i have just stripped my rear wheel down, xj900f 4bb, and in it i have three bearings.
one 6303
one 6203
and another one, all three are shown in the schematic of the rear wheel in my haynes workshop manual.

i have one bearing right hand side, and the other on the left hand side is actualy not in the wheel itself but in the final drive coupling, these are both standard bearings, the 6303 and the 6203. in between these two, and actualy in the left hand side of the wheel body itself is another bearing. it is an odd looking bearing, about one and a half times as wide as the 6303, with an inner race wider than the outer race, and is etched with

HIC DAC17402 1Z

it has one metal shield (the 1Z at the end of the number)
HIC is the manufacturer, probably eastern european or chinese.

i have been on to orbic, here in the uk (bearing suppliers) who tell me it's an odd bearing, they think connected to air conditioning machines and they have one in australia?????????
 
  brammer scratched their heads and said they would get back to me if they found out what it was and if they could get one.

 
anyhow does anyone know what it is, is it a high load bearing and can i replace it with something similar, maybe a needle roller or dual ball race, or maybe just a normal bearing and spacer to make up the width?
cheers.

forgot to say, got a price from my friendly yamaha dealer of £94 plus vat. or i can order one from the good old US of A for £78 plus postage. a totaly ridiculous price for a bearing. it looks like a few hours with the skf catalogue and a vernier.                                                                                                                                                                              

i use a local brearing man , thats all he does he always says go for like for like , n bearings still two a penny, yamaha rippoff , find local bearing dealers , agriculure area is a good source
                                                                                                                                                                             

tried that route,orbic and brammer are both industrial bearing suppliers. Am trying to find out what type of bearing it is.                                                                                                                                                                             

Can the Yam owners club help? There's also an on-line Yam Diversion club that's free to join with its own forum here
http://diversionclub.proboards.com/index.cgi

i am on an xj, pre diversion, forum and had no useful info from them. The yam owners club is a good idea though, will put a post up on there.                                                                                                                                                                             

What year is the bike XJ ??                                                                                                                                                                             

Many bearings on jap machines are peculiar to the manufacturer. It will be a load bearing bearing, and you won't find it anywhere other than a yam dealer I'm afraid.

                                                                                                                                                                             

the bike is 1992. i was undecided between alignment or load bearing. i have replaced the other two bearings twice now (73K miles in two years) but haven't needed to replace this one as it's still good. washed out and repacked with grease and it's a happy bunny, so it can't take much strain but that could be because of it's width.  I did want to know a bit more about it and got particularly curious when i saw the price.

ive never bought a bearing yet for any of my jap bikes from the dealer - always take the old bearing to the local bearing place and they have so far always matched it.   a mate of mine worked for a bearing place in Leeds a fews years back - his company supplied bearings to a harley dealer cost to him £4.50 +VAT he was knocking em out to the harley riders for £95+VAT so would suggest maybe the local bearing place if you dont want to be ripped off!                                                                                                                                                                              

spot on                                                                                                                                                                              

In most cases, you can get bearings from suppliers. But every now and then, you'll come across an OEM bearing that no one else makes. This particular bearing is more than likely one of them. It's very unusual for an XJ900 to have wheel bearing problems like youve described. The shaft drive that yamaha uses is well proven, and goes back to the XS1100. It maybe that the bearings you used were of inferior quality.

I feel for you, that price for a bearing is painful. But remember, your life depends on those parts being right. So maybe its not too much.

                                                                                                                                                                             

haven't had any problems. I replace the bearings as a matter of course every year, my generous employer supplies the bearings,but i don't think he realises it, from the stores. I have never had to replace that particular bearing on any of the xjs i have owned but thought that with the bike going around the clock next week i would look into replacing it. The bearings i use are either fag or nkn and i think nigh on 40k from a wheel brg is good going.
What i am interested in is why these bearings last so well and if anyone had used a replacement which wasn't OE. 100k from a bearing and no tightness, catching or slopping is bloody good going in anyones book, but what makes them so good? I am thinking roller to spread the load as opposed to ball or dual ball.

If it aint broke, dont fix it

                                                                                                                                                                             

i agree but it helps whenever your in the vicinity to take em out and clean em and grease em.                                                                                                                                                                             

Have done just under 45000 miles on mine since new and bearings seem ok. Just standard Kawasaki bearings                                                                                                                                                                             

  A bearing is a bearing is a bearing   Someone somewhere makes them   It's all about quantity and universality   Where possible designers try to design around "stock" bearings available "off the shelf" to keep production costs down   If it's a "special" that's been specified by a designer/engineer   It's quite likely that it's been "made to order" on a limited production run   Hence the exorbitant price   Not forgetting the "mark-up" by various "middle men" (importer/distributor, wholesaler & stockists)   But as GS said "if it ain't broke don't fix it"   100K is not unusual from a bearing which has been properly maintained   Some bearings in large commercial vehicles and ships   Have done 100's of thousands of hours without fuss   So carry on with what you've been doing   It's obviously working                                                                                                                                                                               

If your just asking what the bearing is XJ the diagram link i sent you shows it on there and as with a lot of shaft drive bikes mine included have a just off center bearing these would be alignment and extra load bearing .....they do not get the same stick as the outer ones so therefore last a lot longer... but they are there as a just in case ... my 2p worth
                                                                                                                                                                             

i'm with intruder on this. Because of it's position it doesn't take full loading, but the two other bearings are too widely spaced and need something in between. As emzed said manufacturers will use mass produced bearings where possible due to cost. Ships propulsion and main engines tend to steer clear of ball or roller bearings and will use forced oil plain bearings which are hugely expensive but will last for decades and you can bet yer arse the oil is sweetened at sea, changed regularly in dock and oil filters are changed well before they need to be too.

There very few bearings if any that cannot be sourced elsewhere....its identifying emm thats usually the hassle part... Guzzi specify a large dual race bearing for the bevel box on my V11. Only avail from Guzzi everyone said....a special at about £95plus vat. Hmmm,not convinced I went to the local bearing specialist, yes its an oddball bearing BUT made by FAG,its available from Germany,air freight over in 48hrs but its expensive said the man....its gonna cost you £40 inc freight and VAT..... So the moral is,dnt believe what you hear, keep looking!!