I purchased my 2016 Road King in July. Less then 1,200 miles on it (yes, that's one thousand two hundred) in late August and I noticed noise coming from the front. It had to be either the neck bearings or the wheel bearing. Under warranty so took it into the dealer. They replaced both front wheel bearings. They said only one side was bad but they replaced both. Just sayin'.
I purchased my 2016 Road King in July. Less then 1,200 miles on it (yes, that's one thousand two hundred) in late August and I noticed noise coming from the front. It had to be either the neck bearings or the wheel bearing. Under warranty so took it into the dealer. They replaced both front wheel bearings. They said only one side was bad but they replaced both. Just sayin'.
my fronts went bad at 2400 miles. cheap junk chinese bearings are the problem here along with substandard grease (and very little of it ).
I replaced both my original Dunlop tires last week. Bike has almost 18k miles on it. I always give my wheel bearings a good checkout while replacing tires but this time I checked them extra carefully due to these reports of failures.
My bearings are fine. I never wash my bike with anything but a spray bottle of clear water and a terry cloth towel.
One thing that caught my attention is that Harley doesn't hide their wheel bearings behind outer seals, like all the Japanese bikes do. I bet that these bearings could tolerate a bit more water pressure if there were an outer seal covering the bearing.
Even so, I would never put pressurized water on bike OR car.
With less than 11k miles on my new 09 Road King this is what my front wheel bearing looked like. I had previously noticed some oil weep and grease lines around the bearing, then while riding down the road I heard scraping. Took a bit to figure out the sound was coming from the front wheel. I should have investigated when I first saw oil, but in 40 years of riding I never owned a bike where a wheel bearing failed.
I was there when the bike came out of the crate it was never power washed
After it was replaced it lasted till I sold the bike with 62k miles (less than 11k on the first bearing and more than 50k on the second) seems to be inconsistent. I have 50k+ miles on my 11 Limited with no problems yet but it is something I think about which I really shouldn't have to do.
With less than 11k miles on my new 09 Road King this is what my front wheel bearing looked like.
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Was the grease seal popped off like that when you noticed it, or did you pop it off? Asking because if you popped it off, that bearing didn't have near enough grease in it (could've washed out if the seal was already off). I've pulled seals off wheel bearings that had dark blue ***** from the heat, not near enough grease in them. I never install a bearing anymore without popping a seal and checking the grease. Often end up cleaning out the little bit that's in them and lubing properly with a good grease.
Was the grease seal popped off like that when you noticed it, or did you pop it off? Asking because if you popped it off, that bearing didn't have near enough grease in it (could've washed out if the seal was already off). I've pulled seals off wheel bearings that had dark blue ***** from the heat, not near enough grease in them. I never install a bearing anymore without popping a seal and checking the grease. Often end up cleaning out the little bit that's in them and lubing properly with a good grease.
No it didn't look like the picture when I stopped but it was clearly visible that the seal was broken/separated. I took the picture while stuck on the side of the road after I pulled the seal away with my fingers. No visible grease in the bearing and bearings where missing along with some unknown to me protrusion.
Last time I changed the tires @ 60,000 miles, I noticed that left side rear wheel bearing was rough turning. I don't think even a power washer could get water in behind the IDS pulley to affect the bearing in the wheel hub. Both wheel bearings were replaced under Extended Warranty. The IDS pulley bearings still spun good. There really don't seem to be a way to estimate the life of these bearings.
10-10-2016, 10:36 AM
