01 fc 550 balancer drive shaft BEARING

you'll need to seperate the rumble noise. is it the bearing or the teeth on the gear. to answer this you want to spin the gear in the bearing with it 'driving' no other gear. if it still does it well then it's the bearing and you need a new one. if it does it to the other gear then that is your problem.

in 2002 they changed the cut of the teeth. you have to have the right 'cut' or they make a right rackit! there are loads of old threads on the subject if you look hard. have a word with JOEUSA if you're in doubt.

regards

Taffy

The bearing should turn smoothly and not notchy. I would absolutely replace the bearing and consider updating to the the double roller setup.

Ok, noticed now the remark about the shaft bearing... well that´s easy. Replace!

But give it more life considering what I wrote first:

Considering the cost of a new bearing and the much higher cost of the dual bearing upgrade kit, I would definetely remove the CB and have the crank rebalanced. Get rid of noise, get a faster response and eliminate a weak link in the engine.
Factory team bikes have no counter balancer.
But don´t plain remove it w.o. professional rebalancing.
While you´re at it, upgrade your main bearings to roller bearings.
I would replace the big end bearing also.

When I rebuild my engine I spoke to that mechanic at Husaberg which has build my engine. He told me that they have problem with that bearing. It's one of the first which need to be replaced.

I agree with mikst, On my Fe501-02 the first parts to be replaced were the rocker arms (upgrade to -03 which have new dimension on the follower bearing). The second parts were the camshaft bearings and the counter balancer drive shaft bearing (the big one). Of course i replaced most of the bearings when i hade the engine in parts but the only noticeable worn ones were those above.
The counter balancer drive shaft bearing wear seems a little bit odd since this bearing should be able to take a quite big load and the actual load case, driving the counter balancer through a relative narrow gear wheel shouldn't result in very big radial (or axial) loads. There must be something else that gives this effect.

/Christer

Instantaneous loading of said bearing assembly is indeed quite high in addition to excessive rpm.

Dale

Where does this excessive load come from. Balancer loads it that hard or does the camchain. I've never really liked ratcheting cam chain tensioners. Get things really hot and expansion will allow it to click another notch tighter and during normal temps cam chain can be tight as a fiddle string. Would a manual adjuster be a good accessory item?
dan

Hi Dan,
The balance unit forces @ TDC and BDC are in phase with that of the crankshaft, however, ninety degrees either side and said forces are in direct opposition. Such cyclic adversity increases peak instantaneous loading of the balance bearing.

In addition the balance assembly rotates in the opposite direction to that of the crankshaft in essence doubling the balance bearing rpm.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Dale

Under stand balancer perfectly now and thanks, but I took it that husa-busa was having quick bearing wear on the large inner bearing on the counterbalancer/camchain drive shaft. On this shaft I also wondered how well the outer small bearing in the clutch cover was in alignment.
dan

Hi Dan,
Right you are as I should have taken my own advice and read the entire thread.

For what it may be worth the inner "drive" bearing is often a bit rough when installed as the press fit can be excessive.

I either hone the bore and / or when I can locate one install a C4 bearing.

Best Regards,
Dale

Thanks for the reply, a C4 is just a bit looser? Do you think removing the balancer will help the life of this bearing as well?
dan

Hi Dan,
Yes and yes.

Nothing like short and sweet.
dan

Hi all,

just on the comment that the factory guys remove the counter balancer. Whey do they do that. The originally kick start bikes did not have a balancer and reved more like motocross but could stall more over logs etc. I know some remove the electric start for weight saving, but even that has died out?

The balancer is not that heavy so why would you take it out, clearly not reliablity problems/ worries???

an individually balanced engine can be rid of all but the smallest vibes so it can be justified that way, thern you have the fact that the bikes are revved to the moon and it's therefore another thing to go wrong. they rev marginally quicker and as elite riders they need all the 'extra' they can get that we mere mortals don't have the ability to handle.

finally, they're so fit that even though it's more tiring to ride without a balancer 'they' are too fit to get worn down by it.

regards

Taffy

Blimey, I think we have a new mythical multiheaded creature growing its ugly tenticals here again :wink:

The common myths (and to bust them):

1) "you have to re-balance the crank once you remove the counter balancer" - actually, no you don't! For several reasons. When balancing a crank shaft you do not actually get rid of vibrations, you, more acurately, change the way that they are perceived (direction and timing) and/or move them somewhere else. I actual fact, when you balance the crank shaft in the Husaberg to common factors, such as those above 50% you are actually adding vibrations in accordance with what you want to achieve with the engine. In order to form a reasonable opinion or understanding you need to know much more than has the crank been balanced.....

2) Removing the counterbalancer weight automatically makes the engine spin up quicker/stall easier - not necessarily - it depends on a number of factors, including which actual engine you are removing the balancer from etc. etc. etc. etc. - It also relates to exactly what you want to achieve, for example what is a high balance factor likely to do to these characteristics? Could the amendments actually result in making the bike MORE easy to ride? Quite possibly.

3) "The bearings on my counterbalancer shaft feel rough" - Dale has outlined one reason and some others have covered the other, but when testing this with your fingers and hands, keep in mind that there is some axial play in that shaft when the clutch casing has been removed (the shaft can move up/down, side to side somewhat). In certain circumstances this will cause addition friction/light impact against the counterbalancer gear giving the perception that movement is notchy. The only way to really tell if this bearing in running roughly is to remove the shaft and try the bearing without and other influences, sorry :?

Hmmm, anything else? Nah, not for the moment :wink:

Yours cynically,
Simon "I'm in that kind of mood this morning"

Hi Simon,
I like this "no nonsense" side of you.

Hope you are doing well old friend.

Sincerely,
Dale

LINEAWEAVER said:

Hi Simon,
I like this "no nonsense" side of you.

Hope you are doing well old friend.

Sincerely,
Dale

Click to expand...

Hey Dale,

Thank you, it's a new leaf of mine :wink:

I'm not doing too badly, thank you, soon hoping to return back to the fold again

I've noticed you've been getting around a bit, one of the guys on the motorcycle chassis design list recently posted a note from you about the Highland dirtracker as there had been some interest in it. I noticed you were their first choice of who to call, unsurprisingly!

Keep well,
Cheers,
Simon