Have a question for the sportster guru's.

Can you replace the piston rod bearings on the crank pin? Is this a shop job? Difficulty? What would this cost?
I have an opportunity to by an 05 xl1200 with 20,000 miles on the cheap, the case is split to replace a shift drum ($200) part and upon inspecting the rod bearings the forward piston rod has a bit of a wobble, not really up and Down play, you can kind of rock it back and forth on the pin. Did not have any tools to check play.
So I know it needs:
Shift drum
One shift fork
Gasket kit
Piston rings and hone job.
Various seals.

If it needs a crank, I would think this bike would need more than it's worth. Any input on the crank or the worth in the project would be helpful.

 

Dismantling the crank and rebuilding it IMHO is a specialist job. I suggest you contact a local indy and take your crank there for them to inspect it. With only 20k miles I would be surprised if it needs any work, but worth checking.

 

Harley uses forked rods. They both are on the same plane. The one with two bearing have very little side play while the single bearing, the one in the middle will have side play. On my 2014 the front rod has some side play.

 

With the pressed together crank (like on that 2005) it is cheaper to just replace the crank than have it rebuilt.

But side to side play is not really a factor on HD rods unless you have some CRAZY side to side. They both will rock a little, but the front is always worse because it's the knife of the knife and fork. Up and down play is what you are concerned with. There should be no motion up or down.

 

Thanks, I'm going out to recheck it. I see how the rear wont rock on the pin, front will. Thanks for your input.

 

Anyone have a good source for a shift drum and others transmission bits, piston rings and full gasket kits?

 

Baker makes a bad azz shift drum, cosmetic gaskets rock, Hastings rings. Or all factory stuff would work too.