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Wheel bearings

Ok replacing the tapered bearings is a bit of a pest but you dont have to do it very often i probably could have re packed mine and been ok but at 19 years old i suspect it was a suitable time as the wheels were off
i have had a few bikes in the past that have had similar tapered bearings that worked very well for a long time so i am pretty confident that mine will be good for some time to come
sometimes perhaps the latest trend is naot always the best way to go

Brian
 
So are you all nice fellas suggesting that the wheel bearings are not the best of quality and that my enjoyment of a little lean over into corners (nothing stunt like I assure you) has seen off the bearings in under 6K miles?

Shame if they are as rubbish quality as that...... :(
 
cedarbrook63 said:
So are you all nice fellas suggesting that the wheel bearings are not the best of quality and that my enjoyment of a little lean over into corners (nothing stunt like I assure you) has seen off the bearings in under 6K miles?

Shame if they are as rubbish quality as that...... :(
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From what i have read here better choices of bearing could have been made for a motorcycle wheel
perhaps not the quality but the type of bearing for a motorcycle wheel a tapered bearing is about as good as you can get but takes a wee bit more time/money to set them up correctly
so quick and cheep to set up is perhaps not the best for long life but should be quick and cheep to replace

Brian
 
cedarbrook63 said:
and that my enjoyment of a little lean over into corners (nothing stunt like I assure you) has seen off the bearings in under 6K miles?
(
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In order to determine that, you would need the old bearings. Pop off the grease seal and take a look. It will easy to see what happened. If water got into the bearing and destroyed it, you will see it. It will be very obvious. If it was Not caused by water (possible side loading), you will see that also.

It is really important to determine what went wrong and those old parts have a lot to tell you. In my case, the bearing went south due to water getting past the seal. That was plain and simple to see once I opened it.
 
Thanks guys. Maybe water got in - I'd be a bit surprised because I've very seldom been caught out in the rain. It lives in a garage and I even have an airforce blaster for drying it after a wash. I hope and presume that the air pressure from the latter would not be enough to drive water into the wheel bearings. The bike is still at the dealership and will be until the new bearings arrive and are installed. They usually return the old parts of what they've worked with so I should get a look at them if that tells me anything.

Thank you all for the advice and input.
 
From what i have read on the forum here it would appear that wheel bearings on the newer bikes do not last long and need replacing at shorter intervals than spark plugs
i bet the dealer has spark plugs in stock but why not wheel bearings someone at the dealer should have noticed the trend and ordered sufficient parts to have them in stock

Brian
 
fin_676 said:
From what i have read on the forum here it would appear that wheel bearings on the newer bikes do not last long and need replacing at shorter intervals than spark plugs
i bet the dealer has spark plugs in stock but why not wheel bearings someone at the dealer should have noticed the trend and ordered sufficient parts to have them in stock

Brian
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Good answer Brian, The Dealers are blaming us for premature failure too much washing and riding in the rain when they know the MOCO has gone cheap to avoid having to set end play on the wheels
 
If riding in the rain is a problem then perhaps they need to pull out of the UK or the bikes are not of marketable quality for use in the environment or all wheel bearings should be covered by the moco parts and labour for the life of the bike

Brian
 
Guys,, If you google bad motorcycle wheel bearings,, it seems that this is not just a Harley problem.. BMW, Valkerie, Honda, they are all complaining of bearing failures with very low mileage, so it does not make our situation any better but for some reason most of these bearings are coming from Argentina, and China, the BMW boys are talking about bad steel being used in the manufacturing process, and their just as concerned as the rest of us. I know Ill be keeping an eye of this... If there is an alternative bearing source I would like to know also,, Ride Safe Tim
 
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