Stage-1 or Stage-2 Porting?

[kar1zma]

hi guys

this is a pretty noob question but i have to ask it
speaking with some members here ive decided to just start a thread

what exactly is a stage 1 and stage 2 port job
how does it improve the performance of the bike
and what are the characteristic changes in the bike
ive been told that stage 2 might have drivability issues for the city?
is stage2 preferable for drag racing?
what is good for the street or for the highway

i just assumed a stage 1 is like riding a gsxr600 and a stage 2 is like upgrading to a gsxr750
but it looks like there is lots more than just a power bump

can someone explain all this in laymans terms please

[m in sc]

those are all very subjective to the tuner as far as 'stage 1, stage 2' etc.

stage 1 is usually cleaning up and smoothing, stage 2 is changing port dimensions, etc. its a system so it also is going to depend on what pipes, carbs, ignition, heads you are running and how well you can tune it.

my lightweight sporting cyls that were initially set up for a drag bike (!) then chuck 'changed' the porting a bit to make it more useable.

with the tune i have on the motor, etc, its actually very easy to ride in town.

[paul1478]

I have Chucks stage 2 porting/heads etc. Spec2 F1 pipes 34 MM carbs on my 400. Dyno it and it is 61 HP.  I never have ridden it anywhere expect the street. It does not do much below 4500 but never had an issue taking off from a light. 
Between 7-10K RPM shit happens FAST. I have an FJ1200 and this will kill it for about 1/8 mile. His stage 3 is what I think you are talking about being for racing. But as Mark said I believe each tuners stage 1-2-3 ect are different. Depends on how fast you want to go. More power cost more money. Ignition, clutch, reed valves, pipes brakes...

[Tuck]

I have the same setup as Paul and he pretty much nailed it!  7 to 10k is the fun zone.

[kar1zma]

those are all very subjective to the tuner as far as 'stage 1, stage 2' etc.

stage 1 is usually cleaning up and smoothing, stage 2 is changing port dimensions, etc. its a system so it also is going to depend on what pipes, carbs, ignition, heads you are running and how well you can tune it.

my lightweight sporting cyls that were initially set up for a drag bike (!) then chuck 'changed' the porting a bit to make it more useable.

with the tune i have on the motor, etc, its actually very easy to ride in town.

yeah thats what makes it hard to understand
it can differ from builder to builder

cant we generalize it a bit

[m in sc]

i kind of did.

[kar1zma]

I have Chucks stage 2 porting/heads etc. Spec2 F1 pipes 34 MM carbs on my 400. Dyno it and it is 61 HP.  I never have ridden it anywhere expect the street. It does not do much below 4500 but never had an issue taking off from a light. 
Between 7-10K RPM shit happens FAST. I have an FJ1200 and this will kill it for about 1/8 mile. His stage 3 is what I think you are talking about being for racing. But as Mark said I believe each tuners stage 1-2-3 ect are different. Depends on how fast you want to go. More power cost more money. Ignition, clutch, reed valves, pipes brakes...

yes i remember ur build thread and the vid that chuck posted. awesome bike
well i wanna go very fast but at lower RPMs.
u see im from india and the traffic makes it almost impossible to reach higher RPMS unless im riding on the highways
i would like a nice super fun fast bike to the city. im trying to concentrate on the low and mid range torque

[kar1zma]

i kind of did.

i guess u did, let me see if i understand it right

so a stage-1 is a cleanup, removing defects , making things better but nothing crazy, it wont add any major HP
bike would perform better than stock but its not going to knock the socks out of me

and a stage-2 is turning it in a wild bucking bronco ready to fire up and get go

all other goodies like a CDI, Expansion chambers , heads , will add to the better performance of the bike

[m in sc]

not really. stage 2 is more of a street hot rod tune. stage 3 more radical. hell, ive heard of a builder refer to a stage 4 build. Like said, it subjective per builder, and a question to be directed at the individual builder. However, stage '1' and 'stage2' is basically universal among all builders as far as depth of work. 

[EE]

Stages just give us reference points that both the tuner and the owner can relate to while deciding whats best for the owner. When someone asks about porting I say I've got 4 stages:
Stage1 To me is what Yamaha would have liked to have done if they could go back and update these cylinders while still retaining the stock ex port height they designed it with (well within .5mm for cleanup).  Unlike many tuners that don't do much on their Stage 1 I believe a Stage 1 should really be a full port job. (I don't do buff and fluff meaning I don't believe in just making your ports shiney and handing your cylinders back to you..)
Stage2: Is Mild Street Porting
Stage3: Is hot street porting (This would be just below Roadrace porting)
Stage4: Is Roadrace porting.
Additional options you have are:
If the cylinders have ex bleed ports to plug these and weld them up  (this is worth 1.39hp per cylinder)
To weld-up stock ex gasket area 
To open up the intakes for larger reedcages 
Dragrace/Landspeed/All out porting is a subject all to itself.
You run across guys every once in a while that will say they don't use "stages" or that "they tailor their porting to the customers specific needs"  but we all do that.. every tuner that's done A LOT of performance builds has their goto specs they've developed that they know work well for 3-4 or even 5 "levels" of performance and then we just tailor in between those for guys that want a little more or a little less of this or that. Ed

[Hawaii-Mike]

Very informative Ed!

[Czakky]