New Gen V balanced motor review

GoldenMotor.com

crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
4,032
158
63
USA
we took one like that apart a few weeks ago - looked really good as it is rare to see more than one shim at the big end

had a milled piston in it too

things seem to be looking up in the HT world
 

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
Sorry, but they do not have Japanese bearings.

All the bearings are made in China but they are good quality and do not fail.

maybe 1000 of these motors have been sold with very few problems and they
weren't motor related.

Fred of CR Machine has had these motors apart as he really balances them
and he could find no indication that the bearings are made in Japan.

You can Not believe a lot of what is written and claimed online! :D

I am sure that the grade 8.8 allen heads that my motors are assembled
with are made in China too.

It's a Chinese motor with ALL Chinese parts.

I am shipping Fred 2 of my new bottom ends that have the 1.5" wide front motor mount with 8 mm front studs.
They have the same "balanced" crank, thrust washers, and connecting rod
with the 3 oiling holes as the regular width front mount that has been on
the market.
Oops my bad on the Japanese bearings..... I was told that Fred is the one who had actually said the bearing were Japanese bearing......

Didnt mean to be misleading just going by what I was told about the bearings.

Map
 

crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
4,032
158
63
USA
I recall back in the day that we took the roller bearings off the BSA left main & they'd nicely replace the Triumph right main ball bearings - might be nice to see an HT with roller mains on each side.
 

MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
5,844
109
63
SoCal Baby!!!
www.facebook.com
- might be nice to see an HT with roller mains on each side.
Why?
The main bearings do not fail so why bother changing them?
In fact none of the bearings fail on my "Gen V" motors.

The so called "balanced" motors I am selling now are even better than
the very good Grubee GT4 66 cc Starfires I sold years ago.

I have had customers that bought those Grubee Starfires from me about
4? years ago recently call me to say they are still running great and they
have been flogging them for years and thousands of miles.

Bairdco bought my last 3 Starfires and we both agree that they were the
best motor ever.
I do have a few left that are rebuildable.

These Gen V motors are going racing so stay tuned for some exciting news
probably after the Dec 7th Willow race.
 

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
Why?
The main bearings do not fail so why bother changing them?
In fact none of the bearings fail on my "Gen V" motors.

The so called "balanced" motors I am selling now are even better than
the very good Grubee GT4 66 cc Starfires I sold years ago.

I have had customers that bought those Grubee Starfires from me about
4? years ago recently call me to say they are still running great and they
have been flogging them for years and thousands of miles.

Bairdco bought my last 3 Starfires and we both agree that they were the
best motor ever.
I do have a few left that are rebuildable.

These Gen V motors are going racing so stay tuned for some exciting news
probably after the Dec 7th Willow race.

I'm curious why the "balanced" instead of just balanced..., I guess better balanced may actually be more correct, the one I have is so much smoother than any of the other engines I've had it's like day light and dark by comparison, that is why I say balanced or better balanced, these engines are the very best bang for the buck by far in my opinion, I believe this will be the solid opinion of many others who have run other ebay kits and such as they run these absolutely better balanced Gen* engines.

I'll admit they're not butter smooth but that dont bother me they are much smoother and some slight vibes in the bars dont phase us motorcycle guys who love to cruise on our Harley Davidson iron horses, I'm extremely happy with the better balanced china girl.

Map
.wee.
 

MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
5,844
109
63
SoCal Baby!!!
www.facebook.com
neil, are those balanced at the factory? any specs on 'em?
Here is a pic of the "better baalanced" crank from the Gen V motor.

Looks just like the Starfire 1 piece steel crank except the 4 holes are
drilled all the way through and there are thrust washers on each side
of the connecting rod on the bottom end.

You can see the 3 oiling holes on the connecting rod for the upper
needle bearing.

If you really want a truly balanced crank Fred soups up the complete bottom
end and sells them on eBay for $325? I think?

 
Last edited:

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
22
0
memphis Tn
In order to truly balance a crank, it must have a bobweight attached to simulate whatever load you wish to compensate for. Then you drill or add weight to the crank according to the rpm range you want to run smooth. It's all about compromise because the loads vary according to rpm, not just piston and pin weight.
There is no such thing as a truly balanced single cylinder engine.
It's simply that some are better from the factory by accident since no factory is actually doing anything to the cranks besides assembling them.
Dax does not balance cranks. He just found some that were better designed or manufactured than what we are used to and began advertising them as "balanced" when in fact, they are not.
NONE of them are unless it's done by the aftermarket somewhere I've never seen.
The amount of labor involved would price a truly balanced motor up with the high-end Arrow, KTM and Morini builds.
Neil states clearly he does not balance the crank. He simply offers a better design than the usual stuff everyone sells. No idea where he gets them, but I like his attitude and honesty as well as his prices so I bought one.
I'm old enough to still appreciate honest business practices like I grew up with. I'm also experienced at being ripped off to know a good engine when I see one. I know I'm not the oldest or biggest builder out here, but I've bought enough to know what to look for in a vendor.
False claims don't do it for me.
There are far too many vendors willing to do anything to sell to the less experienced or more trusting customer with no care for satisfaction after the sale.
 
Last edited:

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
Seems I'm having a hard time making myself clear in what I'm saying, I have not said that I think Duane, Neil or anyone else is balancing these "GenIV" or "GenV" engines, the point I'm making is that they are better built than the others I have seen and they run smoother and I base the reason for this on the fact that they are "BETTER BALANCED" not saying that I think they are perfectly balanced.

"There are far too many vendors willing to do anything to sell" ( Amen....! )

maniac57, I'm with you 100% on Neil having a great attitude about the GenV engines and I can tell he is going over and above to make sure everyone knows what they are and that although they aren't a perfectly balanced engine they are very well put together engines with better than average bearings and other parts including the cranks lower con rod bearing, I also appreciate truthfulness in advertising and its obvious that Neil is doing his best to make only straight from the shoulder honest remarks when describing the engines and parts he has for sale...... Thanks Neil and no doubt if I had it to do all over I would have bought all three of my "better balanced" GenV lowers from you.... the false statements about being Made in America that was attached to what I bought has bothered me from the very beginning , I was under the impression that they were at least assembled in USA which I now no is also false, maniac57 you are correct about what it takes to properly balance an engine and Neil thank you for your honesty, I wish you nothing but great success with marketing your products and I will buy my engines from you in the future because of how you are handling things concerning these great little China Girl engines, keep up the great work and please send me some sort of a price list of what you have to offer if you have one, you have my email so that will be great to have if it exist yet.

Thanks maniac57 & Neil/MBRacing

Map
reddd
 
Last edited:

crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
4,032
158
63
USA
we had a rash of main fails a year or so ago (most were on crappy RICO motors), but a few were just at the point at which the rotor could hit the stator on the mag side, or the bearing had just enough slack to allow seal leaks

still get many repairs coming in that allow 1/32in or so lift on the crank ends when I pry it up

whether the cust is failing the oil mix, or just running WOT all the time isn't known, but a better main *should* help as these are rarely high-milers
 

crassius

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2012
4,032
158
63
USA
we had a rash of main fails a year or so ago (most were on crappy RICO motors), but a few were just at the point at which the rotor could hit the stator on the mag side, or the bearing had just enough slack to allow seal leaks

still get many repairs coming in that allow 1/32in or so lift on the crank ends when I pry it up

whether the cust is failing the oil mix, or just running WOT all the time isn't known, but a better main *should* help as these are rarely high-milers
 

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
22
0
memphis Tn
Okay. Got some more pics of the new bullet innards...
Does this look like a standard ht intake port? Looks like it's already been ported to me...

Exhaust looks good too!

The head looks like it has some machine work done that I don't remember seeing on the usual fleabay engines

Piston and rings in great condition compared to most I see.

Porting the intake is useless with the stock manifold...see how much the manifold restricts flow compared to the port size?
 

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
22
0
memphis Tn
Got a really nice clutch arm. Much nicer than the usual.

Cylinder looks better than average as well...

although the transfers are untouched and could really use some help...

Overall, this engine looks MUCH better than the ht's I've been seeing. Even the good ones don't look this good usually. I have very high expectations for this powerplant! Now that the prep is done, I can't wait for warmer weather so I can install it on The Pig and get to work on the new pipe.
So far, I'm VERY pleased with the quality and assembly of this engine.
I hope the crank lives up to the rest of the engines quality. It's clear this is not a run of the mill ht just from looking.
 

MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
5,844
109
63
SoCal Baby!!!
www.facebook.com
Get it up and running yet? Im really interested to see if the vibes are less than the older engines.
There a quite a few people on this forum running this same bottom end and complete motor.

They run pretty smooth. The crank is basically the same as a Grubee Starfire except that the 4 holes in the crank go all the way through and the rod is longer.
 

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
The one im running is way smoother than any of the other china girl engines I've got or have had, even ver high rpm vibes are not out of the comfort zone when I say high im speaking of 9000 rpm +or - a few.

I love the way mine runs, im happy with a 40+mph cruise speed with a 36T rear sprocket, I do plan to drop to a 30 or 32T just to see what my cruise speed and top end on the flat will be.

Buy one of Neils engin s or lowers with confidence..... these are the best bang for the buck in my opinion..

Map
.wee.
 

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
22
0
memphis Tn
Get it up and running yet? Im really interested to see if the vibes are less than the older engines.
Not yet. I'm done with the prep but it's been too cold here lately.
Makes my bones hurt too much being outside.
Stay tuned! There is supposed to be a warmup coming....
And I just had a customer drop off a bike for repair so I'll HAVE to get off my duff sometime this week.
Looks like he ran into a wall at speed....very dark and I could see how bent up it is.
Pics tomorrow!
 

brown

Member
Feb 1, 2013
239
16
18
Bloomington IL
Got a follow up call today from MotorBicycleRacing and had a nice conversation with him about these motors. I know where my next motor is coming from.

Little cold here in Central Illinois and I won't be starting a new project bike untill after the holidays. Keep the comments coming. I look forward to getting one of these motor that is better balance that past motors.

Added a couple pics of my past projects.
 

Attachments

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
5,502
109
63
Central Area of Texas
Got a follow up call today from MotorBicycleRacing and had a nice conversation with him about these motors. I know where my next motor is coming from.

Little cold here in Central Illinois and I won't be starting a new project bike untill after the holidays. Keep the comments coming. I look forward to getting one of these motor that is better balance that past motors.

Added a couple pics of my past projects.
If you results is like mine you be happy with one of these engines, they are smoother running, actually they are much smoother running and good power and speed can be had from them with some port work a well tuned carb and a free flowing exhaust.

Map
.wee.