Cheap!(ish) Honda CAMMER!

[JTSpeedDemon]

https://m.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200327077_200327077
WHAAAAT????!!!
A Honda GC190 OVERHEAD CAM, 3/4 inch horizontal shaft engine!!
And it's for some odd reason CHEAPER than the GX200 from Northern Tool!!
Makes me almost wonder if someone made a mistake!
So next time you need an engine, perhaps instead of turning to the Predator 212 as usual, maybe try this one!
Honda is giving Subaru a run for it's money!

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 PM ----------

There's also GC160 cammers.
From the site, it looks like they're designed for generators.

 

[Hellion]

Your enthusiasm is misplaced...or artificially fueled by a sugar binge, perhaps?

No one wants these Honda engines, OHC or not, because they’re not clones and there’s virtually no upgrade/performance parts available (I conservatively estimate zero). And as McKutzy loves to point out, the exhaust port is facing the wrong way. That right there is one of, if not ‘the’ major deal breaker.

Y’all have a nice day.

---------- Post added at 04:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

I swear, I do make a decent attempt at finding an unbiased review or article on the subject, but the interwebz invariably leads me to old DIYGK threads...

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14558

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Hmmm, interesting.....
Did not know really, any of that.
It is interesting, though, to see Honda's attempt at an OHC.
Now that I know that, ~$290 is WAY too much.

 

[Hellion]

Don’t get me wrong, they’re neat-o man, but I’d love to see a more performance oriented GC OHC engine built for us hobbyists. Maybe a hybrid between the GX and GC series?

I dig a timing belt that is in direct contact with the crankcase oil. The belt runs in an oil bath, man! Must be some super duper polymer or something that’s not degraded by petroleum.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

If they were more reliable and had more performance parts, it'd be cool to put one on a go kart.
Plus it'd have the bonus of a smaller footprint.

 

[Hellion]

If they were more reliable and had more performance parts, it'd be cool to put one on a go kart.
Plus it'd have the bonus of a smaller footprint.

By all accounts they are reliable, very much so, but their stated purpose is (light duty) residential usage.
I think a big hint is the size of the fuel tank*

The GX series are called commercial engines, by and for people who use (and abuse) them every day in business.

---------- Post added at 06:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ----------

Oooh look. “These are new and have been test ran by us. May have scratches and scuffs”; sort of a scratch and dent lot I guess. They may be "take-offs", engines removed from their appliance and sold separately.

Not a bad deal for $150+. They're not raping and pillaging on the shipping either, surprisingly. I have no connection with the seller.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-6HP-GC190-Over-Head-Cam-Motor-3-4-x-2-7-16-Horizontal-Shaft-Engine/253971619101?epid=21032165681&hash=item3b21e35d1d:g:868AAOSwZKJb5JLG

 

[mckutzy]

Thanks Hellion... yup not much to add....
Theyre the big block GC engine....
good for a pump or whatever..... Not so much on a bike or kart...

 

[landuse]

I think everyone in this thread has forgotten that the GC160 engines have their exhaust pointed at your head....hence the fact that they are rarely seen on karts. Why they did this with these engine I don't know.

Aaaaaahh.......the smell of fresh exhaust fumes through your scalp!!!!

 

[itsid]

I know that everyone's giving the GC series a hard time..
BUT

1) the engine's exhaust port on my bike (on almost every motorbike I know -at least one port-) is facing forward!
so I can't see why the GC wouldn't make a decent mini bike engine tbh.

2) myriads of people run coiled and or snake exhausts on GX-es
2a) dozens installed a motorbike engine on a kart (having four very angry exhausts ports pointing at their heads)
So the right exhaust header is making it work and such can be made/found

3) There are commercially made karts that use the GC series (clone) engines (or G series)
some smaller chinese kids buggies we've seen using some 70cc or smaller;
but there have been half scale cars with G or GX engines as well like the lorinser mini sl500 or the 911 jr...
Some might remember those even had gearboxes (2 or three speed with reverse) fittet..
(the reason we digged them up some time ago)

So yeah, it wouldn't be my first choice either..
but if you happen to find one hitchhiking on your local curb...
it's not a bad idea to pick it up.

With the lack of "performance"-parts you're bound to quickbreath and governor removal mostly
but the resulting ~5000 rpms in a super reliable package,
are certainly worth your while especially when you had a mini bike in mind anyways
where the "motorcycle exhaust" up front make it look rad

'sid

PS the Honda OHC engines are around since the the late seventies AFAIR, certainly longer than some are on this planet (JT ) so yeah..

 

[Dingocat]

3 times as long as JT!

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

3 times as long as JT!

More like 4.......

 

[Kartorbust]

Just know that these GC engines using a cog timing belt, not chain. I'm not sure if these are non-interference or not but in case they are, hopefully you wont run into this issue.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Hmmmmmmm, that's a little bit of a problem.......

 

[Hellion]

Pistons colliding with valves can happen in the OHC and OHV engines, but never in the glorious flathead.

 

[Kartorbust]

Pistons colliding with valves can happen in the OHC and OHV engines, but never in the glorious flathead.

Oh for sure. Just seems to be more common in OHC variants more. But man the memes are funny for them.

Ya know if your patient and you really want an OHC for a mini bike, you could wait around for someone to dump a Subaru Robin OHC. Those having a timing chain and have a similar block setup to OHV engines. Granted parts are expensive (at least a Benjamin and Andy Jackson [$120]) for a carburetor. But if you can get a GC for cheap, it wouldn't be a terrible thing to have.

 

[Dingocat]

Pistons colliding with valves can happen in the OHC and OHV engines, but never in the glorious flathead.

You never know if it goes bad enough...

 

[itsid]

You never know if it goes bad enough...

yeah but space would need to collapse in on itself for a flathead valve to meet it's piston..
so it's fairly safe to say it'll never happen

'sid

 

[bob58o]

yeah but space would need to collapse

Better keep it at 87mph or less just to be safe.