Firstly great question and one I’ve asked myself as I’m rebuilding ‘89 510’s too. I may need some confirmation here but pretty sure the oil mod your discussing is to give a more positive oil feed to the big end. They (Cagiva) obviously did it for a reason so there must have been an issue with big end seizures or high wear. They may also been thinking of the next move to the 610’s ? In 1990 the sort of transitional first Italian modded four stroke came out and that was a 510 but with the water pump on the head. 1991 was the first 610 actually 577, I’ve got a 91 610 and it has the external oil feed for the big end. But I don’t know if it was first introduced on the ‘90 510.
So I think my answer will be based on intended use. If your going to put a lot of hours on the bike and do extended road sections I’d seriously think about adding the oil feed. If your going to compete and ride like Jacky Martens I’d add the feed. But I happily raced an 89 with standard oil set up for three seasons and just changed the oil pretty much every meeting and had zero problems with the major motor parts. So if your an average joe, leave it as is.
So, if you must .... how to do it ? By the way I haven’t done it yet but am thinking of it....Two basic choices either mod existing cases or swop the cases.
I spent a little while figuring out the basic differences between 410/510/610. All dims are my rough measurements or gathered from reasonable sources. Forum gurus pls feel free to correct.
410 is 399 cc with 91,5 mm bore x 60.8 mm stroke, cylinder height 92mm (base gasket face to head face)
510 is 503 cc with 91,5 mm bore x 76,5 mm stroke, cylinder height 102 mm
610 is 577 cc with 98 mm bore x 76.5 mm stroke, cylinder height 103 mm (prob same as 510....)
So, if I do an oil pump mod of one of my ‘89’s I thought the easiest way to do it looks to be using a later 410 set of cases. This will also save drilling holes my existing 89 cases. Just got check that the crank fits but looks like it will and the crankcase mouth should be the same size as the bore is the same.
I also took some photos of my bikes and cases, hope these help too. Bikes are 99 410 (gold flywheel cover) 91 610, couple of cases one 610 one 510. Thanks again for posting the question. Lastly think this thread m6 be in the wrong category? Cafe Husky elders will put us right !
