Geez you only ask the hard questions eh Tony
Ok I'll do my best without "boffinating" on and on
.
The answer to part A is, part of the equation is the intended use.When the engineers sit down to say "OK the marketing department want the new HGF 125 to cart a fellow backwards and forwards to work, with a milk crate strapped to the back all for under $5 a week in petrol" That dictates the design of the engine the above wouldn't need an R1 engine with an ultra close gearbox.So the IT would have had a similar design brief,there a fairly easily established port/pipe/ignition combinations that fit the IT design brief.However is all dictated by the gearbox, wider 'box=wider power and vice versa.As with the Maico which had 4 sp(
) that
had to have a broad spread of power to make the 4 speed work.Similarly a 6 speed 125GP road race 'box is mighty close so the spread of power can be closed up considerably.
More power doesn't necessarily mean peakier power, it is possible to make more HP through the rev range without sacrificing ridabilty. Again it comes down to the gearbox
With pipes in general terms short fat pipes rev hard and make short powerbands, long thin pipes have broad spreads, but the combinations are endless.With off the shelf pipes the fat bit would add some volume but it's more about the tuned length, same length more volume will pump up mid range , fat pipe with shorter length means power shifted up the rev range, the combinations are endless.So are the combinations of port shapes and timings but here the 'trade off' rules.
Of course