The damage is way far gone but here are my thoughts.

Always make sure the rollers roll as I have had cam bearings I swore were frozen solid but it was the cosmoline type substance they use on them. I cleaned and worked them until they were free and used a good assembly lube. The SE stuff is actually really good - there are many good assembly lubes.

You said the one bike had 50k miles. Personally I would not take a 50k stock cam and install new bearings - I think that's asking for trouble as the surfaces have been run in together for a very long time and H-D stock cams leave a little to be desired in the hardness/durability department.

I do not see a bearing manufacturer name on the bearing so it makes me wonder about the bearing. The SCE168 is a designation and many people could make it. It doesn't matter if the shop doesn't intend to sell a poor part - it can happen so I would verify it's a quality, proven name brand bearing.

I have personally seen them pushed into the stop many times and not fail. It's a straight bore and all that happens is the rollers run closer to the end of the cam. I haven't seen them run off the end of a stock or SE cam. If you look at the bearing in the case (unless it's a shadow or oil) at the bottom of the bearing you can see it looks to be seated just below the chamfer and if you look at the cam, you can see where the rollers were riding. They do not appear to have been running off the end of the cam. If the bearing was proud of the bottom of the chamfer, it should have been pressed in a little more but you said it was on the lip. I would advise pressing these as directed in the Factory Service Manual for depth.

The bearing is very damaged but on my screen it looks to have rub marks from the cam. Can't really tell but the cam should never be able to touch the bearing housing - so if it can on a fresh assembly, that will be a failure down the road. Only you can really see this one.

The wear on the lobes is the hardness coming off. Have seen that hundreds of times over the years with Harley OE cams. We used to even see grooves worn into the cams from the rollers.

You said you measured crank run out. I believe people are referencing that because if it was out of true it would be loading the chain or gear for the cam driven off the crank but I believe that the oil pump would usually fail long before that. Also, the large bearing (early) or cam plate parent material (late) would take the brunt of the force. Remember though, full compliment is less tolerant of misalignment.

I look at it like what is the common denominator. In each case it would appear to be the bearings but only you know what other factors were changed. Personally I would make a list of all the things about the two bikes and see what's common. On the surface it would appear to be either installation or bearings.

 

I misspoke n the tools... I thought they were Jim's, but they are George's garage brand. I've got the engine that had the first set fail. Once I get this one stripped down and cases split, I'm going to use the install tools I have and install new bearings on both right side halves. I'l take depth measurements and calculate distance from inner lip. I'm really curious if my tools are causing misalignment.

The owner of the third bike I installed bearings into, as soon as I can get in touch with him, I'm having him bring his bike back to check everything out.

 

Could you post a picture of the mandrill that holds the bearing while pressing in.

 

It will be next week as I'm heading out the door on a road trip. But, for reference, it is the 96" and 103" non window style bearing installer from George's garage.

 

 

I'm thinking the same thing, especially since the shoulder on the tool is supposed to butt up against the engine case. Like I said, next week I'm going to use the tool on both cases and take measurements to see if the tool is off and causing the bearings to misalign or if it' causing the bearing outer cage to deform and cause the needles to bind up.

 

I really would also verify the manufacturer of the bearing you are purchasing from the shop.

 

I use this same tool from George's garage. I've done probably a dozen or more bikes with it and never an issue. I'm interested to see what the cause of all this was

 

Before I bought the George's tool, I tapped cam bearings in their bores with an old cam shaft; never had an issue. I don't know why I bought the tool.

 

Check the shoulder of the tool that the bearing rests against. Make sure it's flat and square with the rest of the tool. Maybe it's rolling the end of the bearing in or it has a raised gouge that is damaging the shoulder.