Where are you guys getting the idea of a 60+ cube kohler? No one that I know in mower racing has one of those. I know most of the people who run a Kohler, and did work on probably half of them. I discuss alot with Julian at MWSC and they sell maybe two engines a year that are that extreme, and they aren't to mower racers. The Kohlers don't get the big CI from boring, the material isn't there either. The biggest bore you can put in a Kohler takes a lot of work by boring the sleeves out and running a Nikasil coating directly on the aluminum. Even still they only end up around .100" bigger bore than stock. But that engine combo will run hot and isn't meant to be ran long. It's common in the pulling world but not mower racing. That still doesn't make the engine anywhere close to 60ci, actually not even 50ci. The big CI gain is done by using a longer stroke billet crank, which can be made for any brand of engine out there. People would be surprised to see that most of the best running Kohlers in lawnmower racing are well under 50ci and have a stock bore, or close to it. Most of Ryker's fastest engines were only 45ci or less.
I don't see an issue with guys running a 49ci Intek block, and neither would most other racers. Even though its starting with a bigger CI, it's still a "small block" engine and ends up with the same result as boring/sleeving while reducing costs for racers. Some people just like to complain. And it's legal in ARMA to run the 49ci block since their rule is 49ci and under factory rated starting point.