hidden Best Mod

[greencannon]

I was reading up on the best mods for 500 and it got me thinking.
 A while back I was trying to figure out why I was chewing thru stator side crank seals. turns out there was wear marks deep enough on the crank end that kept the seal from sealing tight. The price of the that half of the web, crank pin, thrust washers, ect. and labor to have it worked.....I just ended up buying a new crank. Thank god i had some connections and only had to pay dealer cost. Ouch !!! 
 Anyways I got it in from Kawasaki and opened the box to confirm the right part, good. I closed it up and brought it right to the machine shop.  I don't know what the spec is supposed to be from factory but the machinist told me out of the box one web was .008/in.  out of round from the other web. He was able to get within .003 and then welded it.
 No more leaking seals, no wasted crank bearing,  much less vibration, and seem like much smoother low end power.  He also told me this was a popular mod for KX500 supermoto bikes.
Even though I didn't get the instant gratification of a "bolt on" mod. like a pipe or reeds. I feel it was one of the best choices since I plan on keeping this bike for a long time.
 anybody have similar experience with this

[BDI]

My buddie Jeff price had a full on factory backed kawasaki desert race team. He told me that they used to send ten kx500 cranks at a time to falicon to be checked out. Falicon would send them back three to four cranks that they deemed good for use. as for welding, I don't think its a good idea to weld on hardened steel crank pins. On multi cylinder engines it may bee a necessary evil but on a single cylinder crank i think it's unnecessary.

[Polar-Bus]

My buddie Jeff price had a full on factory backed kawasaki desert race team. He told me that they used to send ten kx500 cranks at a time to falicon to be checked out. Falicon would send them back three to four cranks that they deemed good for use. as for welding, I don't think its a good idea to weld on hardened steel crank pins. On multi cylinder engines it may bee a necessary evil but on a single cylinder crank i think it's unnecessary.

Back in the 80's and early 90's when 125cc's ruled the MX racing ranks, once you bacame a faster amatuer, or expert it was almost mandatory to have your crank profesionally welded and trued.