ESR +4 stroker vs hotrods?

[hawaiianbasshed]

so the ESR one is like DOUBLE the cost of the hotrods. is there a big concern with the hotrods not being balanced? do you have to otherwise have it balanced somehow? I see the ESR one seems to be balanced as per their description. just not sure what the biggest differences will be I figure it MUST be alot better at high rpm or something? otherwise I can't see them justifying the price difference... thanks for any help!

Tom

[Pumashine]

Originally posted by hawaiianbasshed
so the ESR one is like DOUBLE the cost of the hotrods. is there a big concern with the hotrods not being balanced? do you have to otherwise have it balanced somehow? I see the ESR one seems to be balanced as per their description. just not sure what the biggest differences will be I figure it MUST be alot better at high rpm or something? otherwise I can't see them justifying the price difference... thanks for any help!

Tom

Your best bet is to go hotrods +4 because it was cast that way. The ESR crank has had the pin moved 2mm. This becomes a problem when you do a rebuild. Cut and grind then hope the wedge stays where they put it. Most of the big bore guys are using the hotrods. Balancing is done when the piston wieght starts to work against you.

[hondamancbr03]

Crankworks is making the best cranks on the market at this time IMO.....I use Hot rods due to the cost and they use much better steel than they did in the past. I HIGHLY suggest you take the crank to a machinist or engine builder to check the crank for true before installing it.....The last two Hot rods were outside of factory spec right out of the box.

[hawaiianbasshed]

well, crankworks has the hotrods cranks listed on their site, so I emailed them and inquired about balancing and checking the true price.

I'm stoked to try the hotrods one, but want this build to go right not wrong lol it's my 1st experience with a stroker so I don't want it to be a bad one.

[morse250r]

ive always heard about crank failure with hot rods so that made me go to an esr crank i sent mine in and they stroked it they used a pro x rod

[1promodfan]

I've never had a problem with a Hot Rods crank.

The best rebuilt cranks for 250R’s I have seen came from BDT Motorsports (909-802-6516). They rebuild most of the cranks, cylinder and engines for Honda shops in SoCal. I have had almost everyone build me a crank back 3-5 years ago, including Crankworks and ESR.

BDT-M took my Honda OEM crank apart, welded up the crank pin hole, re-bored it to +4MM, assembled with new ProX rod, bearings and spacers. It is re-built to Honda new specifications and looks new. They DO NOT weld the crankpin in place, they press fitted to the same press fit Honda used when the crank was originally manufactured. It looks like new and has been running in my brothers 350R without issues…

I am now having BDT Motorsports build me a +6MM crank from an old Honda OEM…I would keep away from Hot Rods (continued issues) and any crank with a welded crank pin (material brittleness).

[hawaiianbasshed]

thanks! but about how much will a BDT motorsports +4 crank cost me?

I can’t speak for BDT Motorsports or their pricing; I can tell you what I paid for it; $400 including all the new parts (rod, needle bearing, washers, ect…).

Since I live 5 minutes from BDT-M, I saw the final inspection of the crank, it was held to .001” total run out, I believe that is less than half of the allowable Honda tolerance.

[hondamancbr03]

Originally posted by morse250r
ive always heard about crank failure with hot rods so that made me go to an esr crank i sent mine in and they stroked it they used a pro x rod

Hot rod cranks use a better steel then years back, they did go through a period of cheaper product and ruined their rep. Since then they have changed and are now making good cranks. Crankworks does sell Hot rod cranks and they also make and modify cranks.
Most engine builders in my area order all parts for larger strokers from crankworks.....They seem to make a very reliable billet stroker.

acecarlos,
I hope BDT is giving you a discount for all the mentioning you do on this forum for their company....Not a day has gone by that I don't BDT in your response. I have a machinist that i think is a two stroke god as well so i understand.

As a side note.....If money wasn't an issue, i would have my stock Banshee or Honda cranks stroked, NO ONE makes better steel than OEM

I use to ride and race in the late 80's, I would work on engines with Rob Selvy at Selvy's Performance in Ontario, CA...over the years I have used many if not all shops and builders, always been dissamointed since Rob left the 250R scene.

I started back up a few years ago, BDT Motorsports is 5 minutes from my house, the owner (whose name I will not mention at his request) is one of the guys back from the late 80's that was involved with Honda Racing, and Selvy's...he knows 250R's like no other person I have ever dealt with, need I say more?

I am just glad to have BDT-M work on my stuff, and allow me the access they do...

[deathman53]

kinda off-topic here.... I read a dirtwheels article about slevy's destroke and cut down cylinder for the 200cc conversion and how they modify the tranny, use different stator system and how radical the cylinder is ported. It was very interesting. I can't forget their pipes, they are very highly regarded, along the same lines as curtis sparks. There are some people who have several of the race bikes(atc250r) that he build, short track kit, cal-fab swingarm, his 250cc and 200cc pipe, finish line axle, west coast hubs and swingarm. These people don't ride these bikes and guard them as a piece of racing history.

Rob was the man back in the day, with all due respect to Curtis Sparks Racing, Selvy's race packages had no equal, I have had both Curtis Sparks race engines and Selvy's, hands down Rob's work produced the best results.

[MossboysRacing]

I run an 87-89 length hot rod crank in my R. I read all the stories and herd all the problems, so i sent it to crank works and had them balance and weld the pin. Its only been a year, but so far so good