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One or the other of these small block kits might be on the cards for next year. The advantages of the RT kit seem obvious. It's pretty much an all in package and you know it'll do the job. It will also run on standard components. It's also seems cheaper overall than the GT kit. But, people do speak highly of the GT kit, even if it might not be quite so straight forward. And, we're getting into territory I'm not so familiar with, such as reed valves and larger carburettors. It does sound interesting enough for me to want to know a bit more about it. The first, and most obvious thing that occurs to me is the reeds themselves. The last thing I had with a reed valve was a DT175 Yamaha, so it shows how out of date I am. How long do they last, and is it relatively easy to get access to change them? And what about a comparison between the two kits? Any thoughts or suggestions would be gratefully welcomed.

Both kits get good reports. From my own experience with the GT186...

Great little kit, cast iron so easy rebore if needed.
Good power for size, 14bhp with BGM Clubman, 60/107 and 28mm PWK.
Will normally cruise easily at 60-65 and get you past the big lorries
Good mpg, around 50mpg.
Very reliable, a good workhorse around town or long distance.
Easy to ride and good torque.
Good support from Richard Taylor - GT Performance if needed.

Let down slightly on a couple of points from my point of view but that wouldn't deter me buying another - machining of carb manifold needed for a good fit to the rubber mount and reed manifold packer needed on mine due to reeds touching the barrel casting. Also needed eccentric frame cones as the carb manifold touched on the frame (before fitting the packer).

The reeds are easy enough to get to.
I doubled them both up on both sides, had no problems in well over 10k miles with plenty of life left in them

Would definitely recommend the GT but the RT looks like a quality well made kit

Good luck making a decision

I’ve got a couple of 200 GT kits / Cranks / Casings and can’t speak highly enough of the products and service

As with all kits you will need to change the crank and carb but they run well with a standard style pipe - I’d try the latest Ron Moss pipe if I was starting again

Reed / frame clearance is fine but I used the new Casa offset bolt / cones to be sure

Rt 195, mines has been converted too reed valve setup and tuned by Broady for a touring setup
60/110 Bgm crank
Sx200 GB with 16/46 sprockets giving 4.7 fd
25 phbl carb with remote air filter
Bgm mk3 exhaust
60/65 mph cruising/ 72 mph tops
Very good fuel consumption 130 miles on an 11 lt tank.
Everyone on here has there own preferences on what runs great and what doesn’t but it pays too sit down and work out how much it’s gonna cost.
Regards
Shane

RT 195 with BGM pipe and 30mm, superb piece of kit with option to convert to reed later if required. Quick and reliable.Great around town or as a rally motor. 4 point exhaust fixing point which negates a major downside of the GT kit, plus 8 point head fixing,

Just rebuilt mine due to a failure of a GT crank, but thats another story. Both kits have their fan base, with plenty able to provide genuine road miles experience, which beats any sales pitch.

Shopping around the RT will be cheaper to purchase ...but provided you aren't looking for a revvy race spec motor I would suggest either would meet expectations.

Thank you gentlemen. It's always good to talk to people with actual experience, and there is a lot to think about there. Lozmondo, what is the major downside of the exhaust mounting?

I’ve an RT with a 60x110 crank, 30mm delly, a BGM Clubman and a pacemaker gearbox
Great motor, it works well, not the fastest kit in the world but gives a great spread of power.
18hp on the dyno.
My biggest bugbear was getting a new clubman last summer

If you live near Coventry your welcome to come along try my GT186.

That's very kind of you Covboy. That ought to put my mind at rest. Although I do usually ride up for Ryton I'm not all that close. But who knows... Maybe when the weather warms up a bit I might take you up on that.

The way the Gt exhaust port is cast if you catch your down pipe on a kerb/spped hump etc you can pull the studs out of the cast
Donnie on here had this happen.

Ouch!

lozmondo wrote:The way the Gt exhaust port is cast if you catch your down pipe on a kerb/spped hump etc you can pull the studs out of the cast
Donnie on here had this happen.

Me too, on Lake Como. I was very negative about the cylinder after that episode but I came to realise that the flange is designed to let air get to it to cool that area of the cylinder. I was just unlucky.

On the plus side, having had the flange welded in Italy, I got home despite having later have the exhaust gasket blow out in France. Try that on an RT.

The GT kit carries my firm recommendation.

Have a read of this thread
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3546
It might give you some food for thought.
If you want standard +, it may be worth considering a CASA kit.
They are very nice to ride.
One of the guys I ride with runs one with a Scootopia 22mm carb, clubman exhaust and a bigger front sprocket. It pulls well and still on points.

I run a GT186 kit in my workhorse scooter. Used for daily commute and rallies, did 1300 miles on the Euro last year, fantastic kit and coming up to 10k miles on it now with no issues what-so-ever.

My set up is 60/110 GT crank, Li150 16/46, PHBH30 and Fran Race, even though it loves to rev it happily plods along in rush hour traffic through the city as well. Will cruise at 60-65 all day long, and flat out have topped 80 (GPS) on several occasions.

Like others my reeds are doubled up and not had any breakage issues, but change them at the same time as piston rings just for piece of mind.

burnside wrote:I run a GT186 kit in my workhorse scooter. Used for daily commute and rallies, did 1300 miles on the Euro last year, fantastic kit and coming up to 10k miles on it now with no issues what-so-ever.

My set up is 60/110 GT crank, Li150 16/46, PHBH30 and Fran Race, even though it loves to rev it happily plods along in rush hour traffic through the city as well. Will cruise at 60-65 all day long, and flat out have topped 80 (GPS) on several occasions.

Like others my reeds are doubled up and not had any breakage issues, but change them at the same time as piston rings just for piece of mind.

so during your 10000 miles how many times have you changed the piston and or rings?

Scooterdude wrote:

burnside wrote:I run a GT186 kit in my workhorse scooter. Used for daily commute and rallies, did 1300 miles on the Euro last year, fantastic kit and coming up to 10k miles on it now with no issues what-so-ever.

My set up is 60/110 GT crank, Li150 16/46, PHBH30 and Fran Race, even though it loves to rev it happily plods along in rush hour traffic through the city as well. Will cruise at 60-65 all day long, and flat out have topped 80 (GPS) on several occasions.

Like others my reeds are doubled up and not had any breakage issues, but change them at the same time as piston rings just for piece of mind.

so during your 10000 miles how many times have you changed the piston and or rings?

Rings have been changed twice so far, normally around 3k miles as I run open mouth carb, but to be honest they have been within tolerance each time. Currently been 4k miles since last change and no starting or running issues so may push this out to 5k miles. Still on the original piston.

Just as a note. I'm going for the GT in the end. It was a toss up between the two. The RT is literally plug and play, but it ought to be interesting setting up the GT. I suppose it's a bit more rock and roll.

ToBoldlyGo wrote:Just as a note. I'm going for the GT in the end. It was a toss up between the two. The RT is literally plug and play, but it ought to be interesting setting up the GT. I suppose it's a bit more rock and roll.

Just enjoy it as both kits are good for what they do