Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Trafficjamz wrote:

Bear45-70 wrote:

jcivince wrote:OEM Bearings and Seals ordered from RonAyers.com - bearings were $11.39 each and seals were $3.80 for one and $3.64 for the other and just $5 shipping.

I did hear back from VT Cycles - he has an airbox that's coming to him next Wednesday and also has oil pump plug (only in silver though) that he has set aside for me. He's swamped with orders/business right now. Last email I got from him he was just leaving his workshop at 3 in the morning!!

I don't think you guys understand bearings very well. If the bearing manufacture's numbers are the same, the bearings are the same and you over paid like * for the same bearing from a Honda dealer/ internet seller that were cheaper from your local bearing supplier. If the bearing is special, the number on it is different.

Are you saying that japan bearing and Taiwan bearing are the same quality?

If they are sold in this country they are. If a bearing has the number, say 352266 on it, then it is built to the industry standard for that number. Many manufacturer's will tell you you need to buy their bearings because they are special, but their number on the bearing is the same as the one from the bearing wholesaler (and at 1/2 to 1/4 the price). If it is a better quality, special clearances or whatever different, it will either have a different number or a prefix and/or suffix. Like 352266AA. The Chinese do not play by the rules and the government doesn't care, so china made is a big ? at best.

Pay attention.to manufactured in china vs bought from china. That is the main Chinese difference. Bear, you are wrong about the quility issue. Any company can stamp a number in a * piece of steel. Been there, seen that.

eliteguy50 wrote:Pay attention.to manufactured in china vs bought from china. That is the main Chinese difference. Bear, you are wrong about the quility issue. Any company can stamp a number in a * piece of steel. Been there, seen that.

Which China? Mainland or commies or the free China. Big difference in their attitudes and if you don't mind, I have forgotten more about this subject than you will know. It became very important for me to know when I was racing.

And it became more important for me as aliving in bearing distribution. It wasn't an aspect or factor in something else I did, it was everything I did. Know where someone comes from before making comparisons. BTW, metallurgy and bearing technologies have changed a little since the 80s (I think that was when you said you stopped racing). The 6304 is a very common bearing and hasn't really changed much though.

I don't mind what someone halfway across the nation thinks he knows compared to me.

eliteguy50 wrote:And it became more important for me as aliving in bearing distribution. It wasn't an aspect or factor in something else I did, it was everything I did. Know where someone comes from before making comparisons. BTW, metallurgy and bearing technologies have changed a little since the 80s (I think that was when you said you stopped racing). The 6304 is a very common bearing and hasn't really changed much though.

I don't mind what someone halfway across the nation thinks he knows compared to me.

No, it was 1995 when I had to give up racing. But I still worked in the 2 & 4 stroke industry until the mid 2000's and it ain't changed that much. So you are claiming that you can have 2 bearings with the same number from different manufacturers and the will be different? I don't think so.

Yes, the quality can be different. The number will give dimensions but does not mean quality.

BTW, congratulation on staying in the industry for so long.

Marking on a part doesn't really mean a lot.

My day job is that of being a Honda supplier (tier 1).

Issue that I run into all the time with Chinese suppliers is that even though the drawing calls out a specific material, it will be that material at the start of production (high grade material) but you go back and check it (or have a failure in the field is usually how it goes) a couple of years later and it's no longer the same material. No drawing change, no material marking change, but the part definitely changes. And that isn't just Chinese suppliers either - happens a lot with my US and different grades of plastic - crap fillers or regrind that has been through the molding cycle too many times.

Honda knows this about Chinese suppliers and actually made us call out in our control plan that we have to revalidate material every year to make sure suppliers are subbing inferior/cheaper metals. That's why buying the part in the Honda bag gives me some peace of mind.

Sorry - typo in the last sentence - we have to revalidate material every year to make sure Chinese suppliers DO NOT sub inferior/cheaper metal.

the bottom line is its yours and you can buy what ever you want..
swimmingfree

swimmingfree - Absolutely, you've hit the nail on the head!

And for me, buying from an OEM that is VERY conscious about part quality and NOT wanting to get sued or have some huge recall that hurts their image and bottom line, means that I'm more likely to get a quality part from them versus buying from some vendor that doesn't really care and/or doesn't have the resources to make sure the parts they are getting are actually what he/she thinks they are.

jcivince wrote:Sorry - typo in the last sentence - we have to revalidate material every year to make sure Chinese suppliers DO NOT sub inferior/cheaper metal.

I was like

jcivince wrote:Sorry - typo in the last sentence - we have to revalidate material every year to make sure Chinese suppliers DO NOT sub inferior/cheaper metal.

And this is why you should never buy chinese (commie) produced bearings. They are untrustworthy, their word means nothing.

Parts from VT Cycle on their way - will take about 5 days from Hawaii.

jcivince wrote:Parts from VT Cycle on their way - will take about 5 days from Hawaii.

Good luck! I ordered a cylinder kit from the Island on the seventh (not from VT), and it still ain`t here! Ordered stuff from Taiwan a week later, and it`s setting on the bench.

OneBulletDan wrote:

jcivince wrote:Parts from VT Cycle on their way - will take about 5 days from Hawaii.

Good luck! I ordered a cylinder kit from the Island on the seventh (not from VT), and it still ain`t here! Ordered stuff from Taiwan a week later, and it`s setting on the bench.

VT uses priority mail and it always has arrived here within a week.