The original and replacement bearing from Harley IS NOT a sealed bearing. It is a standard open ball bearing.

 

Interesting.

That's good to know, but I still think it's a poor design.

just my

 

Amen to that. As I said before, loading a ball bearing sideways isn't the best way to do it. I would think a tapered roller would hold up a lot better.

 

designed with the cheapest 'good enough' components to cut production cost,

designed to fail to keep the parts counter profitable,

sad.

 

Has anyone tried a tapered bearing of the same size?

 

Well, the ball bearing seems to last for several (in my case 13) years, and at a little over 10 bucks and less than a half hour to replace, I don't think I'd mess with the original design.

 

how do i check the throw out bearing to see if that is it

 

how can i check my throw out bearing

 

I guess now I know the answer to this. If your bearing behaves like this: then it's already too loose.

HTH.