marinise motor bike engine?

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?

 

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.

 

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