They bullshitted you on this one. You can get the balancer as separate part and it is regularly replaced when needed. there is no mystical harmonically balancing happening
at least not according to every RE mechanic I asked plus Gemini also agrees.
Low End Engine Noise
- Thread starter J.B.
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at least not according to every RE mechanic I asked plus Gemini also agrees.
J.B.
Active Member
I did the crank and bearings this weekend.
The balancer I got has a spring loaded gear on it. The one in the original bike did not. The difference is MASSIVE! My bikes vibrations and noise are at normal levels now. The bearings in the bike were not the correct bearings either. They placed "Shielded" bearing in the case without the shields on them. I replaced them all with the correct SKF bearings. Shielded bearings are typically greased and sealed in the factory, they are not the same as unshielded bearings. Engineering wise, not at all.
The cause of all of my issues on this bike..... TOO MUCH SEALANT in the crankcase mating connection. They put too big of a bead in at the factory and it clogged my main oil passage. This fried all of the bearings in the case.
I have seen NOTHING on the internet about the crank counter balancer differences, it was only through deep diving and digging I was able to find information using AI to scan everywhere and give me reports from all over the internet.
CONCLUSSION HYPOTHESIS: During the covid supply chain issues, RE decided to source any bearings they could find. They didn't do a great job when changing from the BS4 to BS6. My bike was the hybrid of the 2. They also added too much sealant to the crankcase connection joint, restricting the oil flow. The new crank balancer with the spring loaded pulley is BY FAR superior. I ordered this crank and balancer from Hitchcocks and I ordered all of the bearing from SKF directly.
Overall, I am not impressed with RE quality control or the decisions they made in 2021. I am however glad to say that my determination and research has paid off. My bike is now running and sounding better than it ever has.
The balancer I got has a spring loaded gear on it. The one in the original bike did not. The difference is MASSIVE! My bikes vibrations and noise are at normal levels now. The bearings in the bike were not the correct bearings either. They placed "Shielded" bearing in the case without the shields on them. I replaced them all with the correct SKF bearings. Shielded bearings are typically greased and sealed in the factory, they are not the same as unshielded bearings. Engineering wise, not at all.
The cause of all of my issues on this bike..... TOO MUCH SEALANT in the crankcase mating connection. They put too big of a bead in at the factory and it clogged my main oil passage. This fried all of the bearings in the case.
I have seen NOTHING on the internet about the crank counter balancer differences, it was only through deep diving and digging I was able to find information using AI to scan everywhere and give me reports from all over the internet.
CONCLUSSION HYPOTHESIS: During the covid supply chain issues, RE decided to source any bearings they could find. They didn't do a great job when changing from the BS4 to BS6. My bike was the hybrid of the 2. They also added too much sealant to the crankcase connection joint, restricting the oil flow. The new crank balancer with the spring loaded pulley is BY FAR superior. I ordered this crank and balancer from Hitchcocks and I ordered all of the bearing from SKF directly.
Overall, I am not impressed with RE quality control or the decisions they made in 2021. I am however glad to say that my determination and research has paid off. My bike is now running and sounding better than it ever has.
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J.B.
Active Member
The bearings still in the crank case before I pulled them and replaced them with the correct bearings. NOTE the numbers on the bearings. Do a little deep dive into bearing engineering and you will find the numbers after the / are NOT the correct bearing engineered for this use. This is a factory mistake that isn't talked about on the internet. I researched the engineering specs deeply through the manufacture themselves SKF. I put in the explorer series C3 bearings manufactured in italy. Terrible mistake RE made and will probably NEVER admit. This would recall A SHIT TON of bikes sold in that era.
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Ha ha, you are lucky your steering head did not dislocate from the rest of the frame. THAT was a big issue way back when. however, solved now. I have not seen or heard about one such issue after 2020. All my Himas back then (at one point I had 3) got the reinforced head shown in this video. maybe you could consider it too.
I never had to replace a crank so i dont know from my own experience but i have asked a couple of mechanics in different workshops and the majority said it does not matter, some say if the crank is old it should not be matched with a new balancer (although technically I do not see why). Even those few who tended to have it matched (not necessary but better) said the worst that can happen is that they make a sound when not matched.
I do not doubt that you know your shit - and bc Dool thumbed up your comment he seems to agree. Problem is that the mechanics i asked also work with RE every day (and some do it since decades). So if I had this problem i would still tend to use any balancer with any crank.