Fake bearings

[Speed Freak]

Just wanted to warn you...

Metallic seal: Comes from my bike (30 years old)
Bearing on the Koyo box: New
Bearing on the right: Sold as original Koyo from a central European online shop, the letters on the bearing also say "KOYO JAPAN".

Koyo did not change ANYTHING on their bearings over 30 years, even the height of the letters is completely the same.
So I`m pretty sure that there just one reason why there is a difference between the right and the left bearing



Don`t buy bearings which are not in their original packaging with undamaged seal.
In case of Koyo they also should be in a plastic bag with Koyo logo on it.

[pstamper]

Good catch. I always try to order OEM bearings for what ever bike I am working on. What bearing was it?

[Speed Freak]

No problem to buy them from the original supplier, just be aware that there are a lot of fake bearings on the market.
I`m just a bit surprised that it was so easy to get one of these in central Europe from an official seller.

I avouid buying them in Yamaha boxes as they are totally overpriced (factor 3-5x) and in most cases there is no difference to the parts available on the free market - it`s cheaper for Yamaha to buy mass production parts than making their own versions as long as they are ok for them
In case of the RD350 clutch side crankshaft bearing it`s different, there they made a special version because they had trouble with the standard part (reinforced cage) - this bearing you will only get from Yamaha, officialy "made in China" and if you don`t know the difference you can`t judge if it`s a standard part from the original supplier or the special version from Yamaha.

It`s one of the front wheel bearings.
At the moment I`m trying to find out what they have changed over 30 years and which bearings can be used from the free market.
There are some "stumbling blocks" but it`s possible to get all original chassis roller bearings on the free market.

[pstamper]

I use a company called Boats.net for most thing but will watch when I start buying things for my 73 RD350. Thanks for the heads up.

[Speed Freak]

Checked the prices from boats.net, they are quite good, but useless for me as i have to pay a lot for shipping and customs...

Front wheel bearing koyo (European price) => 9€ (~10US$), boats.net 13,65$, european Yamaha price ~20€
The fake bearings cost 5€... I tried it as they were not offered as "motorcycle wheel bearings"

How it works:
- Offered as standard bearing from a general bearing dealer: Acceptable price
- Offered as Motorcycle specific wheel bearing (various models): Double price
- Offered as RD500 wheel bearing: Stupid price
But you get always the same part

The big rear wheel bearing costs ~15€, Yamaha 50€

Seems that it is better to live in the US or even better to live in Japan


But back to the topic, even in F1 race cars they had problems with fake bearings...