eBay cranks

[lecroy]

I'm thinking that if you need a crank and you buy it on eBay, prepare for the worse. Ryan, Jake and now me have gone this route and I think I was the only one that tried to save mine. Mine felt good when I got it. It had some damage to the starter end but the bearings seemed fine except for a small chip in one of the mains.

I got the rods back last week and decided to take a couple of pictures.

All of the rods had some sort of step damage where the cages were worn to the point where they started to eat the rod away.


This rod was getting close to coming apart....


This crank still had the helical gear but had been welded. I also noticed that one of the rods had scuffed the wrist pin area. Like I havn't seen that before.

John was saying that it was just a high mileage crank that someone had welded. Makes me wonder about the condition of my stock crank.

Questions when buying a used crank on eBay...

1) Has it been welded? If so, and they don't know who did the work, you may want to pass on it. The welding may have done damage to the crank and they may not have used the right materials. This can make the crank a throw away part. If the crank was not welded, even it it has a broken rod it may be in better shape than something welded.

2) Was the crank ever taken apart? Every time a crank comes apart, you shorten it's life. This is because the press fit becomes weaker.

3) What gear is on the crank? With Falicon raising their prices, the 1100 streight cut crank gear is now $180.

4) What will it cost to have rebuilt? Don't kid yourself thinking that you are getting a good crank for a couple hundred. If you do, your one luckey bastered. The 493 rods are about $400 for a set. Bearings are in the $30 range and the labor is not free.

5) What year was it from? I don't see this as a major deal because you can still get the rods and ends. All of the other parts I think can be swapped.

[Addy Leung]

May I ask why 493 rods are so good to have and cost more?
Any different to my 492 rods in my 81 GS1100EX?

[ehra]

I agree, it is very hard to find a GOOD crank used. I have purchased two of them and only at a core price $100 then sent them away to be fixed and welded and a new gear installed. The last one was a little over $800 to replace the rods and rod bearings new gear and labor if it had needed main bearings it would have been more. As time goes on we are going to run out of good cases and cranks and have to buy new ones until the supply all dries up. I think the supply of 1150 heads is in the same situation the used ones are mostly junk and the good ones if you can find one are $1000 and up.

Glenn

[RacingJake]

One day it will be cheaper to buy a Busa then to rebuild/buy a GS crank or parts... maybe it's already here???

[lecroy]

May I ask why 493 rods are so good to have and cost more?
Any different to my 492 rods in my 81 GS1100EX?

The Katana rods are the only OEM rods you can buy now. They are a little stronger than the two versions of the 492 rods.

You got off a little cheaper than me. I think I have about $1100 in the eBay crank one it was all said and done. That was changing that small end out, one new main, new rods and bearings and gear. Shipping is not as cheap as it was a few years ago. It all adds up.

I had about $700 in the crank thats sitting in my bike now. This is the last time that crank can come apart. I think I had $600 into that last clutch basket because of the price hike on the gear.

If I keep going the way I have been this year I may own a HayabuGSa soon.

[mlaalm]

If anyone looking here is one one ebay as we speak - GS1100

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GS1100-Crankshaft-Dragbike-Crank-Suzuki-Drag-Bike-GS-11_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35595QQihZ008QQitemZ180011819334QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I can't tell by looking if they are good or not - Sounds like I need to find a spare to put back for the 1150

[ehra]

I bought an 01 ZX12R last week thinking the same thing($4400). A couple of more years and I am going to change my race program over to a fuel injected late model hotrod. The price to make 150 reliable horsepower is getting too expensive, I can buy an old Busa or 12R and have more than that and it can be stock. These newer bikes rock, I am taking mine to Wed bracket night to get started, leaving the dragbike at home this week. I did add a Muzzy basket the day after I got it for insurance.

Glenn

[mlaalm]

$4400 was a complete steal - Congrats

[Hoomgar]

I got an 80 GS1000G crank off eBay that a guy pulled out of a running wrecked bike. He parted out what was good on the bike and the engine. I bought the crank, head and cylinders. They all look very good to my untrained eye. Got the whole lot for 50 bucks plus 30 for shipping.

[lecroy]

I got an 80 GS1000G crank off eBay that a guy pulled out of a running wrecked bike. He parted out what was good on the bike and the engine. I bought the crank, head and cylinders. They all look very good to my untrained eye. Got the whole lot for 50 bucks plus 30 for shipping.

You get the parts cheap enough, but then you send them off to be torn down, inspected and bebuilt. Unless it was wrecked with some very low miles and was packed away with no moisture you may find your $50 turns into $1500. And your untrained eye, like mine, can't look inside to see how bad things are. I guess you could always just put used eBay parts in your bike and pray but why risk breaking a set of cases (get oil on the rear tire and maybe you pay with your life) with a crank that was ready to cut loose?

There was an unwelded 18mm crank up on eBay a while back that looked nice. This would have been the one to get. There is no stronger crank than virgin blood.

[BadBillyB]

Back in the mid to late 80's, every GS1000 crank I sent to Falicon was in need of new bearings and rods. Then I started running 1100 cranks in my 1000 for the increase in stroke and the beefier Katana rods. Same deal, new bearings and rods on both the cranks that they built for me. Cost back then was typically $850 ...Using my existing straight cut gear.....The first lasted a couple years, the second lasted about 8 passes......The welded pin twisted in the crank throw on cyl #2 and it broke the throw in half....This broken crank is why I quit drag racing back in 1991...I bought the best money could buy back then and it still broke.....If you find a modern day core, chances are the bearings and rods are going to need attention. I might be tempted to try the guy that Jay at APE recommends (Stan Gardener) for any future crank work.....BadBillyB

[lecroy]

If you were having them put any billet parts on back then that was a good price. The crank I am running now was built by them originally.

One thing is for sure, if you send your old crank away make sure you are VERY clear what your intentions are for it. You can get away with a lot looser fit on a 100 HP engine than a 300 HP one. None of the good crank builders are going to rebuild a crank that they don't think will take the power you want to plant. It's just not in their interest, or yours.

Did you send the one that broke after 8 passes back to see what they thought was the cause? 2 years, depending on how much your running the bike and how much power you put out seems like it held up good. I think Dougs last crank was about 2 years old. Built by Falicon also, maybe 200 HP, 1500+cc T/G class. We put the bike in the 7's this year for fun and the crank gave out shortly after. It took the one sleeve, starter plate and cases with it.

Speaking of APE, you know I ordered a couple of sets of wrist pins from them about 3 months ago. I gave up calling them every week because it was always the same story, "there in final grind". So far the second set of MTC upgrade pins are holding together.

[Jethro]

I assume a few of the cranks floating around fleabay are people who bought and were shipped a loser. What do they do? They just paid $200 for an 1100 crank, so back up on ebay it goes.

[Hoomgar]

You get the parts cheap enough, but then you send them off to be torn down, inspected and bebuilt. Unless it was wrecked with some very low miles and was packed away with no moisture you may find your $50 turns into $1500. And your untrained eye, like mine, can't look inside to see how bad things are. I guess you could always just put used eBay parts in your bike and pray but why risk breaking a set of cases (get oil on the rear tire and maybe you pay with your life) with a crank that was ready to cut loose?

There was an unwelded 18mm crank up on eBay a while back that looked nice. This would have been the one to get. There is no stronger crank than virgin blood.

Right on with all that. I bought these parts literally just as spares. There is no way I would ever put any crank, new or used into an engine I had already torn down without having it inspected, and trued and balanced (if needed) and finally welded. When I bought it, I figured I would have to drop at least another 800 into the crank. I am in no hurry though since it is only a spare. It looks really good to me, but again, like we said, that is to an untrained eye. I simply send them out and pay the money. It's one part I wont fool with or scrimp on either.

He claimed the engine had sub 14k on it when the bike was wrecked. This was an ebay sale, nothing is for sure. No worries at 80 bucks shipped for everything.