Ironhead Powerside crank bearings

[waza]

I bought a set of new bearings for the crank (Drive train side), they were suppose to be timken. The guys says they are, but no timken name on the bearings. In the past, all timkens I bought said timken on the bearing. Did they change this and are just coding it now or is this dude full of it?

Dumb question but it's been a few years since I installed a crank

[barefoot]

Originally Posted by waza

I bought a set of new bearings for the crank (Drive train side), they were suppose to be timken. The guys says they are, but no timken name on the bearings. In the past, all timkens I bought said timken on the bearing. Did they change this and are just coding it now or is this dude full of it?

I have a dumb question : I see a lot of "I bought bearings from XYZ Sportster Store and ..."

You can't just go to the bearing store and buy bearings direct now ? It was always way cheaper before and you got exactly what you asked for.

[Hopper]

Timken bearings should come in a Timken box and be engraved Timken on the bearing.
I would not fit no-name bearings with no markings. Too many Chinese cheapos about.

You could email Timken on their website and ask.

A reputable bearing shop that is a Timken distributor is probably going to give you the right part. But some Harley aftermarket suppliers these days will sell you just about anything.

[saddlebagrail]

The problem right now is major US bearing manufacturers has been either bought buy others and/or close their plants in US ,and some chinese plant are doing «replica» of brand name bearing,we will end up searching quailty bearings in a very short while,and this is the truth....

Dear Sir,
This is Xiha from China , as we know your esteem company is in the market of bearing.
And we are the directly bearing factory from China, we can offer all kinds of bearing ,including brands: SKF, FAG, NSK, NTN, KOYO, INA, TIMKEN, NACHI, IKO, etc . So you may be insteresing in our product . For more information,please refer: www.yobearing.com. Any question, you please contact with me.


here is more...

11/2/2010
World Bearing Association Launches Awareness Campaign Against Product Counterfeiting




CANTON, Ohio: November 2, 2010 – The Timken Company is providing this news release on behalf of the World Bearing Association (WBA). In the last two decades, counterfeiting in general has grown by 10,000 percent, globally. While there has been much reporting about consumers being taken advantage of by counterfeits in music, film, home electronics and designer clothing, a far greater risk lies in industrial counterfeiting of items such as tires, seals and bearings. All these products are safety-critical and fake versions pose a real threat.

As a result, the World Bearing Association (WBA) has launched an awareness campaign to inform about safety hazards arising from counterfeit bearings. “Our initiative is aimed at sensitizing the public on the dangers associated with counterfeits,” says James W. Griffith, WBA president and president and chief executive officer of The Timken Company. “The WBA is thus intensifying its anti-counterfeiting initiatives – that means information for customers on the one hand and consistent prosecution of offenders through the competent authorities on the other.”

more

http://www.timken.com/en-us/about/Ne...erfeiting.aspx




and this
Bogus Bearings Look More Real Than the Real Ones


The counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags you can buy in China's fake markets may fall apart on you quickly, but at least they won't kill you. A phony bearing that doesn't meet the technical specs could. A recent onslaught of bogus after-market bearings in China has created a major headache for legitimate bearing makers like SKF and Timken, who say that it's often very difficult to distinguish the fakes from the non-fakes. Counterfeiters are getting very good at reproducing the original markings and the packaging--in some instances they're getting almost too good. As a case in point, compare the real and counterfeit versions of the SKF BAHB 311443 AB HBU1 bearing above. Note that the marking on the counterfeit (right) looks more "genuine" than the marking on the actual SKF bearing. "The fact that they may look more real only underscores the need for people to look beyond physical appearances and make sure they only buy from authorized dealers and distributors," says SKF's Colin Roberts. To help people avoid getting duped, SKF offers a tip sheet on how to detect fake bearings.
Shanghai, China--Just around the corner from the Shanghai offices of the Swedish bearing giant SKF lies a jumble of shops
specializing in after-market mechanical parts. You can find almost any type and brand of bearing here, including some counterfeit versions so real looking that only a technical lab could confirm their lack of authenticity.

[barefoot]

Originally Posted by saddlebagrail

The problem right now is major US bearing manufacturers has been either bought buy others and/or close their plants in US ,and some chinese plant are doing «replica» of brand name bearing,we will end up searching quailty bearings in a very short while,and this is the truth....

It's worse than that, actually. I don't know about Timken but I do know about some of the others.

There aren't so many "counterfeit" Chinese bearings. What there are is joint ventures half-owned by FAG, INA, SKF, etc who make bearings cheap. Then they sell them for the same old price as when they made them in the US or Germany or Japan. That makes for a nice juicy profit. Or they completely set up "suppliers" then just put their names on the boxes.

What makes the AFBMA upset is when the same bearings they are happy to sell you for $39.95 go out the back door of the very same factories at $ 9.95.

The accuracy of the "counterfeits" is exactly the same as the accuracy of the brand names. They are all made on the same machines. What is most likely different (altho maybe not even that) is the materials. So they wear out faster ... if the materials in the "genuine" products are what they claim. I have my doubts ...

I can also name a specialty bearing manufacturer in Los Angeles who actually buys bearings for $1.50 each in Ningbo then sells them for $14 each as their 'specialty product, short run, high costs, sorry, gotta make a profit' in the US. Nice.

It looks like the US may already be as bad as China, where you can't believe anything. It's so nice to have a country run by investors.

So anyhow, waza, if you're going to get cheated, at least make them go to the trouble of doing a good job of it.


About the LV stuff, the real LV truly is better. You can tell easily by looking. They must be one of the few who do make their own products. Gucci is crap made in Guangzhou for $5. Go to your neighborhood Gucci store and look at that garbage. The genuine article is crap. Yuppies must be blind ?

p.s. These companies are really using your ignorance (not stupidity, just lack of knowledge of a place 10,000 miles away) to take advantage of you. Fifteen years ago Ningbo was a major city in Hovel National Park. There was no one there with ten bucks in their bank account and the newest piece of equipment was stuff left behind when the Japs were defeated. There was not one forklift in the entire province. (That's probably an exaggeration but it's pretty close.) I'd go down a new road and there would be 500 people with shovels making it. Not one piece of heavy equipment. There were ponies pulling carts making deliveries on the streets. Pissing on a tree was the extent of their mechanical abilities. They had nothing.

Now it's Bearing Central.

Somehow, in ten years, with no money to spend and no knowledge of their own, Chinese companies all by themselves are making counterfeit parts so good that people can't tell ? This is like believing in Planet of the Apes. And I'm the Queen of Sheba. Who came here and set up all these factories ? And Why ?

Oh yeah, let's talk technical specs by the great and responsible American manufacturing companies ... want to see the charts of non-compliant critical parts ? Parts that really do kill you when they break ? Parts like automotive wheels ? Charts that show almost 50% failure to pass q/c ? Do you want to hear what the answer was from the Tier 1 American purchaser ? How about " Well, if we make too much trouble they won't sell to us anymore."

I am not joking. Also lost that job shortly afterwards for making too much trouble. (No big loss, actually.)

These are your wonderful profit-oriented investor-owned companies, not the Chinese ones. The Chinese people just laugh, because they know that Americans are whores for a nickel. They wave that nickel and the Americans come running like greyhounds after a bunny. Your investor class hates you. They will do anything to avoid having to pay American workers. Anything.

[saddlebagrail]

I just did a rebuild on a late Shovelhead tranny and need to order some bearings for my bearing supplier(GB-2610 precision needle bearing),the main drive bearing is actually a «Torrington/Timkens» bought by Koyo in Japan a while ago,

He did not have them in stock but phone Koyo and they still had 2 in stock,I need one but order two since they will become hard to come by......price 55 dollars each plus 10 dollars shipping for a total of 120 dollars ,and this is for only the main bearing on the fourth gear,Ray

We will have to pay high price to rebuild our old machine with good quality stuff in a very short while

[waza]

thanks for the info, I thought they were chinese. Time to send them back

[barefoot]

Originally Posted by waza

thanks for the info, I thought they were chinese. Time to send them back

Let's hope

http://www.timken.com/en-us/about/Pa...eOverview.aspx

Originally Posted by the Timken Company

Joint Ventures

Timken (Anshan) Industrial Services Co. Ltd. - Anshan, Liaoning Province, China
Timken XEMC (Hunan) Bearings Co., Ltd. – Xiangtan, China.