Crank Bearing?? Wow!

[dsaint77]

Honda OEM Crank Bearing, made out of plastic. News to me. Also came filled with axle grease.

Well I washed out the grease, but I wonder about the bearing being made out of plastic.. Steel outer race, steel balls, Plastic inside to keep the balls aligned.

Adam

[C-LEIGH RACING]

Yeah, those plastic ball cages have been around for years & that is not just regular plastic either.

You never get to old to learn, not even me.
Did you know, when an all steel ball bearing rotates, it creates static load with in itself, holding it back from rotating freely ??.

That is why, the racers with PLENTY of money backing, will opt for ceramic bearings in place of the steel ones so the engine will spin more freely.
Neil

[fastrnrik]

We run ceramics in all of our mini quads. 200 bucks for two crank bearings.

[machwon]

A lot of the ceramic bearings i have used have the plastic retainers. I've never seen an OEM (KOYO) honda bearing with a plastic retainer though.

[Rich250RRacer]

Originally posted by C-LEIGH RACING
Yeah, those plastic ball cages have been around for years & that is not just regular plastic either.

You never get to old to learn, not even me.
Did you know, when an all steel ball bearing rotates, it creates static load with in itself, holding it back from rotating freely ??.

That is why, the racers with PLENTY of money backing, will opt for ceramic bearings in place of the steel ones so the engine will spin more freely.
Neil

Neil, have you ever heeard of any issues with the ceramic bearings? A friend of mine was using them in his CR250 microsprint motors, and they did not hold up. It cost him a couple of VERY expensive motors.

[machwon]

Sounds like he needs a new engine builder.

[C-LEIGH RACING]

I was told to not mess around with the cheap ones or that is what will happen.
I believe China was mentioned.
Let me ask you this, he getting pushed & then cramming it in gear to crank it ??.

Guy I know, did a modded KX 85, every bearing in it except the needle type & had around 2 grand in the bearings.
Little KX pumped up to a 112 & you could not look at & tell it ever been touched. Spank a big 250 in a heart beat, but that boy could ride.
Neil

[Rich250RRacer]

Originally posted by machwon
Sounds like he needs a new engine builder.

OK, I'll be sure to tell him that....................:rolleyes:

[Rich250RRacer]

Originally posted by C-LEIGH RACING
I was told to not mess around with the cheap ones or that is what will happen.
I believe China was mentioned.
Let me ask you this, he getting pushed & then cramming it in gear to crank it ??.

Guy I know, did a modded KX 85, every bearing in it except the needle type & had around 2 grand in the bearings.
Little KX pumped up to a 112 & you could not look at & tell it ever been touched. Spank a big 250 in a heart beat, but that boy could ride.
Neil

They were made here, and they were very expensive, a few hundred bucks if I remember correctly. He does push the car off to start it, not sure if it's in gear or if it gets banged into gear after it starts moving.

[machwon]

I doubt push starting would cause any issues. I have used them in several motors (mini's and 250R's), the expensive ones are the best. We have gotten some from certain powersports shops that were called "hybrid" ceramic bearings. Not being a bearing guru, I not sure what that meant but they definitely did not free spin like the expensive ones. I've yet to see any version fail, but the hybrids don't spin much better than a traditional quality bearing. You can save some $$ by sending a decent used bearing in and having the balls replaced with ceramics and new keepers.

[C-LEIGH RACING]

I can be wrong about this, but I believe there are times when people go to far, with high dollar high tech stuff to go inside an engine & will end up doing no good at all as far as winning a race.

One could spend all the money they could round up, to build the highest hp engine they could produce & still never get to the checkered flag first.

I've read & heard this many times over the years, what was on Eric Gores site, Speed is 95% rider 5% HP, which is true when you really dig down deep & check, but we cant leave out the element of CC's.
Neil

[C-LEIGH RACING]

Ok, I've got a bit more bearing info, this came direct from some higher up on the food chain 2 stroke people from around the world that I'm privy with.

I've got three places the bearings should come from, all are in the US & didnt bother with the places listed overseas.

http://www.worldwidebearings.com
http://www.engineers...ic_bearing.htm
http://www.precisionbearing.net

Another place, but not listed as a link, Bearing Tech, out of Oregon & their bearing type used, is St Gobain brand.

Richracer,
I need a bunch more details from you on these bearings that failed.

Was talk in those threads, where I got the links from, of bearings with ceramic coated metal balls.
Those that failed, were they made like that ??.
Neil

[machwon]

Bearing Tech is where I recommend, looks like some popular atv engine guys listed there too.

http://ceramicbearings.net/index.html

[Rich250RRacer]

Originally posted by C-LEIGH RACING
Ok, I've got a bit more bearing info, this came direct from some higher up on the food chain 2 stroke people from around the world that I'm privy with.

I've got three places the bearings should come from, all are in the US & didnt bother with the places listed overseas.

http://www.worldwidebearings.com
http://www.engineers...ic_bearing.htm
http://www.precisionbearing.net

Another place, but not listed as a link, Bearing Tech, out of Oregon & their bearing type used, is St Gobain brand.

Richracer,
I need a bunch more details from you on these bearings that failed.

Was talk in those threads, where I got the links from, of bearings with ceramic coated metal balls.
Those that failed, were they made like that ??.
Neil

I'll talk to him and find out where he got them.