The Harley OEM bearings have cage type needle bearings. Another words the needle bearings are not side by side. They are caged...between every needle bearing there is a little metal bar shaped to hold the bearings in. Hence the word caged. It's the cage that is the flaw, if one cracks or some how gets damaged then the needle bearings can come out and chew your motor up. The B-148's however are made differently. The needle bearings are first placed in the cup and the ends of the cup are then drawn around the ends of needle bearings eliminating the need for the cage to hold them in. The last set I pulled out of a bike, somehow the bearing dropped below the cage and the cage scraped a nice big FAT groove in the cam bearing surface. And I was just going in to replace tensioners. If it had gone another... oh say 5,000 mi the motor would have been toast. Thats why it is VERY IMPORTANT to me to change out those nasty OEM bearings with B-148"s the first time I go into a cam case to do any work. And that is why I would suggest you do the same. Any indy shop will will most likely have a set for sale. there not to costly eather.
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Also, after installing, insert your finger into the bearing and rotate the needle bearings. They have been known to get in a bind during installation; not probable but possible.

 

 

Especially if your not going to use a proper installation tool. The new bearings should be pressed in not hammered in. I have herd on other forms that you can rent the tools somewhere. I have them all so I never looked.

 

So what you are saying is if you were to use a bearing installer like the ones from the auto parts you might be ok as long as you use a disk that is actually bigger than the overall diameter so to not get them deeper than the crankcase?
By looking at the Beatty tool i don't see how that can be prevented. it only seems like it presses instead of tapping in... I might be looking at it wrong???
I have never done this that is why i am asking.
I may pay my local Indy to do this party for me...i will ask if he will do just this...

 

To answer your question in #16; yes, there is a shoulder to stop the inner cam bearing but the bearings should not be installed to the full depth of the stop. You want as much of the cam shaft journal riding in the bearing as possible, so the bearings should be installed, numbers facing out, so that the cage is flush with the motor case. If you look at the bearing, you will see that the back side of the cage (no numbers) has rounded edges to assist with lining up the bearing when it is inserted into the bore. The front side of the cage (numbers) is flat and does not have the rounded edges.

Before I got the Beatty tool, I would put the bearings in the freezer over night, liberally apply assembly lube, slip the bearing on to an old cam shaft and tap them in with no issues. Having said that, I will also say that using the proper install tool is the better way; less margin for error. The Beatty tool works; to remove and install; if you aren't sure about it, call Gary and talk to him; he has sold quite a few.

If you are not comfortable with tapping the bearins in with an old cam shaft and can't borrow the install tool, George's Garage has one modeled on the Jim's tool for $80, mas o menas.

It's not that hard and you can do it, just use your head, take your time and don't get in a hurry. The bearings are cheap, if you frak it up, you can pull it and try again.

 

Thank you sir.

 

djl - thanks for the info, George's Garage has what I'm looking for plus for the price I will upgrade to the newer bearings. I'm also going to buy the tools needed, there much cheaper from George's Garage than the Screamin Eagle tools., over a $100 difference plus the only difference I see is the decal.

 

Here's a link to pictoral description of the Beatty tool if you're interested. This tool both pulls the old bearing and installs the new one. There's a cup that's used when you do the install to ensure that the new bearing starts out flush and goes in straight. https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...t-day-3-a.html