[Benjamin]

OK, I've been sitting here trying to make myself feel better and have thought of two points (rather, clarifications of points that you guys have made).

IF it were the current bearing making the flakes, most, if not all of them would be in the oil and oil filter since that is the path of least resistance, and not push their way through the seal to end up in the tube.

IF the original bearing began to fail, and the inner seal (since the originals had two seals) failed, it would introduce flakes into the tube (and perhaps not into the oil/filter, but we will never know). Those flakes might not be that noticeable if the original bearings weren't magnetic and if the outer seal didn't fail, thus no or very little oil in the tube. The flakes would just migrate around in the tube and not be attracted to anything in particular. Introduce the magnet and the single seal bearing, and you have an opportunity for the flakes to float around and make their way to the weak magnet of the bearing.

Sound plausible?