Cheap pistons - Cruznimageco

[midnightlamp]

Hey guys,

Quick question here (but I imagine this is going to spark a discussion), but anyone have any experience with these H1 pistons from CruznImageCo?

www.ebay.com/itm/KAWASAKI-H1-1-5mm-OVERSIZE-PISTON-SET-Pistons-Rings-Pins-Clips-Include-H1PS-3-/161023707268?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item257dc2c884&vxp=mtr 

They make pistons and parts for a LOT of other bikes and guys don't really have issues with them (the 750/4 guys love these for big bore pistons and find them to be better or equivalent to OEM). I know that some have reported that the S3 pistons they produce have a lower deck height and lower the compression, but at the same time others report excellent running and I haven't actually seen any pictures showing the deck height. There's also references to these blowing up in S2 applications, but again nothing first hand. I did do some searching and found people running these on H1's but noone has bothered checking the deck height and posting it online, so I figure it would be good to ask in case someone here has!

I'm also aware of the "you get what you pay for" and "that seems too cheap to work" adages, but it's often just a question of if something works good enough or better than what it's replacing. Surely it doesn't take $250 worth of modern material/manufacturing to reproduce OEM style H1 pistons   Like I said, lots of guys have luck with these in other applications!

Full disclosure, tossing up between a set of these and a set of wossner/wisecos. I sure could use the extra $200 elsewhere on the motor though...!

[kawonda750]

Just me, and I have no experience with these pistons, but, go for the wossners. Well made. tight tolerances. german craftsmanship. $200 amortized over the life of an engine doesn't work out to much more per mile. And, you sleep better knowing you have a good engine.

[pipe welder]

Agree. Well said Dave!

[drewski]

Ya, if I'm going to try to save a buck somewhere, it's not going to be inside my engine, my tires or my brakes. I could probably think of other areas too, but I'm sure you catch my drift.

Just my personal opinion.

[JA-Moo]

I'm working on a 400 again, as one of the cheap pistons ate itself. Not sure if it's a Crusin image, but one is a Mitaka for sure. Both were a 1mm short and I had to deck the cylinders. Wossners are going in it now.......

[midnightlamp]

Valid points, but it's looking like I'm going to end up with a pair of motors, one which is just a spare that might need a set of pistons (as I'm ending up with a LOT of parts as spares). I'm just looking for an option for a plain jane stock performance motor on the side.

Edit: I'll also point out that kettle guys also love these as do the other zuki two stroke guys. I'm mainly asking if someone actually has experience with them, specifically in an H1 application and not in the S3/KH400 application where there are reports of the deck heights being off.  

[roadrash]

I have these pistons in my S3.They've been in for two years with no problems.I checked the deck heights and they were stock.It was $65.00 per hole for a rebore at .002" clearance,much more than the pistons.
I replaced one rod while I was at it.
If I could only find cheap fork tubes,that's this winters job.

[Walms]

I would say it depends on how you flog your bike. I wouldn't even buy Wiseco's at this point, the skirts collapsed very quickly to service limits.
That said, there are more responsible triple owners out there than me!

[midnightlamp]

Haha, I know that feeling. Actually wiseco has been having some interesting things happen recently regarding QC, etc... One good example:

forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=109388.0

I've had a few from working on other car/bike motors, same with JP pistons out in aus and ETC... I think a lot of it has to do with some of these companies making pistons ages ago and not really getting much from still selling them. This is why I like the idea of wossners, but at literally 4 times the cost it becomes a hard sell when there's so many other bits of work to be done (squish bands, needle upgrades, crank work, decent pipes, etc...).

[Walms]

Just to give you an idea how budgetary restraints can hurt you... I had an issue with 2nd gear popping out so last winter I split the cases and undercut that gear... I failed to do the rest to save $300. Now 3rd pops out about as much as 2nd did. I learned my lesson, let's hope I can remember it!

[kawonda750]

If you are going to juice up your engine with squish band alterations and pipes etc, then cheaping out on the pistons is a false economy. Just sayin'

[kawonda750]

If I could only find cheap fork tubes,that's this winters job.[/quote]

Quit being so cheap. $120 from andre.

[kawonda750]

Nov 18, 2014 17:35:17 GMT -5 kawonda750 said:

If I could only find cheap fork tubes,that's this winters job.

Quit being so cheap. $120 from andre.[/quote]

Ok, I see that he doesn't carry fork tubes for S3.....But, yer still cheap.

But then, so am I.

[Curtis]

Forking by Frank

He is around the same price and carries everything

[Deleted]

I've bought cheap stuff for bikes from China, sometimes it was good sometimes not so good. I would not refrain from buying those pistons after reading some reports. I am a cheap MFer and proud of it. Some guys are funnyt about sneakers and blue jeans. I have buddies who will only buy OEM. If the fit and finish are good on the pistons then metallurgy remains. Many companies buy from China and put their stamp on it just so people feel a false sense of security! LOL Research from users is better over non founded opinions is my thinking.

rt