Looking for "discontinued" main crank bearings

[IanW]

Does anyone know where I can find "brown" main (crank) bearings?

I am rebuilding the bottom end an '82 SOHC XS400SJ. The OEM part number is 12R-11416-20-00. The local and online dealers I have contacted say they are discontinued. I only need a single set! There must be one set hiding in a parts warehouse somewhere...

Attached is a photo of the old bearings.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Robsteeler66]

You can try these guys. They are supposed to be good at finding NOS parts.
http://www.speedandsportinc.com/

 

[xschris]

Have you spec'd the crank to be sure of the size. Most of the time the standard size is all you need. Brown is the the third size up. They go blue, black, brown and green. Blue is the standard size.

 

[esmith87]

MyOldYamaha.com

Last time I saw them there, they were really cheap. 1L9-11416-20-00, will also suffice for this application, but I will agree with Xschris, you should definitely spec your crank and be sure those are the correct shells. And I'll agree with Robsteeler66 on http://www.speedandsportinc.com. These are some great parts people to say the least. Happily dealt with them many times. Ebay is a bit pricey, but occasionally a good lot of these bearings will turn up.

 

[Yamaguy55]

+1 on the S&S tip. They are a few miles away from me and the source for NOS Yamaha parts.

They have your bearings in stock right now. Good price too.

 

[IanW]

Thanks for the good advice. I tried the S&S and MyOldYamaha contacts but to no avail. My local contacts were also unsuccessful.

So, I will try buying all black bearings, and then I will pasti-guage the assembled mains to see if the clearance is within specs. Wish me luck.

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[Scorpio1963]

Something I don't get as many of these xs400`s are still around today why does some company not step up and make us xs owner bearings?

 

[xschris]

There is not as many as you think The bearings cost more than what some pay for the bike.

 

[Yamaguy55]

Thanks for the good advice. I tried the S&S and MyOldYamaha contacts but to no avail. My local contacts were also unsuccessful.

So, I will try buying all black bearings, and then I will pasti-guage the assembled mains to see if the clearance is within specs. Wish me luck.

Posted via Mobile

The other option is to have a good auto machine shop polish the crank journals and fit the thicker inserts. This is done on autos all of the time.

 

[Scorpio1963]

There is not as many as you think The bearings cost more than what some pay for the bike.

Theres a lot of older jap bikes out there suzukis are very similar to Yamaha Im sure some these bikes have similar journal sizes on their cranks also taking into consideration of all of us here that own them there should be enough to market the bearings unless its the same thing our government is doing with the older cars.Discontinuing parts forcing the consumer to buy newer vehicles.

 

[xschris]

Our old 400 is not popular. unlike the xs650, cb750, rd's that sort of old jap bike stuff. That those types are in demand with buying customers not gov corruption

 

[MrStubb]

Many times I find that speed parts for common engines are of better quality than factory originals. Same go's for internals and usually less expensive. I have to agree with the others about checking for wear on your crank journals. There are many engine builders who should be willing to regrind your crank if needed and match a set of bearing shells for you. Remember after you plastigage your journals and are ready to button her up. Please don't do what I did and re use the old rod bolts. I almost found out the hard way they were torq to yield bolts. They're only good for 1 proper torqing and will fail. This was in our 71 Monte Carlo I was lucky and it only developed a slight knock. On inspection I caused 2 rod bearings to spin. A good polishing with new bearings & bolts and the car was reliably eating mustangs and crappin cudas.

 

[MrStubb]

Just remembered If your bearing shells are in good shape you may be able to find someone that can reline them with the clevite material. Some restorers of classic and vintage cars have had this done.

 

[Scorpio1963]

That's a good idea Mr stubbs but Id probably have to search down in the big city to have it done.I know of any places here where I live that are capable of doing the relining.I would think a person could contact clevite and have it done.

 

[MrStubb]

Used to be a shop in down town Minneapolis where I had work done on my Monte's engine. They would deal with any number of things like relining shell bearings and the lost art of pouring babbit bearings for antique stationary engines. You may have some luck on an antique tractor and stationary engine site. This could be cost prohibitive but as a last resort.