Surely someone has a recommendation for a good shop they like that can handle reconditioning conrods. I'm restoring a TL engine and I've talked to five shops so far that don't want to touch motorcycle rods. I'm not asking for anything special, but they all claim they can't handle a rod this size (C-C of 4.843"). I have the rod specs and all I need is check for BE/SE parallel, resize the eyes as needed, bend, twist, etc.
By coincidence I had a trip to Colorado Springs this past week, where Ben Fox has a shop. Dropped the rods off, hope he does good work. Thanks for the recommendation.
Ben Fox, he's did 2 very hard to get 2-t rods for me that were better than they were when new. Nice guy too.
A little more back patting for Ben - he was Jake Lewis' crew chief this year on a rival Suzuki team. He was absolutely, and unexpectedly helpful for our team with chassis settings and electronics when there was no need for him to be as we tried to sort out the new GSX-R1000. He answered my questions and lent us parts when we needed them. I was delighted to have his contribution. Later in the season, when we were going forward and he was struggling a bit, he came over and asked some questions and I gave him whatever he needed to make his choices. Guys like that are the heart of the road racing paddock, and I encourage anyone here to reach out to Ben for help with their program. He is a very special individual and JU's team is of the utmost quality to compete against because he hires guys like Ben and Tony P and Aaron Ruiz, Lee, Rob, the two Daves and everyone else over there - Keith Perry is the captain and makes sure it all clicks. All quality people. Sorry if off topic, but I think it might say something about the quality of service for the OP.
Check out Ben's Youtube channel. He has posted some great videos of him working on heads, cranks, etc. I've sent him several cranks for balancing, lightening, polishing. His work is spot on...
