Nicasil VS Iron bore

[Boyracer]

I recently asked for a YZ barrel reco in nicasil or chrome and the guy gave my barrel back with an iron re sleeve telling me Im better off with a re sleeve.
Does a nicasil bore make more power than an iron bore or is it about the same?
Any info appreciated, thanks.

[vmx42]

Boy I would have the s@&ts if somebody did that to me!! if you ask for nicasil or chrome that's what you should get!! If there is a problem in supplying what you asked for you should have been told before he took it upon himself to modify your cylinder.

Nicasil or chrome don't inherently make more power than an iron bore. You can run closer piston/bore tolerances which could make a bit more power, but the main difference is in the heat transfer.

Nicasil or chrome transfer heat from the bore more quickly than does an iron sleeve and as such reduce the drop off in power associated with aircooled engines in long motos.

Will you notice the difference, probably not. But I would be cranky all the same [and looking for a new cylinder tech guy who understood how to communicate with the customer].

[270YAM]

I don't know much about the stuff but I think u need different type of rings for bores other than the standard iron, correct me if I'm wrong.

[Freakshow]

are we a talking modern barrel ? or an old barrell that was already chromed or nika ?

Where does the dude get off fitting a sleeve without telling you.

[Hoony]

i have had one done on one of my CR250's (watercooled) in the early days before they were available to be re-coated in OZ i had  serco fit a sleeve to my 86' CR250RG and i could notice the loss of power.

later on i had another cylinder nickasiled in Vic years later (same bike) and it was much better i still have both cylinders for the same bike and the nikasil liner makes a noticeable difference on my bike.

[Nathan S]

I don't know much about the stuff but I think u need different type of rings for bores other than the standard iron, correct me if I'm wrong.

Chrome bores needs a special ring, but iron/electrofusion/nikasil will all take the same rings.

Plus what vmx42 said.

[Lozza]

This is my pet hate. I would be demanding he restore the cylinder back to original condition or finding you another one. If it's a water cooled cylinder that originaly had a nikasil coating it will ping it's head off any time it gets hot.As the cylinder was never designed to cope with that amount heat.
Nikasil will handle higher compression so there's the performance advantage as well as less friction.
There is be a considerable loss in the heat transfer properties between the liner and the cylinder, most liners are cast in and have internal ribs to increase surface area for that reason.

[Boyracer]

   Yeehah, he said he would get me a brand spanker replacement, top bloke after all.

[LWC82PE]

So if i want to convert my cast iron bore to a 'coated' finish and still use the original suzuki rings or wiseco rings, does that mean i have to get Electrofusion or Nickasil coating only and not chrome? Can the coating be aplied to the sleeve already inside the barrel because im sure the suzuki ones only come out if you machine them out.

Who in Australia does the best job of Electrofusion or Nikasil? i dont care if its expensive, i just prefer a good job and dont want them screwing around with the port windows etc.

[Lozza]

So if i want to convert my cast iron bore to a 'coated' finish and still use the original suzuki rings or wiseco rings, does that mean i have to get Electrofusion or Nickasil coating only and not chrome? Can the coating be aplied to the sleeve already inside the barrel because im sure the suzuki ones only come out if you machine them out.

Who in Australia does the best job of Electrofusion or Nikasil? i dont care if its expensive, i just prefer a good job and dont want them screwing around with the port windows etc.

No good coating work done here. End of. Any ring that is good for cast iron is good for Nikasil. Rings for 'chrome' bores (actualy same as  hard chrome on forks)  has a grey ring with no coating on the ring face.
Here is an example of good plating ie you can clearly see the bridge has been relieved BEFORE coating. The post plating honing has not touched the bridge(you can still see the machining marks) and the port windows have been correctly  chamfered again before plating.
Try NZ CYLINDERS(use the UK Langcourts process) Grant over there does very good work is a little on the expensive side. They have excellent customer service and will accomodate 'hot potato' jobs for customers here.

[LWC82PE]

No one in Australia hey, well im happy to send it anywhere. So are these mobs that do the whole job and are good at doing everything and not just the plaing part? eg

Do you send your slightly worn cylinder and new piston to them and then they bore to suit the new piston, chamfer ports and plate etc?
or is the area of expertise these places have solely in the plating and they are not experienced cylinder borers knowledgeable on 2 stroke ports, pistons etc? What im getting at, are these places just glorified everday electroplaters that decided to one day plate cylinders or are they a bit more than that and are actually clued up on engine cylinders too?
I have never looked into this so dont know if i need to get the cylinder bored to suit new piston and have ports chamfered by someone specilized in that and then send the the platers who are specialzed in that field, or if the platers know what they are doing when they measure up your piston to do the boring.

And the liners dont have to be removed?

When boring first, do you have to bore it a bit bigger than the normal size for running cast iron bore to allow for the extra thickness of the nikasil?

Any idea how much it cost because i have no idea if it costs $200 or $1000

Ok i had a quick look at that site and they seem to be talking about plating directly onto the alloy and that if you have any steel parts they get eaten by a chemical.

They say that if you have a cast iron sleeve it has to be Nickel/silicone carbide plated. is Nickel/silicone carbide plated just the same as Nikasil? Can normal rings ment for cast iron bores be used in the Nickel/silicone carbide plated bores?

[Lozza]

Just ring the 1800 toll free number about 5.30Am your time and speak to Grant.

[Hoony]

Leith,

 i have been told that coating will not apply to cast iron only alloy. i took a cast iron sleeved cylinder to be done only to be told its a no go.

[Lozza]

Hoony that's sort of bullshit is why I never have plating work undertaken here. Sorry but I hate when plater's here lie. From NZ cylinder website

My cylinder already has a cast iron sleeve installed, but it's worn past it's biggest piston. Can you help me?

Yes, Langcourt were the first to introduce nickel/silicon carbide plating onto cast iron many years ago. We can probably help solve your problem - just contact us for more information.

[tony27]

They say that if you have a cast iron sleeve it has to be Nickel/silicone carbide plated. is Nickel/silicone carbide plated just the same as Nikasil? Can normal rings ment for cast iron bores be used in the Nickel/silicone carbide plated bores?

Nikasil is the commonly used name for nickel silicon carbide plating, basically a shortened version