Porting
 

Here's an interesting read on porting: http://www.mototuneusa.com/power_news_--_think_fast.htm

Keep in mind that the "Hawk" he refers to is a Honda Hawk, a whole different animal than the RPS Hawk. Much of the information contained on the site applies to any 4-stroke engine though. Just be sure to account for the fact that most of the stuff he talks about is 4 valves per cylinder.

If not MotoCult, who? links?

This is the cam and followers, I ordered, but they ended up being free to me, because they didn't show up till way later, and I already was refunded my money. The cam gear didn't have a dot on it, but I just used the slot for the cam pin as reference, and made my own dot, it was only one tooth away from the slot for the pin. I got the 4degree key from a member on here. I am pretty sure the cam is a 292 grind.https://www.ebay.com/itm/174384704948
This is the 70mm (250cc) kit, I used, but it comes with a stock like head gasket though, and I wish I had the steel one.Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out!
$75.84 | 70mm Big Bore Cylinder Kit Cylinder Piston Set For CG250 TO 300 CG300 16mm pin 167FMM
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMSYA6m

You can certainly piece together the different bits to make up what comes in the Motocult kit, but do also be aware that you'd have to have material machined off the top of the cylinder deck, as well using the thinner head gasket, to obtain the same compression increase. That results in a change to the valve train geometry that can be corrected by either installing the rocker arm assembly shim included in the Motocult kit, or using shorter pushrods. I chose to use shorter pushrods myself.

I ultimately chose to go with the Motocult kit because it was basically a drop-in deal with all the figuring and machining already done for me. They also included a couple handy tools, a flywheel puller and MAG side crank seal installer, in the kit. Was it more money that way? Sure, but I don't mind supporting those that are into helping us make our CG engines better for our purposes. Also, the owner, Devin Biek, has been very responsive and helpful the couple times that I called him for some technical direction. People will have their own opinions, but I think what Motocult provides is fairly priced given the development and testing they've done to make sure their kit works well.

I DO wish that I used the thinner gasket, but have no desire to have the cylinder milled. I can already tell from the heat on my right lower leg, that I run a little hotter, and honestly I am satisfied enough with my results that I probably won't even fool with the steel head gasket, but I may eventually, after the weather gets cold again. I did all my stuff at once, do I don't know which mod gave me the biggest boost, but it definitely gave my bike much longer legs. Also, I usually try to get, non ethanol 90
octane, but in warmer weather when I use gas fast, I sometimes just run mid grade gas from what ever station is closest. I would think that if I had a lot more compression, I would not only run a lot hotter, but have to be pickier about gas. The best performance that I could gain , in reality is to loose some weight, but from a strictly logical point of view, I should have left my motor alone till it needed rebuilt, because when I was running a 16/46, it was still alright for what I was using it for, and I was using my KPX for longer rides on the main roads. Now I am using the Hawk in the same way a lot, and putting more wear, and tear on it, and not riding the KPX enough. I am going to go for a ride in a few minutes, and take the KPX.

I've been using 89 octane just as a precaution against detonation. I haven't experienced any yet. I don't notice any particularly excessive heat coming off the engine, but it's been pretty cool here lately. Before installing my oil cooler I did notice the clutch freeplay increased after a few miles on a pretty steep grade running the bike close to maxed out. I've since run that same grade under similar conditions and didn't notice much change in the clutch freeplay at all. I've got to assume that if the oil's running cooler, it's helping to cool the engine as well. Particularly because the cooled oil returns back to the valve cover and sprays down onto the rockers and the top of the head with the cooler setup I'm using, I'd think it would help with the temperature of the top end as well. I'm not going to go to any great lengths to quantify the relationship between oil temp and cylinder head temp though. My seat of the pants impression is that the cooler does help significantly.

I have all the stuff to install an oil cooler on mine, but just haven't done it. I don't want to mount it low, so I will probably make a bracket, if, I ever do use it. I don't get into the real slow speed hash terrain, and most of the towns that I go to, are what many would consider a fairly small city, so it's not very often that traffic would be a huge issue., but I still may do the cooler one day.

Yeah, I didn't want to mount mine low, or where it would be blocked by the fender, so I made up a customized mounting bracket from the bracket that came on the cooler in my kit. I don't have much occasion to idle in traffic, for one, because there's not a ton of traffic in my area, and also because lane splitting is legal here so I can (safely) go between cars to get to the front at a traffic light. Like I'd mentioned, prior to installing the cooler, the only time I'd noticed the oil getting excessively warm was by way of the clutch feel and that was immediately after having just run the bike pretty hard for a few miles at freeway speed, so airflow across the engine wasn't an issue in that case. I figure I'll encounter high oil temps on slow, technical single-track trails where I'll likely be using the clutch a lot. If I notice the clutch feel issue under those circumstances then I may look into installing a fan for the cooler. I'll hold off until I see if it's actually an issue though.