Pro Design "cool head"

des500mouse · Post by **des500mouse** » February 19th, 2009, 11:23 pm

Greetings all, new member hoping to obtain enlightenment. My sled is a 2004 Service Honda AF based on a '02 platform. I've seen a rad looking head advertised on E-Bay and wondered if anyone had any knowledge/ experience with it. It's a "Pro-Design Cool Head" that comes with 2 interchangeable domes. Looks cool, just wonder if it's any good.
Thanks for your input!

Slomo · Post by **Slomo** » February 20th, 2009, 5:38 am

Doesn't Bob have a pic of the only thing a cool head is good for?

Post by **AlisoBob** » February 20th, 2009, 7:08 am

Spend the $$$ on your boingers, or a gym membership.

Either will make you way faster than that thing.

dannygraves · Post by **dannygraves** » February 20th, 2009, 11:13 am

they are only really handy if you are going w/ alky for the available domes, but otherwise, they leak, don't cool any better from what I've seen and offer no performance gain sending you head to a good builder couldn't do better.
like bobber, use your money on something better. a pwk will give you more perks as an upgrade than this thing will.

100hp honda · Post by **100hp honda** » February 20th, 2009, 4:25 pm

if your looking for bling i would spend the money on something else, the stock head works perfectly fine in most instances. on the other hand, coolhead is more versatile than a stocker and you can cut certain dome shapes that arent possible with a stock head and you dont have to replace the gasket everytime. once you cut a stock head your done, the material cant be put back. theres not many dudes using coolhead on a cr500 but ive personaly only heard 1 story about them leaking and its anybodys guess why it leaked.... installation error, cylinder was warped, o-ring was fawked up, incorrect torque.....it may have been a isolated case of defective product but i seriously doubt it because the qaulity of the coolhead is top notch. brits head has leaked numerous times, many other people have stock heads that leaked.....i dont see how the coolhead got labeled a "leaker"

des500mouse · Post by **des500mouse** » February 20th, 2009, 4:42 pm

Thanks everyone for your input. I know they're used on the Banshee and have worked out well. Not going to rush out and grab one based upon the feedback so far...................

100hp honda · Post by **100hp honda** » February 20th, 2009, 4:48 pm

none of these guys have used the coolhead, what they posted isnt really feedback but rather hear say. i have one but havent ran it yet but believe me there is no issue with the qaulity as its top notch like i said before. thousands of banshee guys use them with good results, i dont see why the cr500 version would have poor performance

MICK · Post by **MICK** » February 20th, 2009, 8:16 pm

100hp honda wrote:i dont see why the cr500 version would have poor performance

And neither do I...
But I don't see any advantages either, for me anyways. The OEM head seems to work wonderfull for me, never crossed my mind to change it

100hp honda · Post by **100hp honda** » February 20th, 2009, 9:58 pm

MICK wrote:
100hp honda wrote:i dont see why the cr500 version would have poor performance
And neither do I...
But I don't see any advantages either, for me anyways. The OEM head seems to work wonderfull for me, never crossed my mind to change it

we could agrue indefinatly about the pros/cons of every aftermarket part and how it would benefit or not benefit each bike/rider. like i said earlier, i totally agree with what your saying, for most guys theres no need to waste money on a cool head, im still using oem head on my '98 and its getting the job done just fine...pete loomis tweaked it alittle for me but its still oem based head. i got a coolhead for my other motor simply because the way my alky dome is cut, it would be impossible to do with a oem head, not saying the oem head couldnt be made to work for alky but i chose not to go that route on advice from the guy that built my motor, (if you seen a pic of the dome you would understand why the oem head wouldnt work). unfortunatly the coolhead is like alot of other products out there, not many people have used them in a cr500 application so there isnt much real world input on how well they work or dont work

CR480R · Post by **CR480R** » February 20th, 2009, 10:19 pm

cool heads usually come with a generic domes.. The advantage is interchangablilty not performance.. IMO money is better spent on having an OEM head modified for your particular needs.. with ideal squish clearance for your particular engine, elevation, porting, rpm range, and the fuel to be used...

Slomo · Post by **Slomo** » February 21st, 2009, 8:00 am

100hp honda wrote:none of these guys have used the coolhead, what they posted isnt really feedback but rather hear say. i have one but havent ran it yet but believe me there is no issue with the qaulity as its top notch like i said before. thousands of banshee guys use them with good results, i dont see why the cr500 version would have poor performance

There you have it... KWAD guys love them, that's more than enough reason to spend your money on a gym membership instead and get in shape. You will ride faster, trust me...

http://www.youtube.com/user/500bigbore · Post by **Roostius_Maximus** » May 30th, 2010, 7:15 pm

who here has run a coolhead, i'm pursuing an issue

rsss396 · Post by **rsss396** » May 30th, 2010, 8:21 pm

I do,
and while I agree there is no performance advantage when compared to a properly set up factory head I will always run one for a few reasons, one I can easily chuck up the insert dome in my home lathe,
any dome shape can be achieved because domes that are solid blanks can be purchased.
Also a compression relief can be installed in any of the inserts in the area on top next to the plug by only drilling and tapping a hole with no welding required.
And I do prefer the rubber o-rings over head gaskets, I have ran the motor with no coolant after a hose blew off, had fought detonation for many runs and never blew a o-ring.
All my snowmobile motors since the early nineties have always had o-rings and never have I had a o-ring fail. I have changed them but only because of preventive maintenance during rebuilds.
Roostius if your having any problems with the cool head for the 500 I will guess it is in the stud area, the o-ring does seam to kiss the area of the stud reliefs.
Put o-rings over the studs to fill the recess.
I run the same size o-rings that arctic cat runs under their cylinder head bolts. I just happen to have a set from a rebuild that I did not use and they worked perfect.

lewisclan · Post by **lewisclan** » May 30th, 2010, 9:06 pm

my alky bike has 1

http://www.youtube.com/user/500bigbore · Post by **Roostius_Maximus** » May 30th, 2010, 9:21 pm

I hadnt run 1 til this new engine. Its 63cc dome, i have the alky dome 52? aswell.
I havent rode the bike for 2 weeks now, went to get it out today and it seemed like it was almost hydraulic locked or something. no puddle of gas so it wasnt fuel getting in it.
First thing i noticed on mine was that the copper washers under the capnuts were holding dust, today i seen a little green if i wiped the dust out. its wierd tho, it didnt pressure the rad, it didnt get hot, and i havent had to add any water, but the only thing i can suspect is that the head weeped into the cylinder. I'd checked the jug for flat and did all the extra checking i'd heard of for the cool head and figured i had it covered.
i did get the plug out and its wet, didnt burn with a torch so i'm going to do the oring over the stud thing, i should have asked before as it had crossed my mind to do it.
Should i expect to be able to re-use these orings?

rsss396 · Post by **rsss396** » May 31st, 2010, 3:58 am

The o-rings are reusable unless damage is noted, I would check to make sure that you did not pinch part of the oring while installing.
I always use silicone grease (not caulk) that is found in the plumbing deptment at the hardware store.
Silcone grease never hardens and does not attack rubber or plastics.
It helps make the the dome insert go in and out allot easier and helps keep the 2 large o-rings in thier groove while installing the head so they don't get pinched.
I have not had issues with the copper nut washers leaking, but maybe my orings I installed around the stud in the recess area is preventing that.
Maybe put a little silcone grease on both sides of the washers when installing to help them seal.

The cylinder bolt orings that arctic cat uses are pretty fat , so you will need some like that to fill that recess area.

http://www.youtube.com/user/500bigbore · Post by **Roostius_Maximus** » May 31st, 2010, 6:11 am

i just looked thismorning and have some bosch injector orings that will work.
now i gotta yank the p.o.s. off and get them in there

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Pro Design "cool head"

Pro Design "cool head"

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