Aftermarket vs OEM piston?

40acres
Profile picture for user 40acres
Posts
811
Joined
7/23/2017
Location
Houston, TX, USA
40acres 10/1/2023 9:27am
10/1/2023 9:27am

With all this talk of "OEM" pistons, I'm not aware of any manufacturer that produces their own piston. Your OEM piston is likely just a white labeled aftermarket manufacturer's piston. 

1
MxAddic
Profile picture for user MxAddic
Posts
5308
Joined
11/24/2022
Location
USA
MxAddic 10/2/2023 5:27am
10/2/2023 5:27am
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Prox pistons used to be made by Art an oem supplier. They are not anymore now made in Taiwan and not as good as they used...

Prox pistons used to be made by Art an oem supplier. They are not anymore now made in Taiwan and not as good as they used to be. They are owned by wiseco now. There's a lot of old stock floating around so you might get lucky and still get an Art made one. 

The rod kits are still made in Japan though. 

You don't say...

IMG 1207

MxAddic
Profile picture for user MxAddic
Posts
5308
Joined
11/24/2022
Location
USA
MxAddic 10/2/2023 6:35am
10/2/2023 6:35am
cwtoyota wrote:

That made me chuckle. 

I've never tried anything from Namura, but I have the impression that it's "price-point" stuff for some reason.

They had issues several years ago but seem solid these days. If I was on a budget and the bike was not raced it'sa good option.

1
SmokinJoe439
Profile picture for user SmokinJoe439
Posts
2390
Joined
3/7/2012
Location
Renton, WA, USA
SmokinJoe439 10/2/2023 7:42am
10/2/2023 7:42am
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Prox pistons used to be made by Art an oem supplier. They are not anymore now made in Taiwan and not as good as they used...

Prox pistons used to be made by Art an oem supplier. They are not anymore now made in Taiwan and not as good as they used to be. They are owned by wiseco now. There's a lot of old stock floating around so you might get lucky and still get an Art made one. 

The rod kits are still made in Japan though. 

MxAddic wrote:
You don't say...

You don't say...

IMG 1207

How old is that box? Does it say Art on the inside of the piston? Like I said there's still plenty of new old stock floating around out there. 

Screenshot 20231002 074154 Gallery.jpg?VersionId=PfiIzWhBpP3V63jJ0QGxsZzC

Screenshot 20231002 074120 Gallery

The Shop

See All »
MxAddic
Profile picture for user MxAddic
Posts
5308
Joined
11/24/2022
Location
USA
MxAddic 10/2/2023 8:00am
10/2/2023 8:00am Edited Date/Time 10/2/2023 8:19am

Couple weeks...

Could be old stock from RMATV. Looks like PRO-X is now Namura 2.

spitinabucket 10/2/2023 2:16pm
10/2/2023 2:16pm
wrc777 wrote:
Interesting hearing about forged 2t pistons causing less carnage if they die. How much of an issue is the warm up with a forged piston? Is...

Interesting hearing about forged 2t pistons causing less carnage if they die. How much of an issue is the warm up with a forged piston? Is waiting for the radiators to get warm enough?

Falcon wrote:
It's a big deal. Back in the day, Wiseco had a really bad reputation for seizing. As it turns out, people weren't warming up their engines...

It's a big deal. Back in the day, Wiseco had a really bad reputation for seizing. As it turns out, people weren't warming up their engines well enough, and when they rode, the piston expanded faster than the cylinder did... Presto! Instant cold seize. 

Seizeco

2
4
JoshyPoo312 10/3/2023 5:32am
10/3/2023 5:32am
spitinabucket wrote:

Seizeco

I cold seized my Kx85 with a fresh Wiseco. Ever since then, after installation, I warm the bike up twice in the garage for 5-10 minutes just idling and blipping the throttle every so often letting it cool completely between cycles. 100% success with this method. 

P.S. For what it's worth, once that piston unstuck itself that cool November morning, I was ripping the rest of the day and got plenty of life out of it with my Kx!

1
MXRalph
Profile picture for user MXRalph
Posts
369
Joined
11/13/2022
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
MXRalph 10/3/2023 5:56am
10/3/2023 5:56am
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Prox pistons used to be made by Art an oem supplier. They are not anymore now made in Taiwan and not as good as they used...

Prox pistons used to be made by Art an oem supplier. They are not anymore now made in Taiwan and not as good as they used to be. They are owned by wiseco now. There's a lot of old stock floating around so you might get lucky and still get an Art made one. 

The rod kits are still made in Japan though. 

MxAddic wrote:
You don't say...

You don't say...

IMG 1207

SmokinJoe439 wrote:
How old is that box? Does it say Art on the inside of the piston? Like I said there's still plenty of new old stock floating...

How old is that box? Does it say Art on the inside of the piston? Like I said there's still plenty of new old stock floating around out there. 

Screenshot 20231002 074154 Gallery.jpg?VersionId=PfiIzWhBpP3V63jJ0QGxsZzC

Screenshot 20231002 074120 Gallery

I had been changing Vertex pistons on my son's KTM 65 at 40hrs and they looked great. 2nd 65 at first replacement (40hr) Vertex were on backorder so I ordered Pro-X and noticed the "Made in Taiwan" right away.

It measured correct so I installed but at 21hr (61 total) we lost 3rd gear and had to split the cases, The Pro-X had about a 3-4mm crack starting to go across the rear skirt. Probably wouldn't have made another full day of riding before catastrophe. Never again! 

I will say my buddy bought one for his '04 CR125 and it was ART from Japan. I'm thinking they may still use the old suppliers for the old products but maybe all new product line offerings since the buy out are sourced to Wiseco's Taiwan/China vendors. The complete crank I saw was  made in China but utilized their rods made in Japan.

wrc777
Profile picture for user wrc777
Posts
3204
Joined
5/21/2020
Location
Greenwood, IN, USA
Fantasy
124th
wrc777 10/3/2023 7:51am
10/3/2023 7:51am
MxAddic wrote:
You don't say...

You don't say...

IMG 1207

SmokinJoe439 wrote:
How old is that box? Does it say Art on the inside of the piston? Like I said there's still plenty of new old stock floating...

How old is that box? Does it say Art on the inside of the piston? Like I said there's still plenty of new old stock floating around out there. 

Screenshot 20231002 074154 Gallery.jpg?VersionId=PfiIzWhBpP3V63jJ0QGxsZzC

Screenshot 20231002 074120 Gallery

MXRalph wrote:
I had been changing Vertex pistons on my son's KTM 65 at 40hrs and they looked great. 2nd 65 at first replacement (40hr) Vertex were on...

I had been changing Vertex pistons on my son's KTM 65 at 40hrs and they looked great. 2nd 65 at first replacement (40hr) Vertex were on backorder so I ordered Pro-X and noticed the "Made in Taiwan" right away.

It measured correct so I installed but at 21hr (61 total) we lost 3rd gear and had to split the cases, The Pro-X had about a 3-4mm crack starting to go across the rear skirt. Probably wouldn't have made another full day of riding before catastrophe. Never again! 

I will say my buddy bought one for his '04 CR125 and it was ART from Japan. I'm thinking they may still use the old suppliers for the old products but maybe all new product line offerings since the buy out are sourced to Wiseco's Taiwan/China vendors. The complete crank I saw was  made in China but utilized their rods made in Japan.

The sales volume on a 30 year old 80cc is probably quite a bit lower than a current model KTM 85.

Moto520
Profile picture for user Moto520
Posts
3636
Joined
2/4/2013
Location
Schaumburg, IL, USA
Moto520 10/3/2023 7:56am
10/3/2023 7:56am

OEM for the pistons.  I got turned off when i bought a Wiseco piston and the instructions were to drill a hole in the piston.   That turned me off and i've never had bad luck since.

Pit Row

See All »

Post a reply to: Aftermarket vs OEM piston?