[Fot] titanium rods

[BillDentin at aol.com]

In a message dated 04/21/2007 1:38:10 AM Central Daylight Time, billb at bnj.com 
writes:


> My MV Agusta Senna has titanium rods, piston pins and crank pin. Beautiful 
> parts. The motor revs to 13,500 RPM and makes 142 HP from 750 cc. I wouldn't 
> mind that kind of performance in my TR3, Peyote would be darned sprightly 
> with 400+ horsepower, though I suspect the four radially displaced titanium 
> valves and the fuel injection contribute more to the performance than the rods. 
> What a motor though. I can pick it up by myself. The whole bike weighs 413 
> pounds--about the same as a TR3 motor. The valve springs and retainers are 
> absolutely gorgeous. Most of the bits inside look like jewelry. 
> 
> An interesting side note, an engineer told me that the titanium alloys used 
> in motorsports don't lend themselves to crack checking because most cracks 
> propagate beneath the surface and don't propagate slowly like steel can. It's 
> either good, or it's gone. 
> 

l3,500 rpms...at what point does our block become the next weak link in the 
chain?

Bill Dentinger



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