’s at their shop so the onus is on them to fix it.

The 265 kit has a revised C&C job on the head and a bigger cam, plus some other changes. Ported and polished TB couplers is one of the “other” items.

Tuning:
You have a few options, but, ensure you have a local guy who can at least tune power commanders. You’ll note, Carpenter kits DO include the requirement for a PC-V.

You can buy tuneboy, the software bob usually uses, and install the provided base tune. It will still NEED a dyno tune, which can be done on the PC-V ( that’s how bob does it). Do not skimp on the tune it’s AT LEAST as important as the hardware installed.

Option two: Get a hold of the 8000 rpm TuneECU map if it’s a 2014.5+ roadster, and get a local custom PC-V tune on top of that. For the new roadster this is the only option to rev higher than 7000 RPM. PM me if you decide to go this route, I will NOT widely distribute the 8K tune because of the risk of it being used in non-built motors (it would kill a stock valve train very quickly).

EDIT: I see you have a touring. Use tuneboy, you get the 9000 RPM map with it, my 8K tuneecu map won’t work, the extra 1000RPM over run will come in handy when shifting!!

Option 3/4: Get Tuneboy and find a badass tuner to do the whole tune in tuneboy and forgoe the PC-V. This will end up being the most expensive, difficult, and hardest to resource a tuner route.

Sorry, final post in this series.

The resolution to my problems was this:

My mechanic wasn’t told the cam gear bolt wasn’t torqued on delivery. He didn’t torque them down beyond the “slightly snug” torque they’re delivered at. Bob send them out this way because the mechanic is REQUIRED to adjust the cams in the gear during installation, so no point in locking the gear down.

When he started my motor with the loose cam gear bolt, the cam rotated in the gear and piston met valve, and they fought. Valve lost..

Ultimately it was a calamity of errors, both in communication and installation that caused the problem.

1olbull said:

I have only one exception to having Carp do the install work . . .
@warp9.9

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Oh I dunno - @Neville Lush or @Penner

barbagris said:

Oh I dunno - @Neville Lush or @Penner

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Not quite on my continent, Amigo.

1olbull said:

Not quite on my continent, Amigo.

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But maybe they'd enjoy a trip over!