When Hitchcock came out with their 462cc “Big Bore Kit” that needed the Powertronic on top for a bit more torque and HP I though it outrageous to ask the purchasing price for a good used Himalayan here in India, namely over 1000 Euros, for this enhancement.

Now, Mr. H & Co certainly have a reputation, both for quality and exorbitant prices. If you are rich and do not care about money, then they are probably a good choice.

Then I came across a lone motorcycle aficionado from Italy who runs a tiny operation selling stuff – not unlike me. After crossing the roughness of the language barrier we agreed to cooperate. While he profits from my supply of original RE cylinders I get his Italian made pistons with rings and all for his production price, which is still quite high because each one is made to order individually.
I do trust in Indian cylinder boring. It has been done for many decades and in the millions. Its proven quality by now. Add to that a high standard Italian piston and you get 450cc upgrade assembly considerably less pricey than the British variant. A guestimate would be under 400 Euros all told.

If you have a carburated bike you need not change anything, the UCD33 is good for this upgrade without any configuration changes or re-jetting.

If you have a EFI bike a simple fuel flow control unit that is manually operated can be purchased along with the 450cc set, it is much simpler than the Powertronic and costs 60 Euros. But you can of course also use the Powertronic instead.

We have received the Italian piston and have been preparing a cylinder accordingly. The very good news is that the cylinder wall after boring and honing remains very thick and stable:

After a 500km run-in we will start testing it under load. Results will be published here. It will be interesting to see how it holds up in terms of torque compared to the 462cc.

The Italians, who already have a few EFI bikes running with 450cc, report flawless operation with quite tangible improvement of the torque at low RPM, just what the doctor ordered for this slightly under-powered bike.

Please return often as updates will be published here or subscribe to our very low volume mailing list here to receive update information via email.

Expect sales to start not before April 2020 and quite possibly later, after we studied it sufficiently.

For the Hitchcock 462cc piston that we are also testing we have made a separate page.

Frequently asked questions

Update 25.03.2020:
India has placed everyone under a general curfew until 21st April and locked the country down to the city limits and in some areas even to the sections of a city. Movement is very limited and police posts are everywhere. Though one is allowed to venture out from 7am to 1pm for groceries and meds this is only possible within city or area limits. So nothing is going to happen before 22nd but I have made arrangements to get the 450cc bike up and running asap after that. We even scheduled a night session for the filming of the event to later cut it into a how-to Youtube clip. Cameras, lights etc. are in place already.

Update 16.03.2020:
Because of the Corona threat and because the CEO of our little enterprise is in the age related risk group most operations like test rides etc. have been halted until further notice. This will delay the 450cc engine tests likely until end of June, possibly longer. We also lost access to our Italian piston source for the same reason so even if orders where placed we could not fulfill them now.
We do hope this will end well for all of our friends and customers.
Limiting exposure to public places (like post offices etc.) is a big part of the caution we take, particularly in a country like India where healthcare is not readily available and mostly not up to specs either.
We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

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