ESR Question?

[smoxy]

Does anyone know if the ESR 350PV jug has a sleeve or Nikasil? What is the deal with this Nikasil? Do you have to reseal it everytime you bore it? What are the benefits? Excuse my ignorance but I'm interested to know as it seems that this is the big thing now-a-day!

[danbobsR]

the 350 should come with a steel sleeve regular style. usually the nikasil sleeves are aluminum but steel ones can be done as well the nikasil aluminum sleeve cylinders run cooler so you make more power a little more reliable. also if you are on your last bore and a hone doesnt get the scratches out nikasil may be option to do to get a little more time if the scratches arent to bad and yes if you bore the cylinder the nikasil has to be redone. my .02 cents

[smoxy]

Thankyou! That enlightens me a little! Good to know the ESR jug has a sleeve as I'm not sold on this Nikasil yet!

[danbobsR]

the nikasil is just a coating you will still have a sleeve either way whether it be aluminum or steel, kind of like jet hot ceramic coating for a set of car headers but for a cylinder.

[smoxy]

Ah! Now I got it! Thanks for the comparison. I know of the Jet Hot coatings!

[BLACKeR]

nikasil is a nickle carbide silicone coating that allows for a tighter tolerance in your engine it is also much harder than a cast iron sleeve. and because it is usually coated over an aluminum sleeve you have better heat conductivity. it is far supperior to a cast iron sleeve. you typically shouldnt have to bore it since it is much more difficult to scratch than the iron. almost all modern ATV/motorcycle engines are nikasil plated.

[Aceman]

Is it worth nikasiling a cast iron cylinder? I have a Pro X 310 cylinder, if I nikasiled it would I be able to get away with just a rering 2-3 times before needing to bore it up the next size? So each time I bore it, I nikasil it. If that worked I would get 10-15 rebuilds out of my sleeve.

[250r4life]

i dont know about the iron sleeves, but i have a nikasealed cyliinder, and ive blown it twice and with each rebuild i take it back to the same bore i had it before... i use the racers choice pistons from wiseco and they only make it in two sizes, so i stick with the same size each time... ive had to get it re-nickasealed each time, but like i said, they can take it right back to where you had it, so in essence you can get a lot of top ends out of it... however, it is quite a bit more expensive to renickaseal something than to bore it... also, nichaseal isnt going to hold up against a bad bearing or anything else hopping around in there, so...

[Aceman]

Thanks for the info 250r4life. Looks like I need to price some things to see if it's worth it or not.