There's month and year of production stamped above vin# on mine. I was told once that the improved bearings began being installed on late '09s, but I checked forums on BadWeb and one post suggested that the improvement started after August '08...also that seals should be black. My Uly is a '09 replacement for Uly bought July 4th '09 that had bearing failure at around 13K on July 4th '10 (bearing, axle and wheel ruined;$400 tow charge). Part of my agreement with HD rep was that the replacement bike have improved bearings. Got over 14K now with no issues on the new bike. By the way, it took from July 4th until Sept. to make repairs to original bike (couldn't find wheel). Beartooth HD tried to replace with a HD model, but I declined holding out for another Uly XT...happy with decision.