Connecting rods Question

I know they say these bikes are pretty much bullit proof.My question is if the rodes are part of the crank.Could you buy after market rods whch are removable by themselves?
Like other bikes.Held on with two bolts?

I don't think you'll find one that'll fit. I had my crank serviced by the good folks at Falicon. I had to have a rod replaced and they used the same design as stock. Not a two-piece rod. I think it has to do with one piece cranks (and therefore two-piece rods) use plain bearings and ours use roller bearings.

Keep in mind that I'm no expert!

Oh,See i was thinking it would be nice to weld a crank and if a rods goes bad justreplace it.

No can do. The roller bearing motors have very low oil pressure. If you tried to convert to bolt on plain bearing rods, you would have to make a complete high pressure oiling system.

Jay

why would you want to do that, it would make the bottom end less bulletproof! (rpm wise)

I do believe Falicon makes HD rods with replacable
small end bushings so once a crank is welded up it
should be servicable for a long long time.

That was my worry i want to build a great muscle bike,but if i weld the crank if a rod breaks the whole things useless.I still dont understand these bikes yet coming from harleys which are basically big lawn mowere engines.And everthing is replaceable.

once you weld one of these cranks you will be very hard pressed to hurt it on a streetbike with anything less than a stick of dynamite.if you spin a bearing its cheaper to just buy another crank for $100 and spend $75 to get it checked and welded than to pay to have a crank rebuiltB)

ricerocket wrote:

That was my worry i want to build a great muscle bike,but if i weld the crank if a rod breaks the whole things useless.I still dont understand these bikes yet coming from harleys which are basically big lawn mowere engines.And everthing is replaceable.

I think roller crank builders will disassemble a pressed together crank "maybe" twice. Welding does not make it unrebuildable. If a rod breaks, whether it is a 1-piece or 2-piece with a cap, damage will not be limited to just the broken rod. Likely to destroy much of the engine anyway, whether it be a kaw,yamaha,harley or a lawnmower. In a stock Z/KZ style "roller" bearing crank you better hope the main bearings do "spin" that is how they turn. A "big pin" MKII center section makes these cranks quite reliable, but welding alone does "nothing" for the strenghth of the rods.

Post edited by: modprod, at: 2007/08/22 13:12

Post edited by: modprod, at: 2007/08/22 13:21

modprod wrote:

ricerocket wrote:

That was my worry i want to build a great muscle bike,but if i weld the crank if a rod breaks the whole things useless.I still dont understand these bikes yet coming from harleys which are basically big lawn mowere engines.And everthing is replaceable.

I think roller crank builders will disassemble a pressed together crank "maybe" twice. Welding does not make it unrebuildable. If a rod breaks, whether it is a 1-piece or 2-piece with a cap, damage will not be limited to just the broken rod. Likely to destroy much of the engine anyway, whether it be a kaw,yamaha,harley or a lawnmower. In a stock Z/KZ style "roller" bearing crank you better hope the main bearings do "spin" that is how they turn. A "big pin" MKII center section makes these cranks quite reliable, but welding alone does "nothing" for the strenghth of the rods.

Post edited by: modprod, at: 2007/08/22 13:12<br><br>Post edited by: modprod, at: 2007/08/22 13:21

my bad .i meant spin as in a spun bearing on a plain bearing motor chewing up a rod and or journal.if you smoke a rod bearing i would just buy another crank unless its a crank youve dumped a lot of money into already.i was told by falicon that the strength of the rods is generally not a problem and a properly put together crank with stock kawasaki rods will generally handle 200hp as long as the center pin has been upgraded.

Post edited by: PLUMMEN, at: 2007/08/22 13:33

How do you upgrade the center pin?

You send it to Gardner Racing Concepts.

Jay