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I'm looking for a period-correct Kyosho motor to add to my Kyosho Triumph, and have been looking at the Le Mans and Mega motors.

Does anyone have details on the Le Mans motors that were available for off road in 1992 / 93? The 480s and 480t come to mind, but I recall those being advertised primarily for 1/12 scale.

Any recommendations?

The Triumph is a shelfer that might get limited runs around the house.

The 480 motors are a mild tune. Rated as an 8 minute motor using batteries of the day, and appropriate gearing. It is going to be fine in a triumph. A faster choice would be a 240 motor, which still isnt very hot by todays standards, but it was rated as a 4 minute motor. So, a 240 is going to be much hotter than a 480. I recall running a triumph with a 240st, and it was plenty quick using matched nimh cells and a cheap good esc. The 480 might be easier to control given that its going on a 2wd buggy, and will be used mostly for shelf duty anyway.

Triumph is one of the best all time 2wd buggies IMO.

360 Golds are also a great choice for an offroad 4WD or 2WD. They have gobs of torque and were rated for 6-minute run-times back in the day.

http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n&id=img17999_22012007174322_1.jpg

Here´s a quick overwiev - courtesy of Optima House

The Le mans Super Pro motors were released in 1993 and might be what your looking for. There were three of them. This is the HF Torque motor which is a 13 quad. The other two were Speed motors. But if you're going to shelve it and only drive it occasionally I reckon one of the earlier motors would be better as they have less grunt and also look a lot prettier with the cool anodizing.

DennisM wrote:http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n&id=img17999_22012007174322_1.jpg

Here´s a quick overwiev - courtesy of Optima House

Gotta love that picture! I saved that image to my drive years ago, it's a great reference. Unfortunately it lacks the green-anodized 480 motor...was it the 480T?

The 240S, 480S, and 480T have serious bling factor and would be great for the shelfer. But, I haven't been able to confirm if they were still being produced in the early 90's. Can anyone confirm?

I love the LeMans and Spa looks. They do not seem as respected amongst racers though, when compared to Reedy, Trinity etc. Not sure why as I am no motor expert.

Coelacanth wrote:

DennisM wrote:http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n&id=img17999_22012007174322_1.jpg

Here´s a quick overwiev - courtesy of Optima House

Gotta love that picture! I saved that image to my drive years ago, it's a great reference. Unfortunately it lacks the green-anodized 480 motor...was it the 480T?

Yep. It's the 480T.

For the sake of availability, probably the most common are 240 series. I see them new and used all the time. Pretty sure they were included in a couple different kits as well as through option house. For the bling, yes, the early 3 piece cans with anodized front cap are hard to beat.

kink wrote:I love the LeMans and Spa looks. They do not seem as respected amongst racers though, when compared to Reedy, Trinity etc. Not sure why as I am no motor expert.

Back in the day when some guys were running Trinity Monster motors in some 4WD racing, the Le Mans 240SB motor was every bit as much of a beast motor...so I also don't know why you didn't see more of them in racing.

Reedy Trinity and such had the big dollars to advertise and sponser not just racers, but entire events. Also mass production based on the original yokomo or leisure can made them less expensive. Lemans motors in my area anyway, were terribly expensive, and hard to get.

There must have been a whole bunch of different variations. Just now, pics later,,, I got a lemans 240E, new,, cheap! Anyway,, its got bushings instead of bearings, and the 3 pc can with anodized front cap. I didnt know that model existed.

The Le Mans 240E was out of the electric Glider.

The E stands for Economy with bronze bushings instead of the more expensive bearings. Around a 19t I say.

All the Le mans and Spa motors were only machine wound arms compared to Reedy & trinity with hand wound arms. Kyosho cans were among the best in design so much so that Trinty's first motors used the Kyosho can. I'm sure that Trinity bought out Kyosho's motor division & created EPIC.

My Le Mans collection .

Lovely collection. It's grown since the last time you posted pictures of it.

I always thought the "E" stood for endurance. I guess economy makes more sense because of the bronze bushes used in the "E" motors.

1300GT wrote:I always thought the "E" stood for endurance.

Yes, you're right, "E" did refer to endurance. The 600E was an onroad endurance motor with the longest run-time of all the Le Mans motor series at that time. I just checked, it even says that in that picture with all the Le Mans motors displayed. With a plane, you probably also needed endurance, not speed...hence, the 240E motor made the most sense.