Most Yamaha Raptor owners by now are well aware of the inadequate strength of the OEM one-way bearing assembly, which has proven to be a weak link in the 660cc four-stroke motor. Well finally, instead of having to replace it with another faulty, less than perfect part when yours finally decides to destruct, a life-saving company called L&A Designs has come up with an aftermarket replacement for the failure-prone part. We have heard nothing but good things about this part since it’s release just a short time ago, so when Raptoroneway.com, the company that sells them, asked us if we would like to test one of these promising parts out, we jumped at the chance!
Upon receiving the part, the first thing we noticed was that Raptoroneway.com does not take any shortcuts when packaging! We are not complaining at all, and after finally getting the package open, it was immediately apparent that L&A Designs really thought this part out before manufacturing started. When compared side by side with the OEM unit, it's clear that the bearings themselves are held in much more securely than the original. The stock Yamaha design uses a weak spring to hold the roller bearing in place, where as the L&A Designs part uses two real springs on each side of the roller bearings to hold them in place along with machined bearing “cups” to keep them in position. Another apparent advantage of the unit is that it is considerably lighter than the stock one, which reduces rotating mass and can actually free up a little horsepower, which is always a plus.
Now installation of this part can seem a little intimidating if you are a basic do-it-yourselfer, but it’s not as hard as one would think. Someone with limited experience should be able to do it in a few hours. The hardest part of the process is getting the nut that holds the magneto/one-way assembly torqued to the proper specs. You will probably have to get a friend to help hold the assembly while you tighten the nut to 110 ft/lbs. Once everything was back together it was time for the moment of truth, and as expected, the Raptor cranked up almost immediately after pressing the start button. It started much smoother than it had ever been with the stock unit, and we have no doubt that it will be much stronger than the OEM unit ever wished to be.
We have been nothing less than very pleased with the L&A Designs one-way bearing assembly. It will run you $140 for the entire kit (clutch assembly, gaskets and bolts) from Raptoroneway.com, which includes super-fast shipping. It even costs less than the OEM unit from Yamaha, and most likely will be the last one-way bearing assembly you ever need to purchase. To this day, it's the only way to properly fix the Raptor 660R's faulty design.
Quality: 5/5
Performance: 5/5
Installation: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
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The L&A Designs one-way assembly for the Raptor 660R, from www.Raptoroneway.com.
It's not only built better and lighter, but it's also cheaper than the OEM unit.
This is the absolute best way to remedy the problem inherent from the factory.
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