Don’t Throw Away Those Bearing Races!

If you're 86'ing a set of shot bearings from your wheels or swingarm, hang onto the races. They're useful for two things if you cut a simple slit in them.

The slit allows them to flex a small bit, so you can install them without driving them. This is helpful for paint or powder coat: you can pop them in and those surfaces with critical dimensions won't be affected. Pop them out after coating, and you're ready to rock.

The other thing they're useful for is driving home the new race you are replacing. You can stack the slit old race on the new one (facing the same direction; "fat" end going into the bore) and once the new race is seated, the slit one will pop out with a few tippy-taps on your punch (or a hooked puller tool if it's a blind hole).

Label them with tags so you don't get confused, and I find painting the edges makes them easy to ID as your "working" set.