2004 and newer rocker arms

Hi Dan,

I don't mean to answer a question with a question, but, what do you mean by let loose, exactly?

I have 138 hours and 2700 miles on my 04 FE550. And I know Cheeseberger has about same amount of hours as me but with I think 3100 or 3300 miles without any problems yet.

I keep a good eye on my oil that comes out of my bike and watch closely for the tell tale signs of hard facing coming off of any bearings etc.. As evidenced by small shiny flakes. I also pay particular attention to what kind of adjustments are required when I adjust my valves.

I was planning on 200 hours, or maybe 250 depending on conditions, before a full teardown.

Dan,

Do you have any of the 04 rocker arm cam follower bearings in stock?

Regards,

Joe

All comes down to bike useage- engine hours is actually a very poor way of lifing engine components UNLESS you have a history of wear limits/failures under same/ similar opereating conditions.

Now your customer knows they fail at 140 hours under his conditions, he should probably replace them at 110 hours next time.

To put it in perspective- 100 hours on a bike owned by a desert racer that uses it continually it the top 1/2 of its rev range is obviously going to have a lot more demand on parts than a recreationally ridden 'woods" bike that rarely gets above 1/2 throttle.

Desert bike: 100 hrs @ say 6500RPM average= 39,000000 revolutions
Woods bike: 100 hrs @ say 3000 RPM= 18,000000 revoultions

So to say replace parts at x hours is actually a very poor way for a manafacturer to life engine parts for its customers.

Some manafacturers actually used to list their replacement intervals based on fuel useage, which probably actually has a better correlation to actual engine revolutions/hours in a broad range of operating conditions than a plain hour level
Ultimately, manufacturers will factory fit engine cycle counters for us and say "replace part A at x amount of revolutions. One day.

But to get back to your question : Husaberg have had a history of failures in this area.

DaleEo has the right idea- monitor valve clearances closely- when they start to require closing up at adjustment time you know something is going on......
So was your customers bike a desert racer or a woods cruiser ???

I see,

So the follower bearing failed. Hmmmmmm. Which one, intake or exhaust? I'm assuming that the customer said there was no warning signs before hand. IE metal chips in oil or on sump filter screen. Although you mentioned in your primary question that you were not talking about flogging it before replacement, what kind of riding does this fellow do that had the failure?? I'm also assuming that only one bearing failed (?). If so, did you happen to notice what condition the other one was in??

Seems like a bit of a fluke to me. We haven't seen any rocker related issues here on the site anyway since everyone did the upgrades to the 03 rockers on the new generation motor's. I think they are the same rockers that are used on the KTM's as well. And while I do not frequent the KTM talk site, I haven't heard of any KTM rocker arm follower failrues.

DaleEO said:

I see,


Seems like a bit of a fluke to me. We haven't seen any rocker related issues here on the site anyway since everyone did the upgrades to the 03 rockers on the new generation motor's. I think they are the same rockers that are used on the KTM's as well. And while I do not frequent the KTM talk site, I haven't heard of any KTM rocker arm follower failrues.

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Unfortunately, the 03 rockers in my 650 only lasted 85 hours- the first ones lasted 8 hours.
But they both failed on the "53" cam, it has since had the '08' fitted to it and the 3rd set havent failed yet (but the crankshaft has LOL....)

In regard to the RFS valve train, the rockers are different BUT I believe you will find the roller tips are the same. You cant really compare the 2 for top end life- different cams,
dual vs conical springs( would like to know installed/valve open spring pressure differences- Dale?) and the fact the RFS has a nice lovely cooling/lubricating stream of oil being dumped directly on top of cam lobes/rocker tips via the extarnal oil feed line from RHS cover to rocker cover.
When I sold my RFS it had around (cant emember exact amount) 300 hours on it and still on the original rocker roller tips.I have yet to have an 03 Husaberg intake roller last more than 85 hours in exactly the same riding conditions- but the 08 cam should be a big help there.

And just to clarify-
I believe the 03 rockers differ to the 04s in the fact the 03s have the oil squirt holes for the valve gear due to the pressure feed through the rocker shafts into the rockers, whereas the 04 just has the large RFS type drilling on top to allow external oil splash to enter the rocker for bush/rocker shaft lubrication.

My rocker arm roller bearings became crunchy at 4500 miles and 170 engine hours.

With new rocker arm parts on hand they were easy to replace.

replaced at 165 hrs , but now i will change at 150 hrs from now on .

trail riding only , no abuse .

at 165 they were well worn .

whosahberg said:

replaced at 165 hrs , but now i will change at 150 hrs from now on .

trail riding only , no abuse .

at 165 they were well worn .

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And you have an 04 yes?

Hi Dan,
In my opinion too many variables exist to give advice with confidence.

The Intake follower most often fails as it must move greater mass then that of the exhaust.


Camshaft profile, required spring pressure for said profile, oil quality and riding style have tremendous influence.

Personally, I have seen far too many failures and admittedly remain a bit conservative. I still get a bit nervous around the 100 hour mark. (Given race / aggressive conditions).

Dale

95 hours now, at 120-130 hours, I'm in for this service. we'll post up results

Big Bob what did you find once you did this service etc?

Quote "95 hours now, at 120-130 hours, I'm in for this service. we'll post up results"

hmm. I have a 99 600 and had my bike checked and was told rollers were ok but one on the end was a little worn and due for replacement in not too distant future - maybe 80 hours. Now I had some metal in screen mesh but as I also discovered faulty gearwheel/balancer from starter I have no idea when or where the metal flakes come from as I haven't had the bike that long - been out 3 times. That is why I had it checked but now I am not as confident it was from sprocket teeth. Should I worry ?

Aussieforce said:

hmm. I have a 99 600 and had my bike checked and was told rollers were ok but one on the end was a little worn and due for replacement in not too distant future - maybe 80 hours. Now I had some metal in screen mesh but as I also discovered faulty gearwheel/balancer from starter I have no idea when or where the metal flakes come from as I haven't had the bike that long - been out 3 times. That is why I had it checked but now I am not as confident it was from sprocket teeth. Should I worry ?

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Yes I would worry! The appearance of metal particles is a sure sign of bearing failure, especially that of the cam follower bearings, or cam lobe spalling. Let this go too far and you will ruin your cam for sure.

Most importantly though I would remove the head cover and check the feel of the cam follower bearings on the rocker arms. I'll bet the one on the intake arm has some radial clearance and wobbles. I f so, you are lucky you can replace the bearing while you have the cover off. Turn the engine over while the head cover is off so you can look at the ramps and tips of both cam lobes. You are looking for pitting. Pitting is a sign of cam lobe spalling (metal fatigue) of the lobe surface metal and means you need to replace the cam also. This condition is agrivated by worn cam follower bearings.

Check the inside of the rocker arm fingers, where the follower bearing runs. If you see heavy scoring from the follower bearing needles, you need to replace the entire arm assembly.

On your 600, I would use a 2003 arm assembly. Replace them both; the intake and the exhaust.

Make sure you drill a splash oil hole in the new arm exactly identical to the one in the old arm. The 2003 Bergs had pressure oil to the rocker arms and your Berg does not supply pressurized oil to the arms.

Regards,

Joe

JoeUSA, Since dan did not answer you on your question i will,

yes intake & exhaust rocker shafts are in stock!!

Metal particles could be a sign of new hardware in the bike. That was my issue. I was worried at first but after 5 oil changes the particles were gone and the former owner confirmed that lots of new sprockets and wheels had been changed inside of the bike.