Motorcycle engine building & tuning

Performance optimisation specialists

Motorcycle Engine Build & Performance Tuning Services

Finding competitive advantage

JHS Racing is an accomplished and experienced racing motorcycle engine tuning workshop with a proven history of developing motorcycles to a very high standard, including wins at the Manx Grand Prix together with various class lap records. You can depend on us to provide you with the competitive advantage.

The art of the engine tuner

Tuning and building high performance motorcycle engines is a matter of combining and balancing many complex factors, together with the application of a great deal of knowledge, experience and expertise.

Modern motorcycle engines in stock form are fantastically advanced achievements of automotive engineering. Rev ceilings that were once confined to short-life racing engines have now become standard and are covered by warranty with 10k service schedules!

Against this background the work of the engine tuner is now often a matter of refinement – altering characteristics to suit specific applications – rather than simply chasing massive output gains.

The engine tuning and development work we do at JHS Racing commonly begins with the use of our dynamometer to accurately measure the engine’s output. We then interpret this information, in combination with our knowledge and experience of the techniques that are available to improve the engine’s performance to fulfil the customer’s requirements.

Of course we are known for specialising in certain engines – notably Suzuki’s SFV650 twin and the Triumph 675 triple – and renowned for our accumulated expertise, and proven success, with optimising these powerplants for track and racing applications. But we can undertake tuning and development work on just about any make and size of engine or type of machine.

Overcoming the limits to performance

Whilst modern stock engines have attained extraordinary levels of performance and durability they are still constrained by some inherent limitations: factors such as manufacturing cost and the practicalities of production, as well as the rigorous demands of legislative compliance, all impose limits upon achievable performance. So, If you’re prepared to expend time, effort, and make an investment in superior quality components, these engines still offer scope for improvement in the hands of a skilled engine tuner.

Uprating components

Often – and certainly when dealing with race specification engines – we will focus upon uprating components, especially highly-stressed items such as valves, pistons, con-rods and the crankshaft. Here the quality of the metal, and manufacturing to precision tolerances, contributes to both longevity and reliability, as well as providing the opportunity to raise rev limits and increase peak power output. Camshafts also play a crucial role in effective engine tuning and we will often adapt cam profiles, or even create our own camshafts. The cylinder head is perhaps the most significant area where the skilled engine tuner can realise improvements in an engine’s capabilities.

But components are only part of the story. The art of the engine tuner is about much more than simply throwing a lot of expensive after-market parts at a project; indeed these, of themselves, cannot provide any guarantee of improved performance. Critically, it is how these components are matched, together with an insight into the effect that they are intended to achieve, that will yield optimum results.