Kendall Johnson built motors?

[twowheel99]

My buddy had a 124 Kendall Johnson engine in his Redneck Eng. bike and I had trouble keeping up with him when we would be out cruising around. I would have to say it was the only thing on the bike he didn't have trouble with. I had talked to KJ about doing his magic on my BD but I just couldn't justifiy putting 3K in my motor at that time......

[bigdogtech01]

Originally Posted by twowheel99

My buddy had a 124 Kendall Johnson engine in his Redneck Eng. bike and I had trouble keeping up with him when we would be out cruising around. I would have to say it was the only thing on the bike he didn't have trouble with. I had talked to KJ about doing his magic on my BD but I just couldn't justifiy putting 3K in my motor at that time......

They are a bit on the pricey side but have seen or heard of no problems with anything they build. When I was working for the BDM dealership we sent out a 124" S&S out of an American I-H. The customer wanted us to install the twin Mikuni carbs, so we did. Due to the high compression of the motor he has to run 100 octane fuel, but the thing runs awesome. On a hot summer day the intake runners actually form ice build up, crazy stuff It runs and starts so good you don't even need to pull the enrichener cable out. Not sure on the numbers but I want to say he was in the high 140's @ rear wheel. A lot for a chopper style bike.

[dirt]

Well,
I got to take it out this evening for a quick run around the neighborhood. I am a little disappointed in the bottom end until about 2500-3000 then it gets pretty nasty! I haven't put the daytona ignition on it yet so maybe that will help. Right now it's still the stock timing and advance curve.

Marv,
I was in no way putting down what anyone one's power numbers at all, just wanted to make that clear. He promised big power so that's why I sent him the heads. They recomended modifying a S&S G carb ( went with a XXX taz), and a short velocity stack. They said to leave the intake manifold alone since it was a street motor. He said if this was going on a race motor then they would port it and pick up a few numbers at the top but loose velocity (torque) on the bottom end. Made sense to me, same theory as race car stuff and I'm pretty familiar with that. Also, He recomended a 2 into 1 system, I said they are gay! LOL! He thought the V&H BR pipes with either a short baffle or BCT baffle worked really well. I was surprised that he said that as the V&H aren't really known as performance pipes.

The port job, including springs was 1200. They sold me a cam for another 150. I thought that was very reasonable for the HP numbers they have been getting.
Dave

[MARV]

no sweat dirt.

most of the builds here are floating around the 127/127 area.

some higher, some lower.

[dirt]

Well,
The motor has been fun to ride with the new power. The Adjustable ignition made it feel a lot better on the bottom end. I put about 500 miles on it and took it to Raleigh for a dyno tune. I dropped it off at Iron Thunder in Raleigh and they said they could tune it, no problem, take a couple hours. I went and messed around for a couple hours and came back. They said sorry, your bike will not fit on our dyno, too long! I was mad! After a a 2 1/2 hour drive and wasting a day off from work you tell me that it won't fit! So I took it back home. The next day, some buddies went went for a ride and it starts smoking out of the tailpipes and pouring oil out of both front cylinders and the cam cover, I towed it to the local mechanic who put the motor together and he does a couple checks and can't find anything. He calls a couple days later and said that the gasket between the motor and cam cover had failed and that was the problem. He fixed that and fires it back up and after a couple minutes it starts smoking like hell again. The compression and leakdown test were good so now he has no idea what the problem is! The motor sounds fine, no knocking and no pinging, so he is realy lost on what it might be. Does anyone here have any ideas? I really just want to get my bike back on the road at this point!
If it turns out that I need to go into the motor to fix something, Kendall makes a 131 big bore kit that I might be putting in instead of fixing the 117. The big bore kit comes with new jugs and pistons and they have been averaging in the mid 150s to low 160s with this kit. That would be FUN!!!!!

[woodbutcher]

never had mine dyno'd, but IMHO, i would NEVER leave it unattended for someone to play with however they wanted to. a motor from kendall would be too tempting to be abused. did you keep track of the odo. should not have changed more than a quarter mile before they found out it wouldn't fit. just sayin'.

[dirt]

Well, it was either sleep in the parking lot or drive around to some of the other bike shops for awhile. I work at night just had a 2 hour nap before I headed up there. I rode the bike after they tuned it and it ran fine. Something just let go or started sticking after I got it back home. They could not give it any more hell that I do, so I wasn't worried about that. They never put it on the dyno but did do a road test and he said it felt real strong, right there with his sportster that dynoed at 132. I'll get it on a dyno as soon as I get some help figuring out where this mysterious oil and smoke is coming from!
Dave

[MARV]

i'm pretty sure the cam gasket has to be for a 92-99.

also the top end gaskets are TC type.a common mistake is putting evo gaskets on the SSW+ top end

check the check valve at the rear head. black faces out

could be the wrong oil filter (dont want anti drain back) and/or the oil lines are crossed

[dirt]

Marv,
Thank you for the advice. The head gaskets were the same that came off the bike. The only thing that changed since the bike was put back together was the cam cover gasket, but it lasted for 500 miles or so. I talked with the mechanic today and he thought it might be part of the o-ring that didn't come out with the oil and might be stopping up one of the oil lines. He will be able to check it out tomorrow and let me know. I'll check on the check valve if we don't find anything with the oil lines. Thanks again for your advice on where to look.
Dave

[dirt]

Found the oil pressure problem, the return gear on the oil pump had broken in half. The motor was getting oil pressure but no return to the oil tank. He will have me back up and burning up the road after the weekend. I'm ready to be riding again with all the nice weather we are having!
Dave

[avdhunter]

Kewl Deal!!!!!

[dirt]

After a long down time, the mechanic got it going again. I rode it back and forth to work and noticed alot of valve train noise and took it back to him. He adjusted the push rods and sent me on my way. I rode it over that weekend and took it back to him the next monday and said it was worse. He replaced the lifters, aligned the lifter bores, reshimmed the cam and put it back together. I picked it up with a trailer, got it home and fired it up for a test ride. It went dead after idling for several minutes. The ignition magnet fell out!? It was a brand new Daytona twin tec! So, he orders another, puts it back together and I ride it home after he checks over everything again. I'm starting to get pissed here! So, I pick it up and ride it about 10 miles home. The next time I fire it up for a ride, the damn thing started smoking and lost oil pressure again! So this is where I'm at now. I am going to try and get the bike up to Kendall this week and see if he can find out what the local guy just can't seem to figure out. He has to be shimming something wrong or something is moving around in there that is not supposed to. It's really getting aggrevating, the weather has been gorgeous and I have been missing some really awesome riding days. Any thoughts on what could cause lifter/ oil pump failures?
Dave

[K9Anniv]

Originally Posted by dirt

It's probably a little too late now but has anyone had any dealings with Kendall Johnson Customs in Winston Salem, NC? I called and talked to Kendall and has tuner Zac and they put together a top end combination for me, they were talking about some pretty good numbers! It just arrived today and I'm pretty excited to get it put back together. They seemed like really good people and knew I had a dead line, they got the heads ported and back to me in 3 days! I thought that was pretty good. Has anyone elar had any dealings with them. I looked around a little and they seem to be known for making big power, I sure hope so!
Dave

Hmm...might have been a good question to ask before you had them do the work? Anyway, I'm sure everything is fine...they got it all back to you in the time-frame you needed, he's a nationally known big-time bike builder who's been on the Discovery Channel biker build-off series, etc. Keep us posted on how it goes. Good luck, and ENJOY!!!

[dirt]

K9,
The problem has not been with any of the port work ect that Kendall did, the problem is with the local guy that put everything together. After talking with him and Kendall, we figured out it's got to be the he knocked the pinion shaft out of round when he first put the motor back together and put the cam washers in upside down. The local guy finally figured this out after all the breakages. He was just fixing what was broken instead of fixing the problem. I feel really good now after talking with Kendall the bike will be right when I get it back this time!
Dave

[dirt]

Well,
Picked the bike up from KJ on Friday on my way to Virginia. Everything is straightened out with the motor now and they got a couple pulls on the dyno with it, It put down 124 hp and 127 tq. The printer was broken so he couldn't print me off a dyno sheet but showed me anyway. The bike feels good and considering the intake and exhaust I have on it, I guess it did pretty good. The important thing is it's running again!
Dave