KZ1000 Crank Balanced Falicon

Well heres a good way to compare the vibration. When I get on my 75 cb750 (with a stock crank )it feels like a cadillac.and yes all the bolts are tight.I've replaced all four transmission bearings before i reassembled it.Its not a "going down the road vibration" its in the engine. When you rev it up while parked you can see the mirrors and levers vibrate and feel it in the handlebars.You've got me wondering about the clutch basket now.I know the basket spins with the crank and its a pretty big mass.There is one bearing I didn't replace the thin walled needle bearing that the basket spins on, but it looked ok.

could be many things,what else has been done to motor? have you tried a differant rotor/stator on crank? where did the pistons come from? .......

77 would have the old style generator setup. I've seen guys have problems with those rotors spinning. Wonder if yours ever had that problem. Might have done some damage to the inside of the rotor and maybe...just maybe it doesn't fit like it should.

For the price of an gen cover gasket it's worth having a look.....

The bearing for the basket might be able to be gotten out without splitting the case again. Never tried it because I never had to replace that bearing before.

Were your trans bearings worn out or did you replace them as a precaution?

boogiepicker wrote:

Well heres a good way to compare the vibration. When I get on my 75 cb750 (with a stock crank )it feels like a cadillac.and yes all the bolts are tight.I've replaced all four transmission bearings before i reassembled it.Its not a "going down the road vibration" its in the engine. When you rev it up while parked you can see the mirrors and levers vibrate and feel it in the handlebars.You've got me wondering about the clutch basket now.I know the basket spins with the crank and its a pretty big mass.There is one bearing I didn't replace the thin walled needle bearing that the basket spins on, but it looked ok.

The needle bearing on the clutch basket that passed visual inspeciton is not going to vibrate the mirrors.

Sounds like your crankshaft is out of balance. Best to verify the work done by calling Falicon and requesting a report for you crankshaft. They should have a job number for your crank and that job number should contain details about the material added/removed from the crank. Call and request these details. Let us know what happens.

I just got my crank back from Falicon, they replaced two of the rods as they were slightly bent and a few other things that they asked first about before they did the work. I can't wait to get this engine back up and running again. Gonna post up the pics if I get a chance to today.

No I haven't checked the piston weights ,I got the cylinders and pistons from old kaw man They are stock kz1000 with new kawasaki wrist pins that I bought, as far as what else I've done to the engine,I had second gear undercut (FastbyGAS)all new transmision bearings(2 small needle and 2 big ball bearing)new clutch friction and drive plates,new Subaki cam chain .new cam chain guide,all new cam chain rollers (LISKA) new APE valve guides and springs,new valves,new cam bearings.How do you check the clutch basket?

$ 630 and good luck

I called Falicon Told them I was experiencing a lot of buzz with the kz1000 crank I got back from them , their response is very "business like" heres the whole story;I originally sent them a kz900 crank w/a piston , when I called to check on the progress they told me the journals were worn and they could put new bearings on worn journals and his suggestion was to "run it till it Dropped " I said so its essentially worn out and he said "thats correct sir" I told them to chuck it and I was sending them a kz1000 crank. A week or so later I come home and 2 boxes are sitting on my porch .The kz900 crank (which i told them to chuck) and the reworked kz1000 crank. So they payed to ship a 36lb. package back to me when I told them to chuck it ! good communication. My point is if a screw up like this can happen how does he know "for Sure" my crank got balanced, unless he did it himself ? I called falicon explained the problem ,gave him the invoice # he looked it up and said yes it got balanced ,I asked why there was no visual signs of metal removed from the crank and if metal is removed how is it done,he said if needed metal is ground off .So I guess it was in pefect balance ? So the super sophisticated computer machines Falicon has today in 2010 can't balance cranks any better than in 1977 ? I took the alternator rotor off and ran the bike with out it, it revs quicker but vibration is still there. Where do I go from here? I could be wrong but, My gut feeling says it didn't get balanced but try to prove it.

boogiepicker wrote:

I asked why there was no visual signs of metal removed from the crank and if metal is removed how is it done,he said if needed metal is ground off .So I guess it was in pefect balance ? So the super sophisticated computer machines Falicon has today in 2010 can't balance cranks any better than in 1977 ?

A couple more thoughts:

If the crankshaft was in perfect balance from the factory, it would have been off after welding.

They charged you the same amount ($200) for balancing the crankshaft even though they didn't balance it. They just checked it?

NOBODY knows what was done on the balancing machine because for $200 they can't be bothered to keep a simple report that should include day, time, machine operator, initial and final balance specs. And that report should be included with the crank when it came back from them.

The only way to really verify whether the crank is out of balance is to pull it and send it to a different company that can verify the balance and provide a standard machining report. There is a similar thread going right now at www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=161186&page=2 and Jay from APE mentioned that a company called Gardner balances their press-together cranks. Maybe he will chime in here with some useful info

Sorry to hear about all your headaches with this but good job tracking down the information (or lack thereof) from Falicon and thanks for sharing it with us. It's what makes this Forum so useful...

Or send Jay a PM. Explain the situation and ask his advice.

Stan Gardner is the guy and here's his website.

www.grccranks.com/

I put a Falicon crank in a 1200 motor a while back. No problems. Worked just the same as every other pressup IL4 crank I have used from them.

If it's out of index, that would cause vibration.

Without a total tear down...You can go the route of installing 2 dial indicators in the paired cylinders and bring it to TDC while you have someone else watch one of the indicators. One shouldn't keep moving aftet the other has stopped.

If you pull the pistons out and can get your hands on an index rod, you can check it that way . It's got to slip through all 4 small ends at the same time.

I've never had a problem with a KZ basket except for having the fingers beat up from those extra plate clutches or to do the backing plate and spring replacement.

All stock genuine OEM pistons? I presume?? New?

If the engine is together, you can also check index with a degree wheel. Use the positive stop and find TDC on #1 Now check #4 it should be exactly the same.