marinise motor bike engine?

[Brands01]

Hi there,

I had an old honda XR 500 trailbike some years back. Single cylinder, 4 stroke, 500cc, a big old slow thumper (for a bike) with oodles of torque.

I currently have a 25' timber displacement cruiser with a 36hp motor in it. I hit hull speed using a fraction of the available HP.

It occured to me that a marinised version of the XR's motor (perhaps with a different camshaft to bring the torque delivery down in the revs, and maybe one of the water cooled variants) could be a good way to save a lot of space in the saloon of the boat where the engine housing is.

Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

[Frosty]

Been discussed many many times before. By the time you finished --re camming it and fitting thrust bearings a second hand one in such an area as Sydney is by far your easiest option.

Oodles of torque for a motor bike but a 25 foot wood boat --no way near enough.

[CDK]

Lots of discussions as Frosty said.
It would be interesting if someone really did it and posted the results here.