It was my understanding that the best safety measure is using the SRX CDI. I am not sure I have the ability to properly wire a DCS equipped SRX CDI to my Viper.
I think the whole idea of the DCS is to protect against that detonation caused by bad gas. I suppose if not I will then learn how to rebuild my motor. I just don't look at that as a big issue. Many people have posted how well their piped vipers have run. Those are people without the advantage of the DCS. Bender has done the testing to ensure the reliability of the head mod, opticool gasket, and their pipes. Not only on the dyno but out on the trail.
As far as MPG I still feel a huge part of that is how you ride. Like I posted earlier, my Viper gets between 9 and 10 MPG stock. My dealer swears it gets 15 and it is so low because of how I ride it. I am sure piped I will still ride it hard, if I loose some MPG such is life. Gotta pay to play.
As far as checking squish before sending my head to Bender I guess I don't see what that gains me. They mill the squish and change it. I guess I thought it made more sense to check squish after the head is milled and adjust with gasket thickness if needed? Again, I would hope that bender has tested this enough to get it right.
I have considered the after market head. I would only do an after market head if it had the DCS provision. As for welding a bung on a non DCS after market head I don't see that as a great idea. I am not confident in my ability to appropriately test the DCS system to ensure that my placement works properly to detect detonation. That being the case I think I would be just as well off to just leave it off. It is my understanding that just adding anti seize tape can affect the DCS operation.
I have also considered SRX heads. I think the SRX head with DCS would be a great choice. Availability of the SRX heads with DCS isn't all that great. Cost gets to be more than I would spend.
So taking all of that into consideration I still feel that the Bender modded head and opticool gasket combo with their pipes is my best bet. I don't plan to jet on the bleeding edge. Our temperatures stay pretty consistent here.
We do have some very cold days now and again, but those would be the days I would think the EGT gauge would be helpful. I would think the EGTs would climb enough to be an indicator that something is amiss. If that is the case I don't have a problem parking the Viper and moving on to the VMax for the day.
A big part of it for me is the build. I just want to say I did it. If it takes me two or three tries to get it right, so be it. All my two stroke knowledge is from reading on the internet and my experience with RC two stroke motors. My next step is to jump in and do it. I am sure it can't be any harder than squeaking 350HP out of a 2 liter 4 cylinder. Done that, liked it, killed it. So be it.