Wrench Rabbit rebuild kit vs Oem rebuild

[The Moxie kid]

Hey i'm about to buy a 2005 KTM 200 exc off a buddy of mine, it needs a full rebuild and I was wondering whether i should go with a wrench rabbit kit with hot rods crank and vertex piston or OEM parts. I just want to know what would be the most reliable and the best bang for the buck.

[Arsori]

I don't know about model year 2005 specifically, but Vertex has been the oem supplier for KTM pistons for a long time.

Usually I've been able to save several hundreds of euros by sourcing the bearings and seals from an industry mechanical retailer, buying only a piston, a gasket kit, and buying just the conrod kit and have it swapped at a machine shop instead of buying a whole new crank.

In this rebuild kit the price seems actually ridiculously low for what you get, I'd think its hard to cheap out on this even more.

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

By far, the best route is rebuilding your oem crank with the ProX kit. It’s the least expensive route and on par with OEM for quality. Finding the right guy to do it can be difficult, though, as most shops don’t tru it properly. I personally only use OEM bearings when inside the motor, and I don’t know what comes in that kit. NTN, SKF or Koyo are all I personally would use.

I know Andrew Cooksey is back doing cranks, so if you can’t find a local guy to press yours, call him? In fact, he sells complete rebuilds, including the bearings, piston, gaskets, all of it. By far the best rep in the US. The guy is pretty much a legend in the KTM community. Give him a call and ask. He’s super nice and helpful too. 

[510KTM]

I wont use anything but stock stuff . Seen too many failures with WR and other aftermarket cranks.

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

1 hour ago, 510KTM said:

I wont use anything but stock stuff . Seen too many failures with WR and other aftermarket cranks.

To a degree, I agree with you, especially on bearings. However the ProX crank rebuild kit is every bit as good as the OEM crank. And it’s what Andrew Cooksey uses for his rebuilds. I would trust him over anyone in the KTM community. And a lot of people here would say the same.

Maybe @acooksey can chime in here? IMO that would be the final word. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Bron-Yr-Aur

[acooksey]

27 minutes ago, Bron-Yr-Aur said:

To a degree, I agree with you, especially on bearings. However the ProX crank rebuild kit is every bit as good as the OEM crank. And it’s what Andrew Cooksey uses for his rebuilds. I would trust him over anyone in the KTM community. And a lot of people here would say the same.

Maybe @acooksey can chime in here? IMO that would be the final word. 

Wow, what a compliment!   For the 125 - 300 KTM 2 strokes, I find that the ProX rod kit is equal to the KTM OEM rod kit in service life.  

Thanks, Andrew

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

6 hours ago, acooksey said:

Wow, what a compliment!   For the 125 - 300 KTM 2 strokes, I find that the ProX rod kit is equal to the KTM OEM rod kit in service life.  

Thanks, Andrew

Thank you, Andrew. And for all your contributions. I practically live by your advice on KTMTalk when I’m doing projects. Really glad you’re back doing crank work. How’s retirement treating you? I know you didn’t want to move. Hoping you’re happy with your decision. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Bron-Yr-Aur

[acooksey]

THANK YOU SIR!

Well, my last day with my "day job" was to have been Nov 30, but they pushed it out to Mar 31... So, here in 2 or so weeks maybe I will be fully retired from the day job can can spend more time in the shop having fun!

ac 

[510KTM]

13 minutes ago, Bron-Yr-Aur said:

To a degree, I agree with you, especially on bearings. However the ProX crank rebuild kit is every bit as good as the OEM crank. And it’s what Andrew Cooksey uses for his rebuilds. I would trust him over anyone in the KTM community. And a lot of people here would say the same.

Maybe @acooksey can chime in here? IMO that would be the final word. 

I agree I'd love to hear his opinions on all this stuff . Also like to hear his opinion wrench rabbit/hot rods stuff . I'm just an OEM guy mostly seems they put the most R&D into the stuff . Then others reverse engineer it and copy it . 

[510KTM]

24 minutes ago, acooksey said:

Wow, what a compliment!   For the 125 - 300 KTM 2 strokes, I find that the ProX rod kit is equal to the KTM OEM rod kit in service life.  

Thanks, Andrew

Hey thanks for popping in and schoolin me . I've used some ProX stuff in the past with excellent results but one "other brand" bite me on the arse and I went straight OEM which was probably an over reaction. 

[acooksey]

Although I have not used ProX pistons, generally speaking, all of their stuff seems to be a notch above the other aftermarket companies.  Cool that you had a Bonanza with Hodaka Ace 100 engine.  Dad was a Hodaka dealer so we rode the Ace 100, Super Rat, Dirt Squirt, etc!

ac 

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

5 hours ago, 510KTM said:

I've used some ProX stuff in the past with excellent results but one "other brand" bite me

Wiseco crank? Lol

[510KTM]

36 minutes ago, Bron-Yr-Aur said:

Wiseco crank? Lol

Pistons and a crank . Two different machines two different times. 

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

12 hours ago, 510KTM said:

Pistons and a crank . Two different machines two different times. 

Yeah I’ve had great success with their pistons, but I’ve seen a crank blow apart. Wiseco has a few fanboys on this forum, but the consensus is run from those cranks. 

[The Moxie kid]

4 hours ago, Bron-Yr-Aur said:

Yeah I’ve had great success with their pistons, but I’ve seen a crank blow apart. Wiseco has a few fanboys on this forum, but the consensus is run from those cranks. 

lol proX is made by the same company that makes wiseco.

 

[Bron-Yr-Aur]

16 minutes ago, The Moxie kid said:

lol proX is made by the same company that makes wiseco.

 

Wiseco did indeed recently purchase ProX, but that’s not the same thing. ProX is still manufactured the same, only the ownership ($$$) has changed. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by Bron-Yr-Aur

[The Moxie kid]

37 minutes ago, Bron-Yr-Aur said:

Wiseco did indeed recently purchase ProX, but that’s not the same thing. ProX is still manufactured the same, only the ownership ($$$) has changed. 

I had good luck with hot rods cranks in other bikes, if it wasn't so expensive i would just put oem in everything. i think ill put the wrench rabbit kit in for the season just so i don't have to go on a crazy parts search. for the money it seems like a decent kit I used one once before and liked it. https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/parts/wrench-rabbit-engine-rebuild-kit-p?s=1244552 thats the exact kit you can look it over.

[The Moxie kid]

Well went out today and bought this pretty thing, time to start ordering parts.

Edited March 15, 2021 by The Moxie kid

[SteveThe Snakes]

On 3/13/2021 at 9:36 AM, The Moxie kid said:

lol proX is made by the same company that makes wiseco.

 

Who told you that. ProX is generally Japanese. Weisco uses Chinese parts. 

[acooksey]

On 3/13/2021 at 11:36 AM, The Moxie kid said:

lol proX is made by the same company that makes wiseco.

 

There is a senior engineer at ProX that I have corresponded in The Netherlands, who speaks broken English and has been a wealth of information for 5-6 years now.  Hope they can retain their high quality level after the purchase.

Andrew