Customer Reviews

Two-stroke Tuner's Handbook

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this book is excellent in giving you information on selecting the type of two stroke motor you buy and how to maintain it. it has extensive techniques and formulas critically needed to squeeze out every bit of horsepower. if you want to modify a two stroke, this is for you. this book will benifit people with basic mechanical skills to expierienced mechanics alike.

This book was very instrumental in allowing me to achieve some of the accomplishments and rewards that I have earned to date. This man put into one book the knowledge of the universe as it related to the field that he wrote about. My closest friend had the oportunity to work with him on a project and the knowledge that Mr. Jennings shared has been shared with many others in this book. The book has been treated by us like a bible for the two stroke engine. No other book or other single source of information has existed that has embodied so many practical formulas and actual information that allows one to construct systems and redesign engines. Much regrets that furthers writings on two-stroke engines from Mr. Jennings have not been published.

The Jennings book is a simple masterpiece. He has taken some research that was done and published by Nagao, all to do with inlet tract delivery ratios, and without emphasising it he introduced the idea of port time areas. I am not sure if Nagao really understood the value of that idea, and it was a gem. Jennings read it and understood the value. He did his own investigation, and turned a minor suggestion into a real tool. This book is about the single idea of how to use port time-area diagrams. The other material in the book is good filler, but without port time-area diagrams I doubt the Jennings would ever have written this book. Written in 1973, and way ahead of its time, this is a must have book. This book really puts some method in to your tuning madness, just wonderful. Get it if you can!

Although this book is focused on modification of 2-stroke engines for racing, it is full of a wealth of practical information on the internal combustion engine in general. It is far more useful than the SAE papers dealing with the minutae of fluid flow and vibration.

Back in 1983, my 8 year old son had a flat-track racing PW50 Zinger by Yamaha. I used Jenning book to guide me. This PW50 turned out to be the fastest 50cc bike in the nation. My son was clocked at 55 MPH at the National 1/2 mile in LIma, Ohio. It was turning over 14,000 RPM. I remember Jennings insisting flow in must equal flow out and make it as 'flowable' as possible.So a little porting and polishing. I used a 15mm carb in favor of the stock 12mm. (Other bikes we raced against were using up to 25mm, but actually didn't need all that in as it all couldn't get out and through anyway. The reeds were as flexible as possible and were to be as 'non-existant' as possible at that RPM. ALso match the pipe cones to that desired RPM. I still got the book ( or now my son has it ) as a mechanical engineer. Maybe he'll get those CAT engines to rev like that little PW someday!

This is a highly saught after book by motorcycle enthusiest's. It perfectly describes details about 2 stroke motors and exhaust's. It is out of print. Hard to find.

As a teen, I started out wanting to make my moped go faster and thanks to old road racers in Atlanta at "Buzz's Psycle" repair/racing shop they convinced me to buy this book. I had been researching engine tech at the library in SAE and other papers but none of them had practical DIY "how-to" information. The book has simplified formulas and teaches the importance of measurements. Complete explanations of carb jetting & sizing. The chapters on Intake, Transfer, Ignition, an Exhaust systems explain all of the best ways to improve the engine from stock - with simple formulas so they work with all sizes of engine. Complete explanation and equations to make tuned expansion chambers for Motocross or Roadrace tuned power-bands. How to test your progress without a dyno, and how to read the clues you find when tearing down for a rebuild. How to measure your engine port timing and area ratios.
I know there are newer books about this subject, but any good ideas they contain surely came from this book years ago!
After much success making my MoPed pull *and* go 50MPH, In 1983 I joined W.E.R.A , the Western Eastern Roadracers Association to race in the 80cc Production Class (Kawasiki AR-80's). The reason I won is mostly because of the rule-legal ways I made my bike faster because of this book - NOT because I was the best (nor the lightest!) rider! My AR-80 had the best running engine thanks to the science in this book and some elbow grease.
I hope you can find one!