I like to fill in the 'pools' with epoxy and then redrill the holes. I've done this since I started racing the MC28 in '94.

When I went to Harc-Pro in Japan for spares, they were doing exactly the same. They were even filling the 'pools' completely and just relying on the oil mist within the intake mixture to do all the lubrication.

The only real problem I see with no 'pools' or even holes at all is during cold startup, when there's a possibility that the bearings are dry. As Fontyyy and others have said, the oil film will dribble down and the 'pools' will guide the oil into the bearings.

NSR's have big pools because the idea is to ride them, park them, ride them etc etc. So the gathering of much oil is a good thing. A racer is pulled apart so development over time has seen the pools and channels change, as it's supposed to be overhauled time and time again.

Anyway, back to the main story, which is trying to improve the longevoty of the bearings. Have you considered that the cases may have gone soggy? We were advised to change the cases after half a season so as to avoid spun bearings and crank misalignment. And as we were running pre-mix there was no talk about bearing additional lubrication.

Also, force feeding oil to the bearing would cause immense drag, and if the spindle on my CNC machine is anything to go by, excess oil causes it to run hotter, not cooler, as it can't disperse the oil quick enough to carry away the heat so the temperature rises. My spindle runs a positive pressure with very fine oil mist. I don't know if the bearing on a crank would be the same, but I would say that the oil carried in the intake mixture does a pretty fine job of lubricating and removing heat.

Seeing as Steve probably has nothing to do, and seeing as he no longer has to spend hours every day licking his RC45. Why don't you ask him nicely if he'll assemble the bare cases and measure the main bearing housings to see if they're out of round, or oversize. That might give a small idea as to what's going on.