Essentially it releates to the LT's very thirsty appetive for main bearings and subsequent rod failures. I roughed it out that to get it done right would be around 2.5-3K to build a good engine, not including buying it in the 1st place.
Ah Ha....That's obviously the reason my US friend has so many expired LT engines under the house.
That's also explain his lack of encouragement when I described the proposed project to him. I'd asked him why he hadn't done it himself and he simply told me that he didn't have enough money to throw into a bike that didn't come within a cooee of a CR500 or KX500. He actually raced desert on KX500s so it all falls into place now.
After having a little burl on the 490 Maico and being very impressed with Dean Burts RM400 and Husky Petes CR500 Husky Silver Bullet, my appetites been whetted to build and Evo or pre 85 bike. I'd like to keep the bike outside of the cookie cutter, every bike looks the same scheme of things, hence the watercooled RM500 idea. If Bahnsy and my mate Mike are cold on the idea I'll have another look at what's out there. I've got a soft spot for 465 Yamahas and wouldn't mind another ATK 605 or even a 406 so who knows what might come out of the shed next year. There are a few other projects to knock over first though.
Just in case I keep the Suzuki plan on the table, is the LT engine available Rod?