I wonder what would happen?? I read a piece where they found that the Pilot ignition allowed a variance in rpm from 7400 to 8000 rpm.
If your referring to rev limiter I do believe it was from 7400 to 7600. I also believe that came from Lee. Don't "quote" me on that until i find the post. As far as floating a degree or two Ummmmm. I would say first you would need to look at the book (Service Manual) and then understand how the trigger coil fires, again book as far as timing goes it does state +/- as a base line. The books shows (+/- 1.2 degrees, pilot). The ody manual should also state information. Now since you like the net for find cool facts find how does the trigger coil fire. Then find how the
CDI (Capacitor Discharge Ignition) (Capacitor Discharge Ignition) function in relation to rpm. as far as the pilot goes the Manual says "F (Mark)=19.5 degree +/- 1.2 degrees @2000 rpm". Once that is done you can go back to manual for ody or pilot and find the relationship to LPP and octane. Then run your port map numbers against and other
Engine numbers and then have a great understanding on if higher octane fuel in required for a given rpm and then factor in +/- degrees. There is a math relation ship to the whole thing. By the way if your looking for even more fun find out how a pipe is set to port timing in degrees and the wrong one with a set up can be fatal to the Engine.
One other item to mention here is a way to monitor or understand Engine temperature as it plays a big part in the whole thing. There is a reason pilots went water cooled and most with odys using an aftermarket setup use a cooling fan or water cooling set up of some type using pump gas or a fuel or fuel mixture. Yes back in the day i had ody's and learned real quick there limits I had a nice piston collection as well,most with holes in them. Once I got a handle on them (using pump gas) never bought another piston.
Since there was no rev limiter on the ody and then they put one on the pilot, I would think they figured that one out. It wasn't until we started over boring, pipe and clutching them that we ran into issues. Yes, higher octane is a crutch and sometimes a necessity. Higher octane fuels is a safe bet, however not always the thing to do. Yes a quality fuel is important with a static setting machine (NON EFI). Then we tend to go fat (richer) to offset the variables in air quality.
You can go to my project page and look for the heading fun times in garage for some examples of set up. You can do the same with your spare parts and post up some fun stuff of your own on the ody. I would enjoy seeing and reading your fun times at camp CO.
Well you confirmed some of my personal beliefs and theories.
I like the part where you said: "Yes, higher octane is a crutch and sometimes a necessity."
That's what I have been doing all along. I realized there were issues but others like Randman actually ran pump gas successfully at higher altitudes than what I was running at. The only difference was the humidity. It averages at over 60% here on the coastal mountains but it's 15% around Randman's ride area. There are other issues I am sure but don't know how to find them. Avgas was a dragon slayer for me. It's just gas n go now. I am not an Engine theory guy like you. Doubt there is anyone on this site that can match your Engine theories. At the end of the day I believe Honda has done all the engineering and we just need to keep the oddys in tip top shape. Even engineers F up. You said: " There is a reason pilots went water cooled and most with odys using an aftermarket setup use a cooling fan or water cooling set up of some type using pump gas or a fuel or fuel mixture." That's right they did F up. One small issue and poofkaboom hole in piston. I believe as you do that the heat is a big issue. I believe that heat is detonating the fuel prematurely. I can't prove it through theory though.