toyota engineering

[crazylegs]

just had a head checked today.this head is 20 years old and has covered approx 70k miles.the deck was checked for trueness it had a variance of only a couple of THOUSANTHS OF A MILLIMETER.less than a gnats ------- hair.the valve guides were also only just ,and i mean just ,inside the lower limit,hardly even bedded in.if the wear rate is this small then a head should be good for 4 or 5 hundred thousand miles.now that is what i call good engineering and 20 years ago.my hat is well and truely off to the little yellow people.

[Lauren]

Yep agree, considering the abuse i give my little 4AGE, which has been constantly redlined round angersea, elvington, the Nurburgring and has just got back from being driven very hard round Spa (notched up 250 track miles in two days) i have to say i'm impressed. Not to mention the round trip to belgium and Germany, it didn't miss a beat the whole way. Brilliant engines!

[PW@Woodsport]

100% agree...out of hundreds of head gaskets ive done on the 4a-ge ove the years ive yet to see a single one have a head fault of any description...tough as nails,now the blocks on the other hand....

[waynestoyotamr2]

my hat is well and truely off to the little yellow people.

Quote agree Kev with general comments about engineering and all that. But you're on dodgy ground with that comment!!

[JMR_AW11]

Isn't the 4A-GE head designed by Yamaha?

Apologies if this is incorrect but I'm sure I've read this in several places.

I was a great fan of Yamaha two stroke engines in my tearaway days BTW.

The Yamaha RD350LC. Now there was a bike that was fun to ride. Mine was tweaked to >60hp. What an engine. Its rushing, wheelie pulling power delivery was described as 'orgasmic' in one review. (The writer was a bloke BTW...)

I spent many a weekend in Essex racing (or should I say humbling) GTIs, XR3is, 2.8 Capris, etc.

[kevin..in]

The Yamaha RD350LC

oohh eerr I had one of the very first ones way back in 1981, of course I was only two at the time

[JMR_AW11]

The Yamaha RD350LC

oohh eerr I had one of the very first ones way back in 1981, of course I was only two at the time

Hi Kevin,

Glad to hear somone else on here had one of those amazing bikes.

I also had a Yamaha dirt bike (2 stroke) converted for street legal use.
Wheelies in the first five gears and great fun for green laning.

Choosing between it and the 350LC every morning meant the trip to work was never dull!

I like the 4A-GE engine in the MR2 because it shares a trait with bike engines. i.e. it gets better and smoother the more you rev it.

[kevin..in]

I had a TZ 350 racer as well with a 350 lc engine in it for the road mental power 34mm lectron power jet open carbs and race pipes you could hear it about 5 miles away Yamaha's developement of the 4age engine 5 valve technology (which came from their F1 program) still goes on twenty years on in the R1

[crazylegs]

i must say sorry to any japanese people whom i have upset.i cant see there will be any as the comment was praising them but with my tongue firmly in my cheek.i dont advocate political correctness for the sake of it as that to me just shows stupidity.
oh now i must say sorry to any stupid people just in case they either are or arent politically correct.

[JMR_AW11]

I had a TZ 350 racer as well with a 350 lc engine in it for the road mental power 34mm lectron power jet open carbs and race pipes you could hear it about 5 miles away Yamaha's developement of the 4age engine 5 valve technology (which came from their F1 program) still goes on twenty years on in the R1

By heck, I used to dream of owning a TZ350 for the road.

I had modified Allspeeds on my RD350LC. The exhaust note at high rpm could split concrete at 100 paces.

With hindsight those noisy exhausts probably kept me safer on the road.
Also, no one would ride behind me because of the earsplitting racket and the fine mist of unburnt 2 stroke oil the bike would trail behind it.

My dirt bike had a 36mm power jet carb BTW. I never got the carb to run right. Must have changed the needle setting a zillion times.

Those were the days.... Boyesen/Harpower reeds... bigger jets, Allspeeds, Microns, K&Ns..... Holed pistons.....

[kevin..in]

Those were the days.... Boyesen/Harpower reeds... bigger jets, Allspeeds, Microns, K&Ns..... Holed pistons.....

and Stan Stevens still have dreams about building another TZ but with a Harris Low Boy frame and lots of carbon fibre and polished alloy

[JMR_AW11]

Those were the days.... Boyesen/Harpower reeds... bigger jets, Allspeeds, Microns, K&Ns..... Holed pistons.....

and Stan Stevens still have dreams about building another TZ but with a Harris Low Boy frame and lots of carbon fibre and polished alloy

I didn't have a lot of luck with SS. He messed up a rebore for me once on the dirt bike. Ended up with a 6 thou clearance! He kept quiet and still tried to sell me the piston kit etc.

Terry Beckett was the other well known tuner. Vic Eastwood was good too.

I've still got the dirt bike in the shed BTW. Haven't ridden it for a looong time...

[Lauren]

Isn't the 4A-GE head designed by Yamaha?

Apologies if this is incorrect but I'm sure I've read this in several places.

I was a great fan of Yamaha two stroke engines in my tearaway days BTW.

The Yamaha RD350LC. Now there was a bike that was fun to ride. Mine was tweaked to >60hp. What an engine. Its rushing, wheelie pulling power delivery was described as 'orgasmic' in one review. (The writer was a bloke BTW...)

I spent many a weekend in Essex racing (or should I say humbling) GTIs, XR3is, 2.8 Capris, etc.

the engine is a yamaha design.

[kevin..in]

Terry Beckett was the other well known tuner

terry becket sold his tuning business to stan stevens when he retired

[JMR_AW11]

Terry Beckett was the other well known tuner

terry becket sold his tuning business to stan stevens when he retired

I guess even SS must have retired by now!

I still have the odd look on ebay for 350 Yams.

I have been tempted a few times by the occasional low mileage minter!

The black ones were my favourite. I still have the original sales brochures from the early eighties for the 350LC. Still makes me drool today.

Probably going to get ticked off soon for not talking MR2s BTW...

[kevin..in]

I used to love yamaha 2 stroke bikes but now I'm only interested in MR2's. I think thats got us in the clear