What happened to my crankshaft

[JesseeS]

Took the bike apart around 2 years ago. Before I took it apart I was riding around everywhere, reliable as hell, and no issues motor wise to be concerned of aside from a few leaks. One of the leaks was my sump gasket. Took it off today and looked inside to see my cranks looking like an absolute disaster. What could have happened? The bike was running smooth, and nothing was wrong far as I could tell. It was a bit hard to kick start, but I used the electric starter. Before I start doing anything else to the bike I'd like to see what's going on. I feel like this should be addressed

 

[jay760]

Doesn't look like it's spread, oil is spotless, just a few rough edges from what is showing in the picture, would be worried if it looked like one I found in mine

 

[Jim]

Took the bike apart around 2 years ago. Before I took it apart I was riding around everywhere, reliable as hell, and no issues motor wise to be concerned of aside from a few leaks. One of the leaks was my sump gasket. Took it off today and looked inside to see my cranks looking like an absolute disaster. What could have happened? The bike was running smooth, and nothing was wrong far as I could tell. It was a bit hard to kick start, but I used the electric starter. Before I start doing anything else to the bike I'd like to see what's going on. I feel like this should be addressed

I'm not seeing anything obvious. What exactly are you referring to?

 

[JesseeS]

I apologize. I'm probably referring to the wrong thing. Theses circled in red look extremely chewed up compared to my 75

 

[jay760]

That's standard, loads look like that

 

[JesseeS]

That's standard, loads look like that

Thank you! The one from my 75 has nice smooth edges so when I saw this I went into a bit of a panic mode. Perhaps I can fix the leaks and start it up after all. I appreciate the help

 

[GLJ]

If it had been running with no noise from the bottom end and you didn't find any steel or aluminum chips in the oil or magnets I wouldn't worry about it.
I admit it looks strange. I checked a couple of my 256 cranks and none looked like that. Another one of life's infernal mysteries.

 

[Jim]

Here's the crank from my '80. Not quiet as rough as yours... but still rough. That's normal.

 

[5twins]

The later the model, I think the less time they spent finishing off certain areas. A cost cutting measure no doubt.

 

[650Skull]

And they cant figure out why some vibrate more than others.........????

 

[gggGary]

Why did tbey quit making XXXX?
It's not just sales figures. Anything manufactured is made on tooling molds jigs etc. These all wear out and are quite costly to replace. So the tooling has worn out, often is when they pull the plug. Near end of life things get a bit loose, ragged. The 447 tooling was made in 73. Yamaha never thought they'd still be building xs's that many years later.