I am going to replace my back tire after my belt guard problem. My question is should I replace the bearings or clean and repack them, they have unknown miles on them as they are the same bearings that were in it when I bought it. Also should I redo the front while I am at it? I figure it couldn't hurt anything.

 

Pull 'em, clean 'em, check 'em, pack 'em, ride 'em. If they're visibly worn, replace 'em.

 

Lot of guys on here have some issue about a particular part of a bike that caused them a lot of grief at some point or another... mine is real wheel bearings. But I'll spare everyone the way long story

First, bearings and seals are rather inexpensive, even at the dealer. Clean and inspect throughly, and I mean really good. If they look good - no pitting, scars or dark spots in the hard surface, pack them with a high quality grease and run them. Clean the inside of the wheel where the races are also. Replace the shims that came out originally and take note of the special washer that has a small shoulder built onto it. That small shoulder must go against the inner race of the bearing. The bearings tend to push the grease outward so I always smear a good thick bead into the bore just before driving in the seal.

If you replace one or both, DO buy the special race remover tool if you value your time at anything above 2.00 an hour. There is not much to catch on the races in the bore of the wheel and without that tool - you could be there all day. Also, you MUST reset the end play for the bearings with shims if you replace a bearing or race. The book calls for .002 - .004 but there was a bulletin in the early 90's that changed that (for the rear) to .004 - .006. That end play must be set with the bearings dry and torqued to 60 - 65 f/lb. The axle and spacers are too long to use for that so either a piece of 3/4 all-thread and 2 nuts or a very long 3/4 bolt and 1 nut used with the axle spacers with tighten up on the bearings for checking.

And since the mileage is unknown, if the front tire has plenty of life left, I would service them also. (but again, I'm neurotic about wheel bearings)The service interval for the bearings is 10,000 miles. I refuse to pull a wheel (on mine) for that unless it's tire time. And since I get 15,000/30,000 on tires, I service the rear bearings with a new tire and do the front bearing at every rear change also.

 

I do mine now excatly the same way. There are some Indy's out there that will clean, repack the bearings, install new seals, but never check the end play. Very important as stated that the end play is set up properly. A running change was made by HD in 1992, HD Service Bulletin M-1013 from 1991 lists the upgraded PN's and exploded view for all the hubs.

 

i thought about doing that when i saw that one of the seals was leaking a little. so i bought the seal bearing kit but when i took the old seal and bearing out it looked perfect so i cleaned them and repacked them and installed the new seals. ill keep the new bearings until i feel i need them.

 

Thanks, that's is pretty much what I intended to do. I got new seals and have the rim at the local shop getting the new tire mounted and balanced.

 

I used to go through bearings with every tire. Then my indy, who later became a dealer, packed my bearings with genuine HD wheel bearing grease. He said that he never saw a bearing he packed with that fail. I put 65K miles on the original rear wheel bearings packed with genuine HD grease and no problems. Then I had a tire put on at another indy (I moved) and he used some kind of trailer wheel bearing grease, despite my requesting and bringing my own HD grease. When that tire wore out, guess what? So did the bearings. Now, coincidance? Maybe. Maybe not. I insisted on my supplied HD grease this time, no excuses.

So, check for loose bearings with the wheel up in the air, then clean and inspect the bearings, put them in the races and turn them while pressing, feeling for anything that isn’t real smooth. Replace if they are bad. I do that at every tire change.

 

Me too, Hess and sometimes bearings in between tires... but those days are over - "knock on wood"

I try to stay away from any lubrication discussions on here, but wheel bearing grease is extremely important on these. I've tried a lot of different ones too. Lately (30,000 miles or so) I've been using Castrol EP "something or other" with excellent results (it's red). My g/f uses Mobil1 syn wheel bearing grease (red too)- works well on hers. But if I could find the genuine HD grease and if it's the same as they had in the early 90's, I'd recommend and use that myself. It is actually (at least was) Amoco Super-Blue. Deep blue color and getting the slick off your hands is difficult even in Saftey-Clean solvent. Best grease I ever saw, used it in the diesel shop for years.

 

The Dealer did a Inspection, Repack, Adjustment with a tire change at no charge, I just had to pay extra for new seals. Pretty good service I think. He it should be done at every tire change reguardless.

 

My wheel bearings have the same mileage on them as the bike- 140K+. They are inspected and repacked at every tire change. My last front tire went 26K miles, my best rear over 20K. (Dunlop 491's, if you're wondering)