Roller bearings do not like the crankshaft flexing.
Lighter reciprocating mass helps reduce flex.
Well welded crank pin helps reduce the flex.
Lighter crankshaft revolving mass reduces stress from the transmission.
The load carrying ability of a roller is far more than a ball bearing.
The rpm capability of a roller is less than a ball race, but it would
depend on the time spent over that limit as to weather
it would cause a problem or not.
C3 or better C4, NTN bearing will help cope with the flex. I have a SKF 2206 C3 on the LH side ( because I could not get an NTN 2206 C3/C4 ) and a
NTN NJ206 C3 on the RH side.
Polyamide? cage causes less damage if bearing fails.
The axial play 'seems' to be related to the amount of flex.
The counter rotating balancer is to balance the reciprocating mass.
My 675`s reciprocating mass was slightly lighter than Std 628 so I made no adjustment and feels just the same as stock as far as vibration is concerned.
Might try no counterbalancer on next motor, with a revised balance factor, But not convinced it will be good for the street or reliability.
Detonation may cause bearing failure also.
Overreving on these motors should be avoided IMO.
A good experiment would be to see how much lap time changes
by dropping the rev limit by 1000 rpm. 1000 rpm less would take a huge lode
off these cranks.
Just some rambling to add to the conversation