hotrod wrote on 02/25/17 at 12:41:18:No money but big plans. One day I would like to install the higher compression piston, but wondering if anyone ever had the head shaved to get more compression. How much to take off ? Danger of contact with the valves ? Where to have it done ? Thanks for any information.
Hotrod, I had some work done on my engine some years back. The head was shaved .015" and the cylinder .025" as I remember, for a total of .040". I have had no issues with piston/valve contact, and that is with the High Compression Piston and a Performance Camshaft. There is plenty of room for the procedure.
That said, by removing .040" of material from the head and cylinder only raised the compression ratio about .3-.5, from 8.5:1 to maybe 9:1 at most, and it may be less than that. I do not consider "shaving" to be all that effective. You would likely not notice the difference when riding.
There are better things to spend you money on.
Focus on getting the jetting and tuning the carb done really well, and finding a good flowing muffler with moderate baffling. Those two things will have a noticeable effect on the engine. It will run better, have more power and sound better.
Where are you located Hotrod ?