How bad is this bearing?

[Guest]

Here is a photo of a connecting rod upper bearing. The bike ran good, no real knocking noises, just smoked. How bad is this bearing?

Thanks
Will

[john82q]

Its bad.

It has seized and broken free, taking pieces of metal away.
If you tried to reuse it , it will undoubtably fail again when heat and pressure are applied. This will most likely happen at the most inconvient time, and you might not be so lucky with the breaking free, and that will be leading to a lot of bad possibilitys such as but not limited to; broken conrod, damaged cases and a crash...

Attempts to rework it by sanding or machining will also fail as clearance will be wrong and you really will have knock.

Buy new ones, but before doing so read up on bearing sizes and the measuring of clearances in the service manual, so you buy the right ones...
edit add
Also check the crank surface for damage

[tkent02]

I'm curious why there is damage next to the oil hole?

[barnbiketom]

dirt/metal particles/acidity in oil

[mrbill5491]

Here is a photo of a connecting rod upper bearing. The bike ran good, no real knocking noises, just smoked. How bad is this bearing?

Thanks
Will

It is shot, kaputt, etc etc. Best check the crank journal as well.

[GregT]

The question is really, how bad is the crank journal ?

You're looking for scratches and scores, you should also measure and compare to OE specs. It's often possible to lightly linish the journal to clean up any marks provided you don't exceed the recommended clearance.

[MrSelfdestruct]

That bit of missing metal isn't from seizing and breaking free again, It from acidic oil eating away at it while it sat for years unused. That's what happens to engines when they sit for long periods of time with old oil in them. Still, It's shot. Inspect for damages, measure clearances, and proceed accordingly.

[oldschoolgs1100e]

I'll chime in & say it is shot.

[1_v8_merc]

She gone...check over the rest of the internals.
Where there's trouble, there's likely to be a bit more.

[Willmrx]

I just posted some photos of the crankshaft and all the top conrod top bearings. The bike ran well with those bearings in it. The main reason I took the engine apart was to replace the transmission. It kept popping out of second gear. I bought the bike back in 2009. I have no real idea of how many miles on the bike, because the odometer was broken at 11,000 miles. I have put about 20,000 miles on it, and they have not bin kind miles. I believe the damage to the bearings are from sitting and not from seizing.IMO.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/album.php?albumid=2267

[Steve]

.

[SqDancerLynn1]

It could run for the next 10 years with those bearings At this point it doesn't take much $ to replace them. Would be very costly to spin a bearing later.

[Texasgs]

The soft bearing metal might not have a good bond to the base bearing shell, and it could easily shed more bearing material, which does wicked bad things to the crank, unless it comes out real slow. I suspect that because all 4 are hurt. Acid build up in the oil could contribute too. I would be more worried about the crank condition, and trash those bearings. Now if I was stranded in a war zone and that was my ride out they would look awesome. Still for all practical purposes they are too risky, and will probably lay down on you taking out the crank, possibly rods, or even the block.