since we are all a bunch of parrots....let me say that 20 years as an aircraft inspector leads me to adopt the practice of replacing bearings when ever their surface mates get replaced as a general practice because of how bearings seat as they break in. so not knowing how many miles were on the subject bike, it would be hard to make a recommendation. excuse me for a minute...chewing on a cracker.

 

Changed out cam 2 years ago, bike had 4K on it,I did NOT change bearings as those INA bearings are better than you think,of course the Motor Company wants you to change to SE bearings,they sell them,now at 20K no issues,but what do I know I agree with KINGKINGKING anti-lock brakes on harleys stink,but lets not go there.
Stan

 

I don't think that replacing the bearings is a bad idea, far from it. I'm just not sure the B168s are actually an upgrade vs the caged INAs. I think a lot of folks look at the two and come to the conclusion that the caged bearing with fewer rolling elements must be cheaper to manufacture, but that's not really the case.

The biggest drawback to the caged bearings is the destruction that is possible in the event of a bearing failure. If the cage fails, little bits of cage and roller elements can find their way down into the crankcase. The upside to the caged bearings is the better lubrication of the rolling elements and cam journal.

I also think eventually the inner bearings will be eliminated in favor of plain bearings, which will be an upgrade, IMO. (go change the cam bearings in your V-Rod sometime)


But again, I'll point out that my opinion is very much a minority one. The moco is using the full complement B168s in the 120r motor, and I don't know a single engine builder who recommends staying with the INAs.


(Care to hear my opinion on squish grooves? )

 

Thanks for all of the replies. The install was completed on my friend's bike yesterday. Promised at 1300 delivered at 1545. He wound up staying with the stock bearings. This particular dealer does not stock bearings and since the customer did not ask for new bearings none were on hand to swap out. The bike has less than 300 miles on it so seating issues should not be a worry. I just didn't like the fact that the dealership was telling my friend that his bike already had an upgraded bearing in it. And from reading these posts if the older bikes had a 7/8" caged vs 1" used now, that could be considered an upgrade...???
Thanks Guys!!!

 

I installed Torrington-Timkin B168 bearings when I did my cam job 2½ years ago, but since that time I've changed my attitude a bit. Like some others here I no longer think that changing the stock INA's with full-complement bearings is a must, primarily because I've never heard of a stock INA bearing to fail--at least not one that was installed properly. My dealer uses the stock caged bearings for all cam jobs when the owner doesn't specify otherwise and claim they've had no problems. I believe them, but if I did another cam job I would use B168's again. Call me incorrigible, but I just like the idea of more needles carrying the increased load of higher-lift, more aggressive cams even if it is overkill.