Cannondaleriders

..maybe i can get help on this one ??...*wristpin*

We are going to have to start a monthly contest for worst engine carnage. I was going to take a week off and rest up before tearing into my babies but now Im motivated to pull them out asap to check them out. I know ,I know ,Im twisted.

This is making me not want to ride mine anymore. I have a Winky engine and only about 20 hours on it. I have noticed that I am starting to not rev the engine anymore to high RPM since this issue has arose. If the engine goes again, the Dale will be parted out for sure. All I ever do is work on this thing.

I hear yah Bags...I am getting a winky motor in a few days...

Whats the deal with the failure polls. Is no one taking the time to fill them out? From the looks of it there are less than a dozen failed cranks. Is that an epidemic? Out of several thousand engines Id hardly say its panic time. Of course if one of them is yours (Like me) you might feel different. Really if your going to ride worried then maybe a different brand might be in order. I wouldnt blame you . Im glad I thought far enough ahead to get some spare engines on the shelf . It helped dampen the pain of the double failure weekend.

are these just the latest Winky cranks that are going out? How long has Winky been putting out the balanced cranks? Doesn't Haydug have a Winky crank in his woods bike? That thing probably has a few hundred hours on it. I'm a little lost...

I believe what's in Dougs woods machine is a billet crank that Winky cleaned and nothing else. Im sure if Im wrong he'll correct me.

Here are my observations of my crank(Winky Crank)which failed.

First of all it pressed apart very easily those claims of huge pressures needed were false in this case.

The plug in the end of pin isnt in very tight.Popped right out with a blast from air hose.

The thrust washers were only slightly worn.

Grooves put in crank from rod were deeper on flywheel side and were deepest on bottom of pin when piston would be at TDC.

Almost half of the needle bearing were ground up and relocated to rest of motor about a 1/4 of remaining ones were damaged.

No signs of high heat any where.This in my opinion eliminates a oil problem of any kind.

Few possibilities:
1)All needles werent in there in first place
2)Bearing was installed in rod wrong (retaining rings to close?)
3)Rod ***** on crank and breaks needles(bigger side clearance would prevent this
4)bad bearing

I suspect either 3 or 4

Pics follow

Note missing needles!They are all over inside frame and motor pulverized to fine chips.

Worn slightly but nothing that would cause failure