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well. thats the cost of doing business. I deal with it every day on a much larger scale.  But it would def pay off, easily.

I know that world, as well.  Taking on that large of a production cost and 18 months from engineering to market warrants some level of guarantee that you will at least come out even. Suggesting 500 units is commendable considering they are likely trying to keep the cost low to the customer. Motorcycles are the smallest division for Vito's and 350s benefit from 10X units built compared to the 400. I'm in no way arguing about a demand for 400 parts, but profitability in producing them is still a risk.

You're looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $60k - $70k to produce the 400 crank depending on the tooling, mold and die costs. You're looking at $50k or more there alone. Assembly jigs are going to run you around $5k, plus the cost of engineering, CAD and QC.  They would have to sell 200 just to cover the cost to start producing them.

Stock alternator? Ported engine/ chambers?
The heavy stock rotor combined with higher rpm would cause more problematic crank dynamics, from what I understand.
TZ's had much lighter rotors...

Highly modified- ported, shaved, chambers, etc.  If my internet research has any amount of accuracy, i was seizing the center bearings.  After inspection, the top end is uneffected.  The outside bearings spin smoothly and freely as they did with installation.  However, the inner bearings show some resistance which suggests to me that with heat they could have been seizing up.  It's been converted to water cooled and I didn't get to ride much this summer, so I am back to the original theory that maybe some water inclusion on the bearings caused them to start to seize.  Would make sense for the way the crank twisted itself apart, at least. There was also a god-awful sound right before it went, like the sound of really rough bearings.  I at first thought I lost a clutch.

In search of thinner than stock base gaskets for an RD350 LC hybrid.  I have been running .022 lately, but looking for .018 .020 and .022.  Anyone know of a source?  I messaged Lani at Copper Gaskets, but still looking around since his website doesn't show them. 

Sucks it happened to anyone else, but at least I'm not alone. Curious if there is simply a point where these cranks can't be rebuilt anymore and putting them through a press contributes to their demise.  Not at all suggesting bad craftsmanship on the rebuild, but more that the process created fractures that led to what happened. My first reaction when I pulled it apart was that a bearing froze, but that didn't happen.  The bike ran normally until it suddenly didn't. 

holy shit 

It's wild.    In all my years (I'm 55), even with 2t sleds, No one I know personally has seen anything like this. I was sure it wiped the bearing on the ignition side, so I went ahead and posted before I cracked open the bottom end.

How does this even happen?

Looking for opinions are what to look for and where to go next.  I have an RD350 I converted to LC a few years back that has seen about 5k miles.  It's been running flawlessly the entire time, until it suddenly decided to waste the crank bearings two days ago.  I haven't cracked the bottom end apart just yet, but the top end is in wonderful shape with visible crosshatch on the cylinder walls and everything measuring in spec. Ed Toomey rebuilt this crank three years ago, so I am really surprised this happened.  There is no visible rust on the crank and no indication so far that coolant got to it.  I didn't get to put a lot of miles on the bike this summer, so it sat more than it ran. Are there specific signs I should look for, besides rust, that would indicate coolant or moisture getting to the bearings? It has always passed regular pressure tests, so I never expected anything out of the ordinary. Anything else that would cause the bearing to let loose all of a sudden?  Is this just one of those things that happens sometimes?  I'm not wanting to pay another grand to have this crank rebuilt, so I am thinking of going with a Vitos crank.  Seems like they are quality part.

It's 77 RD400 forks and a 400 Seca fender.

no motor on here here is going to ever going come close to outflowing a 75mm ID Y boot, w 56/58mm id runners. ever. It's not about area, its about smoothing & directing the air flow,  or i would have stuck with my all-foam unis i had on as well. it def runs better w the Y on there. IF there was room i would have just made 2 straight runners but that damn frame. lol.  However, the difference was not night and day  over all, the foam filters are really good. Yes, i even have an all foam ram air setup like that as well.

When it comes to a filter, it's absolutely about surface area. That's a ridiculous statement.  Your wye works well because of it's large interior dimensions, not the shape or some flow it creates.  You want intake air to be pretty much ambient, unless you're creating a forced air situation like with a turbo.

I've been running a custom TPU 3d printed intake on my Honda Elsinore for well over a year. It goes through hare scramble hell and it works great.  I've also been using the Ramair filters with my TM34's and they also work great. The Ramair filter has more surface area than running a single filter through a wye and keeps everything inside the cradle, which is why I swapped to the Ramair. I've also printed an exe intake to run dual filters. I never properly flow tested anything, so can't say for certain if any setup is better than another. so went with the simplicity of the Ramair.     

That reminds me of a buddy who sold his 1993 Arctic Cat El Tigre 530. He said the guy that bought it was all mad when he found out the sled had a bad miss at 100 mph.

My buddy laughed at him and said that thing does 100?

The earlier 80s El Tigre's with the 500cc Suzuki had 85hp and did 90 mph+ easily. They were popular lake racing sleds where I grew up in Michigan. Did they detune the later models?

Are you also doing actual plug chops or just looking at the top of the insulator? You're getting into the weeds technically on the carb setup, but then only offer a very general indicator as proof of results.

I'll be in the swap with my LC conversion and lots of junk for sale.

I run the RE302 YSS on my RD.  It's a non-rebuildable shock, but a bit cheaper than the rebuildable stuff YSS makes that fit.  I like the shocks a lot.