85 250r axle bearings

[tmecars]

Im going to start replacing all bearings/seals on my 85 250r. What are the advantages of going with a billet rear carrier assembly? Should I just stay with factory carrier and simply replace the bearings/seals?

Thanks
T

[KASEY]

if everything is in good shape in your carrier except the bearings then there is no advantage to a billet carrier,,, they are stronger than a stock cast carrier ,but if you have never broke a stock one then and it is still good ,,just replace your bearings and seals ,, why spend the extra $130-$180 ?????

[Dirtcrasher]

Im going to start replacing all bearings/seals on my 85 250r. What are the advantages of going with a billet rear carrier assembly? Should I just stay with factory carrier and simply replace the bearings/seals?

Thanks
T


I just wanted to add - don't buy those EBAY cheap bearings - believe me a bearing is not just a bearing. I would go with my local bearing dealer and get SKF or NACHI or another good brand. Or of course OEM is a good quality bearing but more $$$.

[Mike Fort Laud]

Stock Bearing Carriers suck!!!. Do yourself a favor and buy a billet doublerow bearing carrier. I bought a Lone Star Carrier for my '85. It is great. It is ready to go and it has a grease zerk fitting so you can pump it full of grease. The stock OEM bearings are to thin and you will soon be replacing them again. Before I bought my LSR Carrier I turned my stock carrier on the lathe to cut it deeper and I put 4 bearings in it. 2 on each side. That helped but now I had 4 thin bearings to wear out. On the '86 you can get the tapered bearings that work better for side load force. The bearings that are in there now are for rolling straight. They are not designed to handle the side force created when you are sliding or even turning your bike. Plus the stock carrier is cast aluminum and weak. Plus where you tighten the chain that part always gets screwed up looking. You could get a LSR Carrier or RAD Mfg makes a good one also. But it depends on how you ride your bike and how much you want to spend. On my bike I ride it hard and I want it to be as good as I can make it so money is never the issue on my bike . I would much rather Buy Quality than have a loose axl The loose axle will screw up your brake rotor and caliper as well as your brake rotor hub. Buy Billet!!!!!!!!!

[KASEY]

there are some misconseptions here,, first there is no side loading on the bearings in the carrier if they are installed and shimmed properly,,, if the tube between is worn and not the proper lenght then you will side load the bearing when you tighten up the axle it will cause premature failure,,,, i still run a stock cast carrier with one bearing on each side in my 500 ,,and i doubt that you can stress that sprocket side bearing even close with the power of a 250,,, installed properly with good bearings stock will last for years,,,,,,,,,

[md1985250r]

there are some misconseptions here,, first there is no side loading on the bearings in the carrier if they are installed and shimmed properly,,, if the tube between is worn and not the proper lenght then you will side load the bearing when you tighten up the axle it will cause premature failure,,,, i still run a stock cast carrier with one bearing on each side in my 500 ,,and i doubt that you can stress that sprocket side bearing even close with the power of a 250,,, installed properly with good bearings stock will last for years,,,,,,,,,

i agree completely kasey............mine is 1985 ORIGINAL swinger ,carrier and bearings there is no problems yet....and i ride it hard.........how can you side load it??????????? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

tmecars........stick with the oem stuff...........if the bearings need replacing i would just get factory honda bearings,but i would consider why are you replacing them anyway?? are they bad? or just replacing because they are 18 years old?...they lasted this long ........new honda bearings are gonna last at least that long again!!! if properly maintained!! :-D

[Dirtcrasher]

Yep - stock will last many moons!! I believe what was trying to be stated is that radial ball bearings with round balls aren't really meant to take any loads other than radial or merely spinning around. They will take up some but the design of the ball race is not for that axial movement. There are other more expensive bearings designed for both loads. Side to side is such as merely taking a corner - the axle is pushing on one side and pulling in the other.


I will keep my stock carrier until it's junk, I can get nice NACHI bearings and TCM seals for about 30$ and they last me quite awhile I'm sure.

[tmecars]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I want to strip my R down and paint the frame, etc. I thought since I would be stripping it down anyway may as well replace all the bearings/seals to get the bike feeling new again. Isnt that what all of you do?

[Mike Fort Laud]

[skippy]

thats what i do!! to powdercoat and polish the parts, ya have to remove bearings anyways..

[TimSr]

Im with Kasey, If it aint broke, why fix it? I had a bearing go out and destroy my carrier and I bought a billeted one. Its much stronger made. I ahve noticed a couple of things. Ive seen no difference in the lifespan of double row beairngs and stock style single row bearings. Ive also seen no difference in the lifespan of "cheap" bearings and "good" ones. If there is, its not enough to justify paying double or triple the cost to me. Bearings arent a exactly a "hi tech" item where there are all that many variables that affect quality other than the hardness of the metals, and "harder" is not "better". Run what makes you happy and confident, but personally I think the Taiwanese and Chinese make a good inexpensive bearing. As for OEM, they may come in a bag marked "Honda" or Yamaha", but Honda and Yamaha do not make bearings. They did use Japanese made bearings, but I havent bought an OEM bearing in so long I wouldnt be surprised if they were using Taiwan bearings now.

[Dirtcrasher]

When I was a maintenance machinist we had lines of identical machines. When we needed bearings quick we called McMaster/Carr an industrial supplier and they sold us radial no name China ball bearings for 1/2 of the cost of a quality bearing but we could get them overnight. When we had more downtime we would order SKF or NACHI or other "better" brands and they took 3 days to get here. Every single cheapo bearing we installed had about half of the life span of the quality bearing which was about double the cost. Same machines, same environment and one guy installing them - me. One time I spoke to the salesman at Eastern Bearings and he said he would gladly sell me a 3$ 6203, a 6$ 6203 or a 9$ 6203 bearing - when I asked the differences he stated " manufacturers tolerences in production, if you want a cheap bearing I'll sell you a cheap bearing ".If you guys want to put 7$ bearings in your rear axle and carrier instead of a 15$ bearing , have a ball - I can only share what I have seen. I think 35$ for axle bearings and seals from a manufacturer that has proven themselve to me is well worth it. As far as OEM yes I should have stated that Honda themselves doesn't make any bearings but even when you open the package they are actually a NAC or NOK bearing which are 2 other brands that I have seen last some time.