Differences between bearing brands

[bishboy]

I'm just looking for some steering head bearings, wheel bearings etc and I was wondering if the difference in price is indicative of the difference in quality and this is compounded by the buy locally vs overseas dilemma?

For instance for my YZ front end, looking at local sellers on ebay, steering head bearings from Pyramid Parts are $38 delivered and All Balls are $58 delivered.  Its the same for wheel bearings, $16 compared to $35.  But you get the All Balls wheel bearings from USA or UK for less than $25 delivered. 

It gets worse when I try to look for swingarm, linkage etc kits for my 84 KX.  All Balls swingarm bearing kit $57 delivered from US compared to Pro X brand $115 delivered from F1moto.com.au

Is it worth it to spend the extra to pay for the perceived better quality and/or buy locally 

Edit:  I should have checked for OEM availability, the steering head bearings are in stock and are $48.  I don't think any of the KX swingarm bearings would be available though.

[YZ250H]

I have found all balls stuff to be good 99% of the time.   I know a few on here that would advise steering clear of pyramid parts.
If using all balls keep the old bearings and compare the measurements with the new all balls measurements to make sure it is the same (just to be sure to be sure).

The buy local or O/S question would start a 20 page debate, so I'm leaving that alone 

[firko]

What about going to a bearing supply firm like CBC or SKF. Show them your original and they'll  match it for sure. I've never bought All Balls or the others because I thought they were too expensive.....I'm a tight arse that way .

[kim80y]

Agree totally going with local bearing suppliers, that way you can get Jap made bearings on the cheap!!!
And is also much easier IF you do have any issues as they are much closer.

Cheers
Kim

[bishboy]

.....I'm a tight arse that way

Is there another way 

Thanks for the suggestion, I should've thought of that myself, we've got a few bearing shops in town, so I'll give this a go. After I find which box the old bearings are in 

[oldfart]

I think you will find it's the depth of the bearing on the steering head most bearing shops can't cater for .... that's where ALL BALLS  and Pyramid  come into play.

[dalesween]

I took my steering head bearings out of my IT250 and went to the bearing shop next to work,they supplied me with the same size Timken bearings for $35 and there has been no problem with them,i did them a couple of years ago.

cheers Dale.

[80-85 husky]

did the husky from one end to the other with Bendigo Bearings... simple..skf, incl all engine and gbox bearings couple of hundred all up

[OverTheHill]

got a bit of an 'odd ball' bearing from china for $5.26 NZ delivered [well, free delivery] & was $45 at SKF or opposition locally. Arrive pretty quick too. Still going well, touch wood,--where's some wood!! in a gear drive situation. Just while i've got ya--another bearing in the same bear drive was marked common old 6205 [clear as to read] but was 3mm narrower. Had me buggered but over came it by trickery but 'never come across that before [anyone else?] was a chinese kids quad so that might explain it.

[OverTheHill]

back in 1975 my Mk8 Bully had ordinary bearings in the steering head from new. Thought that was a great idea--no adjusting needed i think [till worn or rusted out] must've had a spacer up the stem to distance them & stop crush through overtightening [like wheel bearings]--long ago & might be wrong. Even longer ago [about "62 my "48 500 Matchy had Timken taper rollers as std in the wheels. Could feel it in the rear around town if they got a bit of play in them accelerating out of corners, then just adjust them up a bit. Bit of a horror story at work though in the late "80's with a harley sportster 1100 when new & had taper rollers back to back on the left side of the crankshaft with a distance piece between. Assembly must've been at smoko that day in the factory as the bearings were too tightly spaced [or crushed] & stuffed them in a short time. Remember thinking at the time that there must be a better way. Had a harley on the bike bench with gearbox apart one day, then arrived at work the next morning to find it'd been stolen. [Next job please]