Hub we are doing this on all the bearings on the 14! I m not saying the stock clearances are to tight for service limits but they are to tight for me. Not to knock your info hub but this is nothing new or out of the ordinary for drag engines.
I also believe it benefits any 14 as they do come on the small end of the clearance limit oem.....................Bill

Bill,

I had a #3 bearing failure a few months ago. Is this something you think is wide spread with 14 and too tight tolerances from the factory? Kawi is staying very quiet on this issue and staying way back from providing any assistance on this.

My tech still says it was clearance issue from the factory and even tried to get kawi to help out a little on parts but it was a no go. I had to eat it all.

Well,I've no experience with any of this.But how could I know if something was wrong?I've got 36,000+ miles on my bike...and not one strange noise,knock,tick or any shavings and such in any of my oil changes since day one.Temp runs consistent.Burns no oil.Idles fine.Runs excellent and strong.Is there like some kind of "warning" before something like this happens?She's been to the top SEVERAL times...for extended times(at least 3 to 4 minutes at wide open...long enough to stop pulling anyway.At least I "think" she stopped pulling...she MAY have had some more steam left..I suspect she did)...and never balked once.I'm not going to be doing that anymore...maybe rarely.But how would I know if she was damaged?Or for that matter,preparing to let go.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 7/22/2010 @ 9:49 AM *

And that is why detonation is so brutal on the bearings.

I think its a good time to revisit this topic since Snuffy's bike just took one out.
I also think Hub has been proven wright on the cause or part of it anyway early on.
I have a thought to add to what we already think causes some of the #3 rod brg failure!
Hub what is your thinking about crank walk or flex? [radial not side to side] grabbing the bearing out of balance so to speak and wiping it until eventually wearing brg past limit in a spot and then at heavy load[nos,lsr etc] it just fails due to lube fracture or clearances?
When i started checking the weight of cranks that have failed there was no notable differences!
Do you think i am chasing a dead end ??.........