GasGas and the future of 2-strokes
 

It's always interesting working with Boni, the man behind the GasGas two-stroke engine, from the GasGas factory and this North American WEC trip, as usual, has been very rewarding so far.

Boni loves to talk GasGas motorcycles and his technical knowlege about GasGas two-strokes is incredible.

We've had a busy couple of days here in New York and last night, after the Hancock, NY, WEC closing ceremonies, he and I shared a couple of "ice cold Buds" and talked shop.

After a couple of beers our conversation turned to the future of two-strokes and he assured me that GasGas will me the stricter European Homologation emission rules that will require two-strokes to run on an oil mixture of no greater then 1%, or 100 to 1.

He stated GasGas has succesfully been running two-strokes motors at 100 to 1 ratios for years and that given proper jetting thay have run stock GasGas 200, 250 and 300 engines (with the current stock cases, cranks, connecting rod bearings, piston, rings, reeds carb etc.) with out crank bearing failures at oil ratios of as little as .03 percent.

Of course he could not varify or deny if the 08's will be able to run with 1% oil mixtures but he said they have succesfully run engines for hundreds of hours under load on dynos without any troubles. The only exception was the GasGas 125 motor which is still in development.

To make my above statement clear, he did not say that the '08 GasGas will run with 1% oil mixtures he has said that they have been able to do it.

It's also interesting to share some of our tuning tricks with him and this week he will get a chance to ride one of our MC250 / EC300 hybrids complete with a Rekluse clutch, some LTR goodies and RB Designs carb mod to mention a few.

So far he's reluctantly given the thumbs up (remember they have been working on similair improvemets as well and he jokingly hates to admit that someone else, especially a group of Americans, came up with something that works) to the LTR impeller, Motion Pro throttle cables, ceramic main bearings and the RB designs carb mods (although he had to rejet a little to meet his standards.)

That is some great info!:cool: Thanks for sharing Steve.:cool:

My buddy, a shop owner and mechanic, has been running Amsoil (Sabre?) at 100:1 in his EXC300 for 2 years. He said that it doesn't sell because people feel like they are taking an unescessary chance.
I still run Amsoil Dominator at 50:1. LOL !

Just because the Japanes companies are not going to sell the 2T anymore so they say....Does not mean the rest of the MFG should follow that is for sure....GASGAS and TM and even KTM are still producing 2T for 2008, I do not see them going anywhere still for a long time...there are too many people that love them...and the cost of maintenance is 1/10 of the 4T. I still love the smell of Blendzall in the morning MMMM

I believe in 2008 there will be more 2T sold than what was sold in 07...especially for GNCC and Enduro WEC Races, that is what is selling 2T for these classes


Motorcross im going to say the 4T....that is what im hearing...and that is what is selling for motocross

We sell a lot of Amsoil 100:1 as well but the people who buy it are looking for it. Its a hard sell to anybody who isn't looking for it.

It was interesting to hear from Boni that GasGas isn't afraid to warranty their bikes once the 100:1 is the standard.

Dang Steve,you have a tough job.:(

Manufacturers need to "go back inside the box".
The answer is oil injection. IMO.
The current 2 stroke outboards run anywhere from 150:1 to 50:1 with oil injection.
I realize that they run at constant speeds, so the lean ratios can work for that apllication.
Remember the Yamaha RZ350? They had oil injection with cat convertors.

The beauty of a two stroke is , the bearings are always getting fresh lubrication. Not like a 4 stroke where the bearings are bathed in worn out oil with tons of contaminants.

Ceramic bearings are a big part of it. Need much less lubrication. Main size ceramics have been around a few years, but I don't know about lower end rod bearings in ceramic, anyone? Different kind of load.

Back a few years when I was heavily into deep shipwreck diving, we would mix our own breathing gas. The last step involved topping off the helium/oxygen with air to over 3500 PSI. This required the use of air run through a special filter, or from a (then new) totally oilless compressor, to avoid a disaster. All internal bearing surfaces were said to be ceramic. So the tech exists, question is is it applicable and affordable.

Glenn.
Have you heard about air bearings?
Won't work on bikes. But makes you wonder.

http://www.westwind-airbearings.com/...ing/index.html
http://www.westwind-airbearings.com/...ABT/abt1.1.jpg

"What is an Air Bearing?

An air bearing is a non-contacting system where a gas film (typically air)
acts as the lubricant that separates the two surfaces in relative motion."Types of Air Bearing

There are two main kinds of air bearing:


Aerostatic:
http://www.westwind-airbearings.com/...ABT/abt1.2.jpg


Externally pressurised: A separate external supply of air is fed under
pressure between the two surfaces being kept apart.


It is a continuous flow system where pressurised gas from the source
flows through restrictors into the clearance between the bearing surfaces escaping to the atmosphere at the outside edges of the bearing.


Types: Simple orifice fed, Pocketed orifice, Slot fed and Porous.





Aerodynamic:
http://www.westwind-airbearings.com/...ABT/abt1.3.jpg

Self generating: The supporting film is generated by the relative motion
of the two surfaces being kept apart.


An aerodynamic bearing can be of several types. The design characteristics
differ greatly between journal and axial bearings and they can suffer
problems of instability.


Types: Simple cylinders, Tri-lobe, Grooved (axial / herringbone / spiral)
and Stepped.

Yes. Some of the equipment I design/program uses turbo molecular high vacuum pumps that spin up to 100K RPM and use air bearings. Neat stuff.

I heard about these ceramic bearings and read somewhere that they have them running in a 2S. Still won't keep the bunny huggers happy though.