The engine was bought new from a major supplier, It's mounted on a PT-17 biplane and it has never nosed over or had a crash. I do use a starter on occaison to start it, and I thought maybe I did it some how with it. I have a tru turn prop hub which extends out beyond the prop hub about 1-1/4, so I could get some leverage on the end of the crank . I just happen to notice one day that it seemed out of round when ideling. The original crank is not all that bad in terms of the overall machining but it is more rough looking than the replacement, the pictures are not as clear in showing that. It coud be that the original never was heat treated correctly and so I bent it with the starter being off centered some? I have another dle on my ryan and so far no problem, both engines run great and the power is excellent even with a bent crank I would not hesitate to buy another, I'm done with glow for my bigger planes. It only took about 45 min to replace the crank and it was only $25