Main shaft needle bearing replacement

[ian48th]

While trying to remove the clutch pushrod of my 2000 M900Sie I discovered wear near the right side end, then when trying to get the pushrod out the left side of the engine I noticed that the needle bearing inside the right end of the main shaft is shot.  As in needles falling out.  Not the bearing in the pressure plate.  Did I explain that clearly enough?

Looks like #31 in this diagram: https://oem-parts.hu/en/parts/ducati/2000/900/gear-box-3679231

So, how bad is this?  Any chance it can be replaced without removing the shaft?

FWIW, 53,000 miles on the bike, which is otherwise still in great shape.  Thanks!

[Howie]

Not sure, but I would want to inspect the whole transmission anyway.

[ian48th]

Okay, so it's been almost a year since I posted about the bad needle bearing.  Long story short, it was really difficult to get the old bearing out and then to get the new one in.  But it's all back together and the test ride was good!

All missing needles from the bearing were accounted for before the test ride.

Not sure exactly why I got bit by what seems to be a rare problem, but there are two bad things that certainly might have contributed to this.  One time while on a long road trip, the clutch started acting up - one of the clutch spring retaining bolts had been too loose and it backed out to the point where it was rubbing against the inside of the stock clutch cover, which got red hot!  That was while navigating the streets of San Francisco.  Second was that at some point I think I put grease on the clutch pushrod, which turned into a nasty black putty.  That's all cleaned up now.  Don't do that.

I put off this job multiple times as I kept hitting obstacles, including damaging the replacement bearing while trying to get it in.  Seems that the new bearings are a tiny bit wider than the old ones.

In other news, the bike is now 25 years old, which means I can get a 'collector' plate for it here in British Columbia, which basically just means much cheaper insurance.  Yay!

[Howie]

Good to hear you are back on the road