Peanut cover questions

[syvmn]

So I just pulled my old peanut cover off to replace it with a newer one I found. Happily the new one does not have a giant gob of JB weld on it. Hurray!

Right after I pulled it off I took these pictures comparing them, and as I was loading them up my eyes narrowed, I put my head closer to the screen squinting and noticed that the old cover did not have the bearing in it, nor did the shaft on the engine. I went outside to look and behold...no bearing.

This bike has been full of surprises, but I guess that's what you should expect from a dirt cheap bike. The chain was tighter than a ducks ass, I drained over a gallon of oil from it, most of the fairings were held on by zip ties, and now I find this missing bearing.

So here are my 2 questions.

1. How do you think this missing bearing affected the bike?
2. The new cover I have had a gasket on it already from the last bike it was one and looked to be in good condition (no cracks/tears), can I just put it on and reuse the gasket?

Thanks for the help guys

[Dragon]

Just put it on already!!
The gasket should be fine, can't tell u how the missing bearing affected your bike, you should find out when you replace it with the new one....

[reelrazor]

The bearing is just a support/pilot for the starter drive gear. I would think if you had to do a lot of cranking-lots of crank but no start situations it might be hard on the starter's internal bushing.

Apparently it wasn't a problem....YET.