Topic: Aftermarket crank shaft but from Who?

[tctreppin]

Can’t upload the pix to Tapatalk BUT
   I was breaking down a 750 E block from 1975 I got 3 or 4 deals ago , when I pulled the crank I notices no info on the counter balance of the crank by the primary teeth in the crank .. so I started looking closer the crank has been machined and on the points see/ #4 is a set of numbers
560224
On the counterbalance the letters GE
Like I said tried uploading and Tapatalk won’t let me .
Does anyone have ANY idea about this crankshaft
NOT. How to upload a pic
NOT. Wether they are teeth or gears on a crank
JUST info about the crank I will try and upload pix again later
Thnx



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[Oddjob]

There are loads of identifying marks all over the bike, most are machine numbers to show which machine made them, some are operators marks, to show who machined or operated the machinery that made them. Same as the crank shells have numbers and letter on the back of them. Sometimes the marks are in Japanese, I like finding those, lots of them at the bottom of fork sliders for instance, when you polish stuff as much as I do you start to see things that people don't generally notice, stuff that hides under the paint that Honda used to disguise casting marks and welding marks.

This is my favourite one to date. I gave those fork sliders away to a mate and I'm currently polishing a new set, that has different marks, not as interesting as those ones unfortunately.

[Don R]

 There were multiple vendors for some items, I can't say for sure there were for cranks but there were multiple dies, machines and machine operators. Even the drag race stroker cranks were welded up from stock cranks so I'm pretty sure there weren't any aftermarket ones.

[BenelliSEI]

If the crank has been ground they might be from the shop that did it?

[bryanj]

How were they going to grind it when undersize shells dont exist

[BenelliSEI]

How were they going to grind it when undersize shells dont exist

Good point! Polish? Maybe lightened and balanced?

[Don R]

 The weights that I can see have not been drilled or machined so it's not lightened or probably balanced beyond what the factory did.

[tctreppin]

I appreciate all the input fellas
But I’m stuck on 2 facts
The numbers on the side of the crank are English and they were somehow put onto the crank . Not embossed or painted it’s like they were printed ? And on the counterweight the Letters are English
G E ( can’t see the pic right now ) so this crank is definitely not OEM .
It’s a mystery for the ages … perhaps some one will answer it one day


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[Oddjob]

The markings on all the SOHC cranks are in English, it's the universal language, it's how they identify the crank journals sizes for instance.  An embossed marking isn't also uncommon, GE could stand for General Electric for instance, or any Engineering firm being with G.

[tctreppin]

If u look at the photo you will understand my statements .. I’ve never seen a Japanese crank with English letters cast into the crank and numbers on the #4 cylinder counterweight.
   


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[bryanj]

The original markings were like an etch pen and only the first batch of 750 were marked in Japanese, after that English letters and numbers

[Oddjob]

If u look at the photo you will understand my statements .. I’ve never seen a Japanese crank with English letters cast into the crank and numbers on the #4 cylinder counterweight.
   


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I have looked and the numbers are printed on, not cast on. The stamping could be on any web, I suppose it depended on who did it, different people might have put it on different webs, it's not a mystery, seriously.

[tctreppin]

Can u send me a pic of one of your crankshafts ? Becuase everyone ive ever seen have letters and numbers on the counterweight in the center
 My crank does not ,that’s makes it a mystery .
Now if U have a crank with numbers on the side like mine pls send me a pix.
  If not you aren’t talking about the crank I have



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[Finnigan]

There are loads of identifying marks all over the bike, most are machine numbers to show which machine made them, some are operators marks, to show who machined or operated the machinery that made them. Same as the crank shells have numbers and letter on the back of them. Sometimes the marks are in Japanese, I like finding those, lots of them at the bottom of fork sliders for instance, when you polish stuff as much as I do you start to see things that people don't generally notice, stuff that hides under the paint that Honda used to disguise casting marks and welding marks.

This is my favourite one to date. I gave those fork sliders away to a mate and I'm currently polishing a new set, that has different marks, not as interesting as those ones unfortunately.

This is freaking cool

[Oddjob]

The 400, 500, 550, 650 all have numbers and letters printed on them exactly like yours. Sometimes they are in white ink, most are in black. Perhaps yours has been swapped sometime in the past for a later model crank, hence why it differs. Didn’t do a lot of 750s when I was in the trade as I didn’t enjoy working on them tbh, but the ones I did see were using printed letters and numbers, For some reason our parts department would always send anyone looking to buy new shells to me so I could decipher the codes and tell them the colours. So I’ve seen hundreds of cranks in my time and yours doesn’t even look slightly odd in my experience.

The letters and numbers start to fade after a time, oil washing over them tends to wash them away so they can become very difficult to see unless you know exactly where to look for them, if yours doesn’t have them on the centre web like the manual then look on the edges of the webs.

[tctreppin]

On the edge of the Webb .. I will try there


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[tctreppin]

Why is this the only crank I’ve ever seen WITHOUT the letters and numbers  in the crank like the manual ?
AND  is it possible , after looking at the numbers on the side of my crank that this crank was in an engine that was very new when it blew up ? ( dropped intake valve on #3 cylinder,)and created a new vent hole in The block
    I’ve never seen anything like this crank if u have ok,
When I see the numbers on the Webb I’ll write u back and tell you I found them and send a pic .
   


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[Oddjob]

I can’t say why you’ve never seen these before, I suppose it depends on how many cranks you’ve seen in the past plus whether you actually inspected those cranks or just looked without noticing.

Makes more sense to me that the crank came out of a later model, as Bryan says the very early ones were written in Japanese so clearly Honda weren’t adverse to changing things, the way the markings were written on the centre web could have been deemed to be confusing, which letter refers to which journal, which end is which etc.

If you find the markings on the edge they’ll be 5 numbers but only 4 letters, one number will be on its own with the others in pairs. Make a note of them, you may find them easily but you may need to wash the crank in petrol and tilt it this way and that to spot them, they can be quite faded.

[tctreppin]

So Honda man had the answer , the crank  was taken down by a machine shop that’s where the wierd circular patterns came from . After “Micing” the crank I  can see  the difference . That also accounts for why there are no letters and numbers on the crank
   I’ve seen more a than a dozen cranks and looked at everyone one of the letters and numbers becuase just throwing green bearings in isn’t bright.
   Much as I appreciate all your replies you learned something, and saws something you had never seen before and I learned something too ,having only seen a dozen or so cranks
Cheers


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[BenelliSEI]

“Good point! Polish? Maybe lightened and balanced?”

Well done. I think I was pretty close.

[tctreppin]

I think u were spot on . The picture shows it the best in the photo with the numbers on the side .
   Honda man said it was done to get a better throttle response ..
   Over the yrs I’ve picked up a few things
Aftermarket cam, SS head with AM springs ,aluminum connecting rods and a 836 kit .
    This Crank is one of the last pieces of the puzzle.
     Appreciate your reply and help


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[BenelliSEI]

Good luck. Sounds like a great “brew”!