Chinese knock-off lighweight flywheel from eBay

[colinm]

There is no way on earth this flywheel was ever tested as mine was chewed up and teeth GONE in less than 60 seconds of cranking. The teeth are clearly aluminum now that I can see past the black paint. I took one of the teeth that broke off, and it was so soft I was able to easily squish it and snip it in half with a pair of cheap wire cutters. These are also marketed on Amazon as "Ocean Pro" by the same seller.

Seller is jlpowersports13 - address in Los Angeles, although it's probably a UPS Store.

 

[kevbo]

Quality cannot be assumed anymore. Buyers would benefit greatly if they learned about materials and manufacturing process. Then they could demand good stuff instead of just pretty stuff.

 

[colinm]

Quality cannot be assumed anymore. Buyers would benefit greatly if they learned about materials and manufacturing process. Then they could demand good stuff instead of just pretty stuff.

Yep, I'm aware of lots of knock-off products, but somehow this flew under my radar... Thought it was NOS or something. Didn't think someone would bother actually manufacturing something like this that is completely worthless and possibly dangerous for such a small market segment.. I mean how much market is there for Kawasaki 550 flywheels?

Anyway, just posting here to give visibility, so hopefully others don't also buy them. Also posted mine for "sale" on eBay:

Kawasaki JS550 550SX 440 Lightened Lightweight Flywheel 1.9lbs Red - Paperweight​

Kawasaki JS550 550SX 440 Lightened Lightweight Flywheel 1.9lbs Red - Paperweight | eBay

This is not a working flywheel, although it was bought new and installed and used for about 60 seconds before the ALUMINUM ring gear teeth were completely chewed up and completely off. Indeed, this is a product that is sold new by another seller here on eBay, which is a cheap imitation of a...

www.ebay.com

 

[Jcary85]

FWIW, xscream did a flywheel for a while with an aluminum ring gear. It worked well from what I’ve heard. You can harden aluminum and make it work. Clearly not the case here

 

[Quinc]

did you ask for a refund?

 

[colinm]

Yes, just got an option to ship it back so will do that and see what happens. No response from the seller on my initial contact.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

On the back side of the flywheel teeth are they even beveled or just straight cut teeth ?

 

[colinm]

Zero bevel.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Zero bevel.s

I figured as much, the bevel eases the engagement into the gear kind of pulling the two together , without it , it won't last long ever with hardened steel ring gears.

 

[subnsxr]

Thanks for posting.