Subsequently with this next version Mick and I and now also Jeremy Burtenshaw made a lot of changes including installing a water-cooled, 4-cylinder, 16 valve, twin cam, engine from a 1994 Kawasaki ZXR400 motorcycle which added electric key-start, smoother running, and promised lots more power than the old single-cylinder 500. Having 4 water-heated carburetors and racing plugs seems a bit over the top. We also added a dashboard with various guages and switches, a second pair of spotlights, a tail/brake light, engine roll-cage, windscreen and new Calvin & Hobbes and Larson artwork courtesy of Wayne Johnston.
Unfortunately the engine of this second version proved to be too high-tech for us, revving up to 16,000 rpm to deliver it's power while we needed lots of bottom end torque for the heavier sidewinder and sandy dunes we usually run the SIdewinder on. The engine also proveed to be very picky about it's fuel delivery requirments and flow characteristics of it's air-box (it didn't like us cutting up the airbox to make it fit!) However, it looked pretty good and ran well on flat hard dirt.
(Click the photos below for full-size versions)
