Registration No. 333-________

        As filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12, 2008


SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

_________________

FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

_________________

REGAL-BELOIT CORPORATION
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Wisconsin 39-0875718
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
200 State Street
Beloit, Wisconsin 53511
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

REGAL BELOIT CORPORATION RETIREMENT SAVINGS PLAN
(Full title of the plan)

Paul J. Jones
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Regal Beloit Corporation
200 State Street
Beloit, Wisconsin 53511
(608) 364-8800

(Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)

_________________

Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company

_________________

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE


Title of
Securities to be
Registered

Amount
to be
Registered

Proposed
Maximum Offering
Price Per Share

Proposed
Maximum Aggregate
Offering Price

Amount
of
Registration Fee

Common Stock 175,000 shares $31.01 (1) $5,426,750.00 (1) $213.27
$0.01 par value

Common Share
175,000 rights (2) (2) (2)
Purchase Rights

(1) Estimated pursuant to Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act of 1933 solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee based on the average of the high and low prices for Regal Beloit Corporation Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange on November 7, 2008.

(2) The value attributable to the Common Share Purchase Rights is reflected in the market price of the Common Stock to which the Rights are attached.

_________________

In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement also covers an indeterminate amount of interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the employee benefit plan described herein.


PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

        The document or documents containing the information specified in Part I are not required to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) as part of this Registration Statement on Form S-8.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.      Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

        The following documents filed with the Commission by Regal Beloit Corporation (the “Company”) or by the Regal Beloit Corporation Retirement Savings Plan (the “Plan”) are hereby incorporated herein by reference:

  1. The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2007.

  2. The Plan’s Annual Report on Form 11-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.

  3. The Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 29, 2008, June 28, 2008 and September 27, 2008.

  4. The Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated June 16, 2008.

  5. The description of the Company’s Common Stock contained in Item 1 of the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A dated January 18, 2005 and any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.

  6. The description of the Company’s Common Share Purchase Rights contained in Item 1 of the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A dated January 18, 2005 and any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.

        All documents subsequently filed by the Company or the Plan pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of filing of this Registration Statement and prior to such time as the Company files a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents.

Item 4.      Description of Securities.

        Not applicable.

Item 5.      Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

        Not applicable.

2


Item 6.      Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

        Article IX of the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws, requires that the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted or required by Sections 180.0850 to 180.0859, inclusive, of the Wisconsin Business Corporation Law, including any amendments thereto (but in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent such amendment permits or requires the corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than prior to such amendment), indemnify its Directors and Officers against any and all liabilities, and pay or reimburse any and all properly documented reasonable expenses, incurred thereby in any proceedings to which any such Director or Officer is a party because he or she is or was a Director or Officer of the Company. The Company shall also indemnify an employee who is not a Director or Officer, to the extent that the employee has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of a proceeding, for all expenses incurred in the proceeding if the employee was a party because he or she is or was an employee of the Company. The rights to indemnification granted under the Bylaws shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to indemnification against liabilities or the allowance of expenses which a Director, Officer or employee (or such other person) may be entitled under any written agreement, Board resolution, vote of shareholders of the Company, the Wisconsin Business Corporation Law or otherwise. The Company may, but shall not be required to, supplement the foregoing rights to indemnification against liabilities and allowance of expenses under this paragraph by the purchase of insurance on behalf of any one or more of such Directors, Officers or employees, whether or not the Company would be required or permitted to indemnify or allow expenses to such Director, Officer or employee. All capitalized terms used in this paragraph and not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning set forth in Section 180.0850 of the Wisconsin Business Corporation Law.

        The Company maintains a liability insurance policy for its Directors and Officers as permitted by Wisconsin law, which may extend to, among other things, liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

        The general effect of the foregoing provisions may be to reduce the circumstances in which an officer or director may be required to bear the economic burden of the foregoing liabilities and expense.

        The Company maintains a liability insurance policy for its directors and officers as permitted by Wisconsin law which may extend to, among other things, liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933.

Item 7.      Exemption from Registration Claimed.

        Not applicable.

Item 8.      Exhibits.

        The exhibits filed herewith or incorporated herein by reference are set forth in the attached Exhibit Index.

        The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that it has submitted the Plan, and any amendment thereto, to the Internal Revenue Service in a timely manner and has made or will make all changes required by the Internal Revenue Service in order to continue the qualification of the Plan under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

3


Item 9.      Undertakings.

        (a)     The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

            (1)     To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                (i)     To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

                (ii)     To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) of Securities Act if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

                (iii)     To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.

            (2)     That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

            (3)     To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

            (4)     That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, in a primary offering of securities of the Registrant pursuant to this Registration Statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the Registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

                (i)     Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the Registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act of 1933;

                (ii)     Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the Registrant or used or referred to by the Registrant;

4


                (iii)     The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the Registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the Registrant; and

                (iv)     Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the Registrant to the purchaser.

        (b)     The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        (c)     Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.






5


SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Beloit, State of Wisconsin, on this 12th day of November, 2008.

REGAL BELOIT CORPORATION


 
By:  /s/ Henry W. Knueppel
        Henry W. Knueppel
        Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons on November 12, 2008 in the capacities indicated. Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints David A. Barta and Paul J. Jones, and each of them individually, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and revocation, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or either of them, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Signature Title

/s/Henry W. Knueppel

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Henry W. Knueppel (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/Mark J. Gliebe

President, Chief Operating Officer and Director
Mark J. Gliebe

/s/David A. Barta

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
David A. Barta (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

/s/Christopher L. Doerr

Director
Christopher L. Doerr

/s/Thomas J. Fischer

Director
Thomas J. Fischer

6


Signature Title

/s/Dean A. Foate

Director
Dean A. Foate

/s/G. Frederick Kasten, Jr.

Director
G. Frederick Kasten, Jr.

/s/ Rakesh Sachdev

Director
Rakesh Sachdev

/s/Carol N. Skornicka

Director
Carol N. Skornicka

/s/Curtis W. Stoelting

Director
 Curtis W. Stoelting






7


        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Regal Beloit Retirement Plan Committee, which administers the Regal Beloit Corporation Retirement Savings Plan, has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Beloit, and the State of Wisconsin, on this 12th day of November, 2008.

REGAL BELOIT RETIREMENT PLAN COMMITTEE

 
By:  /s/Henry W. Knueppel
        Henry W. Knueppel

 
By:  /s/Mark J. Gliebe
        Mark J. Gliebe

 
By:  /s/David A. Barta
        David A. Barta

 
By:  /s/Paul J. Jones
        Paul J. Jones

 
By:  /s/Terry R. Colvin
        Terry R. Colvin

 
The foregoing persons are a majority of the members of the Regal
Beloit Retirement Plan Committee, which is the administrator of
the Regal Beloit Corporation Retirement Savings Plan




8


EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit
Number
Exhibit Description

(4.1) Articles of Incorporation of Regal Beloit Corporation, as amended through April 20, 2007. [Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Regal Beloit Corporation’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated April 20, 2007 (File No. 001-07283)]

(4.2) Amended and Restated Bylaws of Regal Beloit Corporation. [Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to Regal Beloit Corporation’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated April 20, 2007 (File No. 001-07283)]

(4.3) Rights Agreement, dated as of January 28, 2000, between Regal Beloit Corporation and BankBoston, N.A. [Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Regal Beloit Corporation’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed January 31, 2000 (File No. 001-07283)]

(4.4) First Amendment to Rights Agreement, effective as of June 11, 2002, between Regal Beloit Corporation and BankBoston, N.A. [Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.6 to Regal Beloit Corporation’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2002 (File No. 001-07283)]

(4.5) Second Amendment to Rights Agreement, dated as of November 12, 2004, between Regal Beloit Corporation and EquiServe Trust Company, N.A. [Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to Regal Beloit Corporation’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A/A filed on November 18, 2004 (File No. 001-07283)]

(4.6) Third Amendment to Rights Agreement, dated as of December 31, 2004, between Regal Beloit Corporation and EquiServe Trust Company, N.A. [Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.4 to Regal Beloit Corporation’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A/A filed on January 6, 2005 (File No. 001-07283)]

(5) Opinion of Paul J. Jones, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Regal Beloit Corporation.

(23.1) Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

(23.2) Consent of Paul J. Jones (contained in Exhibit (5.1)).

(24) Powers of Attorney (included on the signature page to this Registration Statement).



E-1