Wiseco or HotRods crank kits?

I remember some issues with either (or both) HotRods or Wiseco crank kits. Any current issues? I have to rebuild a CR85 and I found a full Wiseco kit with gaskets and bearings for $130 shipped. Is it junk or a good value? Are the bearings good or bad? Any experience with current products? I do not want to sink a ton of money into this bike as our local cart track has been required to outlaw two strokes (noise complaints) and I have nowhere else to ride it.

 

We've had good sucess with the HOTRods stuff. We tried the Wiseco stuff three times and none of them lasted over three hours. The HotRods stuff is a better product in My opinion (just the crank and rod stuff, I like the wiseco pistons). Warrenty problems with either company will make you want to commision a hit man to deal with thier warrenty clerk...JMO

 

Hmmm... I just had a wiseco bottom end last 1.5 hours on an '01 RM123.

Danny, what failed on yours? The thrust washers disintegrated on ours, same fuel my RM250 ran great on all day and I purposely jetted it rich after the initial failure.

 

I have not had any durability problems with the Wiseco cranks or rods, but I have had to true every crank I have purchased from them. It was not unusual for them to be .004"-.007" out.

 

Knowing that I can't true them, I did find an OEM crank on cheapcycleparts for the same price as a hotrods crank. Shipping is the only difference in price. The prices I have so far is:
Wiseco crank bottom end "kit" (bearings and seals/gaskets with the crank) $130 shipped
Hotrods crank only $130 shipped
OEM crank only $130 plus shipping

The rub, like I mentioned above, is that my bike is effectively worthless to me with or without a running engine since I can't ride it at the local track and I have a full size dirt bike. I could maybe sell it for $900 in dirt trim or $1200 in SM trim (17's) with a running engine. Is a 2003 CR85 worth anything in parts or would I be better fixing it with a Wiseco kit and hoping it doesn't blow up before I sell it?

Or, does anyone want to rebuild an the crank for cheap? My local guy is $75 plus parts, shipping it to RB Designs is $57 plus parts, any other options?

 

Every failure we had was the big end bearing going south. All of them were trued before installation. All of them had suffecient side clearance. Wiseco covered none of them under warrenty, hell it took me six months to get them to make up two pistons they screwed up on with one of them being new.

 

I can sell you an OEM crank from Honda for $110 shipped, I'd have to order it in though (2-3 days to me)


I've always heard better things about the Wiseco sets vs the Hotrods, then again, all my buddies ride 250f's and 450f's, so I don't know if that makes a difference or not......

 

Let me look at the bearings and I'll get back to you. Not a huge hurry as two stroke engines are banned at the track until further notice. Damn NIMBY neighbors.

 

Oh, it's not just your neighbors, they are all over the place!

 

Stay away from Wiseco cranks. They last for few hours literally.
HotRods all the way. Great stuff, last longer than OEM every time.

 

How much longer do they last? Seriously curious, as I don't know if this bike is a keeper or not. If Sir Squid gets me an OEM that lasts 80% of a hotrods at 80% of the price, that's a push and I can live with that.

 

Phil, did PGP outlaw 2 strokes? I wonder how they'd feel about our NSR?

 

Is it a two stroke? The two strokes are under a separate annual conditional use permit, and that is under review right now. Should have resolution in a month or two. But until then, I think I am going to rebuild the CR and go from there. I'll keep you posted, Troy, and let you know when there is resolution.

 

Phil, the NSR is a 2T, but it's whisper-quiet. I'm surprised at the decision, at GMR the 4T's make much more noise that carries farther. Anyway, not that big a deal for us, we likely won't run the NSR there.

 

Does Hot Rods make cranks for the TZ & RS gp-bikes?

 

No

 

Other than 2 stroke stingers with no baffles at all, it seems to me that 2 strokes are quieter than 4 strokes. I know when I went to the Supercross races in the 2 stroke days, you could hear the announcer calling the race. Now with the 4 strokes, you can't.

 

Okay, last question- Is the $130 Hotrods better than the $110 OEM from Captain Squid?

Regarding the 2T vs 4T debate, I believe it's an environmental concern with the track, not a sound concern. Be that as it may, I plan to rebuild the bike and hopefully squeak it in every now and then. Sorry, "squeak" was the wrong term on this forum. "Sneak it in" every now and then.

 

With those 2 options I would probably go with OEM. Just out of curiousity, what oil ratio are you using?
I have literally rebuilt 100s of 65/85/125 cranks in the past, but it is hard to compete with new prices now vs. rod kit/$35 labor.

 

50:1 still in tank from previous owner. Didn't even top up the tank before I rode it. Piston is great, as is ring gap and plating. Rod rattles around pretty bad. It's a name brand oil, either Maxima or Motul, don't know the model/type/style of oil. The bike was running well, then got a little noisy, then very noisy. Sounded like a split pipe, very low pitched. Pulled clutch and hit the kill switch. Tried kicking it lightly but it made lots of clattering noise. Pulled the head and the noise went away, installed the head and noise came back. Big end is very loose on crank.

I agree about rebuild vs new. Shipping plus labor plus parts is about $40 more than a replacement at OEM prices. Heck, even Mr Crankshaft is $50 more than OEM for a direct replacement.