The bearings on my Saito 125 have worn down... was thinking about sending it back to saito for warranty repair, or replace the bearings myself...

i was looking at boca bearings and they had some high performance ones for 36 dollars, claims to be better for your engine... is this true?

Does anyone have experience with these?

They also have ceramic ones which cost an arm, a leg, my house, and girlfriend... has anyone used these?


Thanks guys

xX911gt2Xx... I got some ceramic bearings with shield for my S-100.. I only have about
10 tanks on it since I installed them, But all seems to be doing great.... I know that's not
much time, but they are still super smooth as when I installed them... $30 something shipped....

http://www.rc-bearings.com/ He's in Glendale, AZ

Take a look brada...

If it's under warranty then let them handle it.Once you play with it they wont cover anything.if you want to handle the work ,then it is your responsibilty.

Rc bearings blows boca bearings out of the water. Fast shipping and great prices...Got a few sets from him !!!

http://www.rc-bearings.com/

Mine was under warranty and they came up with a BS reason to not cover the damage. When purchased, the rep recommended 30% heli fuel due to the high oil content, so I complied. Three gallons into it and the rear bearing went, resulting in worn tappets and worn cam lobes. They claimed the warranty did not cover rust and that was the reason for failure.

Even the cheaper bearings from Boca are stainless steel and are far better than the junk Saito uses. Every failed Saito @ the field is bearing related.

I will check out www.rc-bearings.com for future referance. Thanks. Joe

It's really strange that after making such a jewel of an engine with high-quality castings, precision engineering, advanced metalurgy and beautiful looks, Saito go and throw in bearings that are definitely of sub-standard quality.

What's going through their heads?

I'm wondering if the vibration issue that plagues *some* Saito (but not others of the same model) could be in part due to the quality of these stock bearings.

I think I'll change the bearings in my SA100 jack-hammer and see if that soothes the vibes somewhat. There's no axial or radial play in the stock bearings (yet) and they feel perfectly smooth -- but hell, perhaps they're producing some unseen runout on the rear of the crankshaft or something.

I've used both the high performance and the ceramic from Boca. Not a lot of obvious difference once installed. They were both used in OS 91FX two-strokes. They were excellent quality. I don't have any experience with them in four-strokes.

XJet.... Some of the Saito/bearing stories I have heard makes you wonder...

I think I have a "shaky" "new" S-82... It made me even buy a precision prop balancer,
but no difference she still has a fair amount of shake[:@]... I have been thinking of ordering
a ceramic set from rc-bearings for it also to see if that'll make a difference...

I might get a set of the same for my SA100. Does Paul (RC-Bearings take PayPal I wonder?

We should compare notes after the bearing-change and see if it *does* make a difference.

I put a set of the high speed stainless Boca bearings in an OS 46FX once. It ran fine for several gallons. Maybe 7 or 8 gallons. I retired the engine prematurely because I switched to gas engines, but it was still running perfectly. I have it sitting in a box and wrapped in a plastic bag somewhere. Wouldn't hesitate to pull it out, wipe it down and run it today if I needed it.

changing a set of bearings is not going to smooth out an engine. if its banging it's probably rich. or you got a cranky engine. I've changed out my 100 and my 72 both with boca bearings. saito use's cheap $5 bearing's in their engines. I seem to get about a season before they wear out. I fly a lot. so far so good with my bocas. I replaced the bearings in my 100 in the beginning of the year with their stainless steal, high speed and they seem great still. and with saito's warranty they almost didn't cover my bearings because they said I burned an excessive amount of fuel in it. horizon thought 7 gallons in 6 months was excessive. luckily they covered it because they said it was clean inside. I don't think the warranty states how much is excessive. but I thought that was funny.
steve.

XJet... It's hard to tell, but I thought my 100 was a bit smoother after the change,
I never really noticed it, it was pretty smooth before.. The 82 is another story...
I'm running it in a UCD 46... There noisy anyway, but it's loud now.. Not sure when
I may make the switch.... I'm not sure on Paypal... I used a CC on the phone.. I
think, but it could have been a check[]