My new Chinese Cafe Racer: SSR Buccaneer 250C

Thumbs up to SSR. And a hearty thanks to Charles for all the contributions he is always making.

Just out of curiosity how much did the part cost?

The sensor was $25 and I don't know about the grounding washer, I didn't check. I got a 15% off discount from my dealership on the SSR parts as well, for being a loyal customer.

Charles.

Did anyone ever buy the Buccaneer oil cooler kit? I'm kinda regretting not getting one now that they're no longer on aliexpress.

Charles.

Hello Charles. Just registered here to throw my 2 cents in :)

First and foremost - I'm astonished by your work with this Buccaneer. I didn't check if you have threads on your other machines, but this one alone is a metric ton of inspiration and knowledge.
I live in one of the happy countries this model is actually available (or, more precisely - was), and plan on getting one when I get my full motorcycle license (on car driver's license I can ride 125cc, but nothing bigger).

But to the point:
1)
As you pointed out before, this oil cooler kit would do more harm than good by replacing big oil filter with small rock-catcher. But there's more. You say Buck goes better in 70+*F temps, yet you ride it all year long. That means you'd have to bypass/unmount the cooler for the chillier time just to let the engine warm up properly. With cooler on board it would just make the power loss from cold even worse.

I have a small 125cc Chinese bike with engine being clone of Honda CG125 (pushrod one). I added the oil cooler for the summer (sometimes temps creep up to 95*F) and it helps with overheating, but as temps drop below 60-ish *F I need to either bypass or cover the radiator with heavy insulation, else the engine runs too cold. Plus, with oil being cooled too much it makes oil pump life hell.
If you don't have problems with overheating, I'd say not worth the hassle.

2) You say you'd go big bore, but it's unavailable to buy anymore. So why don't you make one yourself? You have proven you are open minded mad scientist type (I identify as one too), so why not to try to make something special?
As I see it, the stock cylinders have iron sleeves of 49mm ID and 54mm OD.
And the big bore you mentioned earlier got somewhere about 320cc. Doing simple math I see we would need a bore of 55 - 56mm to get to this displacement without re-stroking the engine. This is sadly bigger than original sleeves' OD. But it is possible to cut the old sleeves out and press in new, bigger ones in a decent machine shop. That's the point where the crankcase needs cutting to fit fatter sleeves (I think you mentioned this as well).
As of pistons, there's plenty of 56mm pistons with 13mm piston pin out there, for example for 156FMI Chinese engines (my CG125 clone ). Only thing would be checking distance from pin to piston top to prevent valve collision.
The only tight spot I see here (cost apart) is this place.

The circled holes are frickin close to the sleeve and they are limiting its size. I have no idea how much oversized they are, but if someone managed to do a big bore kit that fit, it has to be doable. I very much doubt they made a kit that needed pins repositioning.

On the other hand - maybe the big bore had a weak spot in this place and that's why it isn't offered anymore...

3) there's one more way to improve power on your bike, without need of machine shop. The Yamaha SRV250 Renaissa camshafts. Not sure if you know that, but at some point Yamaha took Virago engine (21HP), shoved it into classic looking frame, gave it twin carbs instead of one on Virago, hotter cam shafts for bump in the power to 27HP and released as neo-classic. In early 90's.
I'm talking this: https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/yamaha/yamaha_srv250s 93.htm
I believe I found an Australian forum for this model (it was not very widely released). Might be worth looking at. On the other hand, not sure if FI would be okay with different valve timing.

Cheers!

I've seen the SRV before and thought it was a very cool small motorcycle. Just another example of a lovely motorcycle we never got in N. America because it's "too small". The Honda VTX250 is another:



Sorry, saw the SRV and got off topic. Charles, please weigh in aramis44's interesting post.

Honestly, I'd love to do a big bore kit, but the amount of effort to do one from scratch is beyond what I'm willing to take on.
I do know about the SRV cams, but finding them is impossible it seems.
I have been toying with the idea of using the oil cooler adapter and lines to feed a very small turbocharger, just for shits and giggles. Unfortunately I missed the bandwagon on the Buccaneer oil cooler kits. The only ones available now are for the Yamaha, which means I'd either need to put on a Yamaha clutch cover or machine the adapter smaller to fit the SSR cover.

Charles.

But, just theoretically, if you had the cams - do you think ECU would work with them?

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I'm looking for a quality name brand 530 non oring chain 120 links.
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I forgot how many links are needed for the stock gearing.
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Recommendations?
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I'd go with D.I.D. (Daido Kogyo)

Yes, DID chains are the best IMO. Why non-O ring?

O-ring chains do sap quite a bit more power than non. In a small CC bike, a small power loss feels like a big one. Guess it depends on your tolerance for oiling and replacing chains.

There is a SIGNIFICANT power increase when switching from the stock 530 non-oring chain to a 525 o-ring chain and sprockets. I've detailed the conversion here, it's cheap and easy. You just have to order the rear sprocket from the UK. It saved 6 or 8 pounds of rotating mass over stock, if memory serves.

Charles.

The X ring chains have less friction than O ring, not sure they even sell O ring chains anymore. I have DID O ring chains on both my small bikes and they do indeed sap a bit of power. The X ring chain on my 250 quad seems much better.

Charles had pointed out in a much earlier post that the stock chain from the factory was a very poor quality and wearing quickly.

So that is why I wanted to switch over to a better quality chain.

Charles also pointed out and LuciferMutt just posted that a non o ring chain is more efficient in terms of reducing power losses.

Sometime in the future I will consider doing the 520 chain and sprockets swap.

Thank you everyone for your recommendations.
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Also, after about 500 miles the o-ring/x-ring chain loosens up quite a bit.

I got better performance from the lighter x-ring chain than I did from the stock, just from the weight loss.

Charles.

[QUOTE="ChopperCharles

I got better performance from the lighter x-ring....

What is a x-ring chain? How does it differ from an o-ring chain? What is the advantage of an X-Ring chain?
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X ring has X-shaped seals instead od O-shaped. This gives less friction between seal and chain links, hence less power loss.

The X will also spread if crud or dirt gets in. It gets in the V pushing out. Look and think about it. Where with an O-ring it may squeeze past the outer area where the O-ring is against the link

Does this thing really come with a 530 chain?? Thats a chain rated for well over 100hp. It should have a 520 or even 430.

It does indeed come with a 530. It is easy to swap to a 525, but anything less is going to have to be custom.

Charles.