OP
Vintage Veloce
pro rider
Some last comments from April 2013, when someone else asked me about finding stuff in their oil:
If this is the 2nd oil change or later, and the particles are bigger than a grain of sand, I'd be concerned. If anything is as big as a 1/16" (1mm) of an inch I'd be very concerned!
You can visually inspect some of the bearing, by removing the cam cover, but not very well. And it could easy be failing with nothing to see. All you could visually see is if the bearing cage is missing or disintegrating, and at that point you have metal parts falling into the cases.
You don't need to pull the head, only the valve cover. And you won't need to replace that gasket.
Importantly!: It's cheap and easy to replace the bearings early! Once things go bad it's really expensive to split the cases to verify all the metal is removed.
My opinion: If you have ANY concern, do some cheap preventative work! I'd get a high quality substitute for the NSK 6901 bearing (you need two) and I'd have the dealer swap them in and check the valves while he is in there. Consider it an early "break in" service. I bet the whole bearing change thing, including parts, would be less than $200 for someone who knows what he is doing. And I would not order the bearing from Husky, I would get another brand than the stock NSK, preferably something made in Germany, the USA or Japan. The manufacturer and country of origin will be printed on the bearing, inspect it yourself (don't trust the dealer).
NSK 6901 are the original bearings that were in my 2010 TE250. NSK is the manufacturer and the bearings are marked "Indonesia". 6901 is somehow indicative of the size of the bearing. I would NOT get NSK, I would get something else, something made in the USA Germany or Japan. Frankly, Indonesia is probably fine, but given the NSK ones failed, I'd get something else. Bearings are complicated, but I expect a good bearing shop or engine machine shop could provide some guidance on a replacement. Note you do want an "open" bearing without seals, so that the bearing is lubricated by the engine oil. Find an expert.
Note the thin metal "cage" that holds the bearings in place. As the bearings fail this also disintegrates. With the cam cover off, you may be able to see the cage and determine if it is intact. But as I said, you could have problems beginning even with the cage intact.
But I'll carefully inspect the cage as well as I can every valve adjustment.
If this is the 2nd oil change or later, and the particles are bigger than a grain of sand, I'd be concerned. If anything is as big as a 1/16" (1mm) of an inch I'd be very concerned!
You can visually inspect some of the bearing, by removing the cam cover, but not very well. And it could easy be failing with nothing to see. All you could visually see is if the bearing cage is missing or disintegrating, and at that point you have metal parts falling into the cases.
You don't need to pull the head, only the valve cover. And you won't need to replace that gasket.
Importantly!: It's cheap and easy to replace the bearings early! Once things go bad it's really expensive to split the cases to verify all the metal is removed.
My opinion: If you have ANY concern, do some cheap preventative work! I'd get a high quality substitute for the NSK 6901 bearing (you need two) and I'd have the dealer swap them in and check the valves while he is in there. Consider it an early "break in" service. I bet the whole bearing change thing, including parts, would be less than $200 for someone who knows what he is doing. And I would not order the bearing from Husky, I would get another brand than the stock NSK, preferably something made in Germany, the USA or Japan. The manufacturer and country of origin will be printed on the bearing, inspect it yourself (don't trust the dealer).
NSK 6901 are the original bearings that were in my 2010 TE250. NSK is the manufacturer and the bearings are marked "Indonesia". 6901 is somehow indicative of the size of the bearing. I would NOT get NSK, I would get something else, something made in the USA Germany or Japan. Frankly, Indonesia is probably fine, but given the NSK ones failed, I'd get something else. Bearings are complicated, but I expect a good bearing shop or engine machine shop could provide some guidance on a replacement. Note you do want an "open" bearing without seals, so that the bearing is lubricated by the engine oil. Find an expert.
Note the thin metal "cage" that holds the bearings in place. As the bearings fail this also disintegrates. With the cam cover off, you may be able to see the cage and determine if it is intact. But as I said, you could have problems beginning even with the cage intact.
But I'll carefully inspect the cage as well as I can every valve adjustment.
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