Racehead Engineering (RHD) ITB videos

[70SWT]

I thought others who, like me, elect for a set of the beautiful RHD ITBs and need to assemble them from scratch might benefit from a list of videos about them from the web.

*I have no affiliation with RHD, I'm just a customer.*

Assembly is pretty straightforward, and you always have access to the friendly assistance of US distributor Al Kosmal (or, perhaps if you bought them directly from him, Rama, the source). I also understand Al ships them mostly assembled, whereas I bought the kit in pieces; so, assembly may be less of a concern than installation for most folks.

Also be aware the Rama appears to have made at least a couple of generations of the product, with some changes in the mounting brackets for the linkage and minor items such as the color of different components. Mine (purchased in 2020) looks a little different from some seen in the older videos. I believe the general operational principle is the same across generations.

Please add more videos if you find 'em. So, here goes:

ASSEMBLY/INSTALLATION VIDEOS

Here is what I believe is the original, official assembly video. It's pretty grainy and filmed a bit high up from the assembly bench, which is an issue because there are some fiddly bits that need close-ups to fully understand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Vjz6QVmb8

Here are various, mostly clearer ones showing assembly and/or installation or close-ups of the installed product:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQEAALIaTUQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XW9lfKrqE

Skip to about the 10-minute mark on this one for ITB-specific content:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeTpTX-368g

Showing the CF rain hat set-up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfjQ56LU1BE

OTHER VIDEOS SHOWING THEM IN ACTION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk_k0Dg6lq0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ROcMaaLMZ0&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1TUpoc43co

[groovydude]

Thought I might share this in this thread for anyone searching about RHD ITBs.

I've been battling for weeks with a RHD ITB install. This seems like a great product, and perhaps I just have a defective set. For me things seem to work great until the engine gets hot, then it won't return to the proper idle, it hangs up around 2K. Frequently the flow balance gets out of kilter too when this happens. I've been going through a very laborious conversation with Al and Rama from RHD, they've been fixated on the linkage installation. After numerous changes, and them sending me a new crossbar, which I had to modify because it was too long, the problem still hasn't gone away.

Rama doesn't suggest insulators between the heads and the ITBs, and I believe most people who run these units don't use them (?). I know that some people with other brands and some manufacturers suggest insulators, and that might solve this problem for me. I bought a set of PMO insulators, and the longer studs needed for this to work. But, my existing studs are frozen. I'm leery of trying to unfreeze them, I've done that once with the exhaust studs and ended up with a pretty big mess on one of the studs. Not to mention, heating the studs requires pulling the shroud, which looks to me like an engine drop - I really would like to avoid that. I'll post again if/when I get this resolved, but for now be forewarned.

[Arlo911]

Hi, wild guess here, but your intake ports might be slightly different in height. You can check it by putting a straightedge over the ports when the ITBīs are removed.
I know someone that had a problem with Jenvey ITBīs on a 964 engine binding due to this.

[groovydude]

It's looking like one of the throttles was snagging when hot. Trilube on the exterior of the pivot for a couple of days seems to have done the trick, at least for now.

[Showdown]

Not totally related but not totally unrelated- I find the pedal feel with RHT ITBs to be too soft and mushy so I added a spring from the CIS throttle plate to the triangle bracket on the ITB- this stiffens up the pedal and helps return the ITBs to a throttle position.

The spring on the RHD throttle linkage is comically soft.

It might help your issue to add a spring…?

[mikedsilva]

Ah, glad I found this thread...
For those that are considering the RHD itbs, don't be concerned about Groovydudes posts above. He has a few threads running on his "issue" and it turns out he didn't lock the throttle adjusters on the itbs.. basically, when running, they would vibrate loose and the butterflies would open to random positions.

Both RHD and X-FActory spent way too many hours on this trying to trouble shoot, and RHD even sent an extra set of itbs from Australia. But in the end, it was all because the end user who installed them, didn't "know" you had to lock the adjusters..... (what the ****?)

Yes, I've installed a few of these kits and they work really well and are half the cost of the next available option.