Found needles from roller bearings on magnetic sump plug... any ideas

[Aidan]

2014, 18,000kms

[Triple Jim]

The first question that comes to mind is whether or not those are really bearing needles, or just pieces of steel that look like needles.  They do look like needles in the photo though.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Triple Jim

[Lone Wolf]

I looked at his full size image and cropped it. Suck-O-Rama.

[ElGonzales]

Uh-oh.
My first hope was the "easy to replace" clutch bearing (93310232R9), but the needles in the picture are not long enough as it seems.

Maybe, with length and diameter, somebody is able to identify the bearing or whatever is the source of the needles. Bearing of shifting mechanism or clutch lever axle...

Edited April 2, 2021 by ElGonzales

[Evill_Ed]

Does it run well with no noises? I’d imagine an internal bearing coming apart would result in some type of noise or performance issue. 

Is this a used bike? 

Could it be sabotage, someone deliberately put them in the crank case?

a friend bought a used bike once and decided to change the oil right away. When he drained it several BB’s came out. He flushed the crankcase to get them all out, he was lucky that he found it before they got into the gears, but that was done deliberately.

 

Ed

[twf]

Shift shaft bearing has about that size rollers.

[Lone Wolf]

Bike Bandit shows the shift shave bearing (10) fitting many Yamaha models. $13 new or get donor from Ebay to compare size of rollers and confirm diagnosis.

It is noteworthy that you discovered the "loose parts" during oil change rather than noise or catastrophic failure.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Lone Wolf

[Aidan]

Iv since pulled the clutch basket out and the bearing there had much bigger needles, I also pulled out the shifter mechanism on the clutch cover and that had two roller bearings with the same size pins, but again both looked to be in good condition... any other ideas?

I bought the bike secondhand and it ran beautiful, no noises or anything, my work mates also think it was put in there on accident in some oil change.

[DewMan]

12 minutes ago, Aidan said:

I bought the bike secondhand and it ran beautiful, no noises or anything, my work mates also think it was put in there on accident in some oil change.

Any chance of talking to the old owner in a nonconfrontational way to possibly get it's history?

[Aidan]

I sized them up and this pin is much bigger then those.

[Aidan]

Also nothing in sump 

[Nealsmo]

Optimistic theory- previous owner dropped drain plug in drain pan that had needle bearings laying in it.  Didn't notice they stuck to drain plug before inserting back in bike.

[Lone Wolf]

On 4/2/2021 at 8:36 PM, Aidan said:

Also nothing in sump 

Amazing that the 2 "known" rollers made their way to the magnet on drain plug, with none wedged in the various baffles and crevice's of that sump pan.

Do you still have the old oil filter? I would be very curious if anything is in there, but I suppose there may be a screen would keep anything that large from circulating up to the filter.

Searching the internet does not reveal any other occurrence like this. Did you reach out to seller?

Edited April 5, 2021 by Lone Wolf

[Aidan]

Seller didn’t have any ideas, I put the bike together and it runs perfect as well as rides great so honestly think it was a matter of they got stuck to the sump plug during an oil change or something.

[Lone Wolf]

Gotcha. @Aidan Do you still have the old oil filter? If the oil hasn't been recycled, I would consider pouring it through a screen or something just to confirm it just the odd 2 rollers.