Anyone know if an R1 engine with a knackered big end shell is worth buying to repair?

Youve obviously seen the one on ebay

I thought the same.By the time you've rebuilt it a good used unit could have been bought for the price.

Once its stripped how far do you go etc.

I rebuilt mine after the big ends went. I didn't stop straight away, I limped towards home until I got to somewhere with steet lights. It had marked the crank on one of the journals. Luckily, I had a spare. The cost of a complete set of shells and gaskets wasn't cheap so factor that all into your bid.

The engine is now a year old on its new shells and is running very nicely.

The rebuild was much easier than I thought. Only the clutch nut and rotor cover were tight. I made a rotor holding tool and bought a bolt of the right pitch to get it off.

Beware, the bolts that hold the crank case halves together are made of chocolate. When it says 6Nm, it really meant it. I'd set my wrench wrong and snapped 2 of them I had the wrench set to 16 instead of 6

[Edited on 3-2-2008 by smart51]

How much is a complete bearing set (Crank)

Keep it in mind its another crank or a regrind aswell ebay.com theres a crank at the mo

Allow around £100 for a compleat set of shells,a damaged crank can be repaired and reground back to size,we have done this a number of times on big turbo motors with no problems,bear in mind if a shell has gone the bits will sometimes scratch up the oil pump,and if the big end eye of the rod has changed colour with the heat from lack of lubrication,change the rod.