| Author | Message | ||
     Openrangesports |
Buell 1125 Crank Lock Tool comparison I had the unfortunate issue of having my crank lock tool get stuck inside my bikes case. This was caused by my inaccurately choosing the wrong crank position and then trying to rotate the crank which slightly mushroomed the tip of the tool. The issue was magnified as the non-OEM 2 piece tool began to unscrew the handle from the rod. Then the threads stripped on the tool between the shaft and the rod. So the tool just basically turned and turned in place. Finally I was able to get enough pressure on the tool that it unscrewed completely between the tools handle and the rod leaving the rod inside the crank case. On the other hand unscrewing of the tool allowed me to take the handle off and create a way to pull the rod out by using spacers and nuts mildly pulling the tool out of the crank case. I could argue though, that when it unscrewed it also made it very difficult to get a purchase on the rod to pull it out and if it remained as one piece I may have been able to simply pull it out. This made me very curious as to the difference in the OEM tools and the aftermarket tools. The community of Buell riders was kind enough to assist me with loaning me an OEM tool and one of the twin motors tools from New Zealand. I had purchased the SRWmoto tool from Australia. So basically I have 3 existing tools and decided to do a comparison. I will post pictures of all of them side-by-side, the tool from SRW Moto did unscrew but the issue started with user error. You will see from the measurements that the OEM tool was the smallest shaft of the three and easily went in and out of the engine case. It could be said that the SRW Moto tool was on the borderline of being too big so when I inaccurately placed it in the wrong position and hit it with the crank that the tiny bit of mushrooming from the tip of the rod (and I mean tiny) made it too big to be able to be extracted from the case. OEM tool: Kent-Moore #B-488558-A. Tool is out of one piece of steel stock. Shortest tool, shortest reach, smallest rod diameter. Out of production almost impossible to find. I was able to borrow the tool. Would be my first choice. Twin Motors tool: 2 piece (rod screws into handle with thread locker I was told). Aluminum handle with steel rod. Available online. Provide Buell 'how to' videos online. SRWmoto tool: 2 piece (rod screws into handle. I was told thread locker was used but I saw no trace when it unscrewed). Steel handle. Available online. We're very responsive to my issue with their tool and came up with a way to extract the tool from the case. Total length: OEM - 6 11/16" Twinn - 7 2/16 SRW - 7 3/16 Total weight: OEM - 6.4 oz Twinn - 3.7 oz SRW - 7.9 oz Rod diameter: OEM - .302 Twinn - .309 SRW - .313 Rod length from end of threads OEM - 2.925" Twinn - 3.042" SRW - 2.975" Thread length OEM - .432" Twinn - .507" SRW - .651 Recommendations: The OEM Kent-Moore tool would be my #1 choice but almost impossible to find. Second would be the Twinn Motors tool and third would be SRWmoto's tool (due to larger size and having my tool unscrew. Remember though that since it did unscrew that made extraction easier but I have to consider that the tool also mushroomed the tip slightly which shouldn't have happened.) It is great that SRWmoto and Twinn Motors are supporting Buells where production has ended. I | ||
| Shawns |
I had a few made up with the handle a little shorter to help clear the exhaust. I just gave the kent more to a local machine shop and they made them up out of hardened steel. Worked like a charm. | ||
| Openrangesports |
Left to right: Kent-Moore OEM, Twin Motors, SRWmoto  | ||
| Shawns |
 Here is mine before I painted it. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Shawns - Do you have a price you may want for one of your KM clones? | ||
| Shawns |
Dannybuell sent ya a pm. I had 6 made and they ran me about $70 each. I was selling them for $80 shipped for fellow Buellers. (Message edited by Shawns on January 01, 2015) | ||
| Openrangesports |
I think the key is to have the rod be the same diameter as the OEM tool. This allows a little bit of extra space from the other tools in case the tip gets mushrooms a little bit. As I explained the SRW Moto tool made it almost impossible to get out once the tip was mushroomed. Of course user error didn't help anything! | ||
| Snacktoast |
For those that want something similar and reliable like the OEM tool, see your local EBR dealer. C2115.1B6 is the EBR part number for their crankshaft locking tool. About $70 retail. | ||
| Petebueller |
I'm Peter from SRWmoto. I've been following the threads on the locking tool. The tool fits into a 10mm hole. Our tool is 10 thou bigger in diameter but like all the tools is just less than 8mm. There is 2mm clearance. Our tool is 1 mm longer which is again of no consequence. There difference is 3/4 of a thread and there is more than enough thread to hold the tool in place. I was going to draw this up and I will if I get time. If you look in the workshop manual at the split cases (different diagram for each year) you can see the tube in the crankcase for the tool does not go towards the centre of the crankshaft. As the crank is rotated the lobe varies in distance from this hole. When the tool is in the hole for TDC on Cylinder 1 the gap between the tube and the crank is only a few mm. Turning the crank exerts a shear force and not a bending moment. There are 3 basic holes in that lobe. TDC cylinder 1, TDC on cylinder 2 and one other in between that the manual does no describe. There are also holes placed in random positions at random depths for balancing. The tool will go in at least partially in any of these. It would have been nice if they'd made them a smaller diameter. If you put the tool into a wrong hole on the leading edge of the crank it can feel engaged but the amount of the tool between the tube in crankcase and the hole in the crank means that the tool is acting like a cantilever (say like a diving board) and is subject to bending. If you stick 3 mm of a thick screwdriver out of a vice and hit it with a hammer you cannot bend it much if at all. If you stick 10mm out of the vice you can bend it no problem. In the correct hole the tool is supported on two sides, in the wrong hole the crank can turn and it is a cantilever. When you turn the crank with the tool engaged like this the bottom of the lobe on the crankshaft is coming closer to the end of the tube. The tool has nowhere to go so it will bend. Once it is bent you have a problem to remove it. You can unscrew it until the bend reaches the end of the tube. After that winding it creates a type of coarse thread in the tube until it jams. The pin is then being forced at an angle into handle. In this case the tread on the handle stayed straight in the crankcase and since the pin could not turn the handle started unwinding from the pin. The pin was forced at an angle so it cross-threaded and stripped. In this case it was fortunate - if our handle was attached on a spline it would still be in there. Openrangesports has been honest with what happened which I appreciate. I disagree though that any other tool would have made a difference in this case. We had these designed by an Engineer who rides an 1125 and they were made by a precision machine shop. We have sold a few and they work. We only had them made because they were not available in Australia. | ||
| Shawns |
I had mine made because they simply weren't available. I had the handle made shorter for a fellow Bueller to clear the exhaust. Other than that they were made to the same specifications as the original Kent Moore tool. Unfortunately getting these machined at a reasonable cost would require lots of a 100 or more. | ||
| Stevel |
Peter, Thank you for your explanation. I do disagree with your analysis of the forces applied to the tool slightly. If used correctly and the tool is positioned in the "V" grooves of the crank counterweight, the force is not totally sheer, as it is a groove, not a hole. I understand that it is impossible to design a tool against misuse, but the superior design is one piece, just as K_M made the original. If the use was just for timing purposes, plain old 1018 bar would be a sufficient material, but when the factory manual specifies that it must lock the crank against a 300 ft/lb torque moment, a much tougher material must be used and even then, the shaft must be heat treated to survive the bending moment. Although, the shaft diameter is really too small for that purpose in my opinion. I use a 3/4 air wrench to tighten the crank nut, without any tool installed. I believe the K-M alloy is a chrome moly alloy, probably 4140, the same as the crank. Do you know what material your tool is made from? The easiest way to prevent placing the tool in the wrong place is to use a pencil in the spark plug hole as a piston feeler. | ||
| Petebueller |
Hi Steve None of the tools are a one piece construction. They are a high tensile steel pin with a handle designed to centre the tool in the hole by screwing in to the plug hole. The handle is just to hold the pin in place. Our handle is tool steel but alloy would do the job - it just needs to hold the pin in place. The pin we use has a shear resistance of 360 kg - the others would be about the same. A torque of 300 ft/lbs (400Nm) applied across the 100 mm (1/3 ft) or so of a lobe would give a shear force of 40kg (100 lbs) so the pin resists 9x what is required to torque the nut. The TDC positions are holes in the crank - not grooves. I have been sent pictures of crankshafts but I don't know who holds copyright on them so I won't put them up - perhaps someone here has a link. There is a fairly good picture of the crank locking holes in figure 3-90 of the 2010 service manual. It is in the 09 (and probably the 08) manual as well but the figure number may be different. | ||
| Stevel |
Pete, Please see attached: It is the 90 degree grooves that have the 72 degree offset, not the holes. The holes are for balancing.  | ||
| Petebueller |
Thanks Steve I checked in the manual and it calls them notches so you are right. In your PM you said that the Kent-Moore tool is single piece - just with a painted handle. My mistake again. I can't see that single piece offers an advantage. The force is on the pin and the handle is needed to hold it in place. | ||
| Stevel |
Pete, One advantage the single piece construction has is the ability to remove the pin when jammed without the pin separating from the handle. | ||
| Stevel |
One more thought, if there is a demand, I could easily make these one piece tools. I have a machine shop. The cost would be depending on the demand and the machines I use to do the job, but worst case ( one)would be about $90 and less in volume. It would take me about 3 weeks to buy in the material. | ||
| Shawns |
That's the issue I ran into. You would need to get an order for 50 -100 to get the price down to something reasonable. I had 6 made, and I was around $70 a piece cost, Mine were all one piece like the Kent Moore tools. | ||
| Openrangesports |
i hope I made it clear that PeteBueller / SRWMOTO was incredibly helpful and communicative in the process of un-frigging my user error with the tool. His reach out helped me save $2000 as the next stop would have been to the dealer to split the cases. His think tank (plus this forum) talked me off the edge and came up with a great plan that worked. There is no reason his tool wouldn't have worked as advertised if I hadn't misused it. Thanks again. | ||
| Petebueller |
Thanks Openrangesports I've been checking out the topics to see how you are going with it. I hope it is up and running soon. | ||
| Ari1125r |
I agree with Snacktoast, buying the OEM tool from an EBR dealer is the way to go. The price is very reasonable compare to the aftermarket ones or even making one with the improper material. The OEM crank locking tool including the tax costs about $70 ordering from the EBR dealer. Here is the link to finding your local dealer: http://www.erikbuellracing.com/find-your-dealer/ | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
buying the OEM tool from an EBR dealer sure if they have it (in stock) There was a long time period that there were no locking tools available! | ||
| 50dro |
We have one of the Twin Motorcycles tools on the shelf that can be had for $100 shipped in CONUS. Let me know if interested... (Message edited by 50dro on January 27, 2015) | ||
| Yankeerl |
Shawn saved my a$$ with his tool on eBay. Worked like a charm, thanks again. | ||
| Shawns |
Any time. Glad to be of assistance. | ||
| Sprintst |
Looks like the crank locking tool is yet another victim of the dealer network, it's gone off the EBR site One more thing you can't get anymore | ||
| 50dro |
We still have one for sale from Twin Motorcycles that we'd let go for $100 shipped CONUS. Let us know... | ||
| Dennis_c |
  I made this for less than $10. went to hardware store got a bolt and steel rod drilled a hole through the bolt then cut the head off spot welded to rod it has been used 4 times still ok. |
