Changed front tire on weekend. Checked bearings and the abs bearing was bad. The other side not bad but not 100%. Approx 22000 miles. I always have bearings on hand so no big deal. I almost always change every second tire. What was a surprise was when i opened it up. No sign of any grease at all. I never use a pressure washer on the bike. I never felt anything or heard anything when riding
Changed front tire on weekend. Checked bearings and the abs bearing was bad. The other side not bad but not 100%. Approx 22000 miles. I always have bearings on hand so no big deal. I almost always change every second tire. What was a surprise was when i opened it up. No sign of any grease at all. I never use a pressure washer on the bike. I never felt anything or heard anything when riding
Would someone tell me why replacing wheel bearings this often is considered acceptable? If you had to replace the wheel bearings in your car every 15,000-20,000 miles you wouldn’t stand for it.
Would someone tell me why replacing wheel bearings this often is considered acceptable? If you had to replace the wheel bearings in your car every 15,000-20,000 miles you wouldn’t stand for it.
It isn't. And that's why most of us purchase a set of quality bearings, pop the seal off, grease them with quality grease, and then install them and forget about them.
Would someone tell me why replacing wheel bearings this often is considered acceptable? If you had to replace the wheel bearings in your car every 15,000-20,000 miles you wouldn’t stand for it.
A ball bearing has no place on a wheel...they should be tapered roller bearings...like they were before 2000...
A ball bearing has no place on a wheel...they should be tapered roller bearings...like they were before 2000...
There is absolutely nothing wrong with tapered roller bearings for wheel bearings, but a semi sealed or sealed ball bearing of good quality with good grease, will have reduced maintenance intervals and will last nearly as long. Plus they are easier to set up correctly for the average joe.
but a semi sealed or sealed ball bearing of good quality with good grease, will have reduced maintenance intervals and will last nearly as long. Plus they are easier to set up correctly for the average joe.
Opinions vary...
A tapered roller bearing that receives ever moderate maintenance will out last the bike ...ball bearings don't deal well with radial loads, and will fail if ridden hard...as proven by the thousands of people that have problems with them ...
Changed front tire on weekend. Checked bearings and the abs bearing was bad. The other side not bad but not 100%. Approx 22000 miles. I always have bearings on hand so no big deal. I almost always change every second tire. What was a surprise was when i opened it up. No sign of any grease at all. I never use a pressure washer on the bike. I never felt anything or heard anything when riding
Thank the engineers that say bearings only need a thin film of grease on the *****. A lot of bearings today just have a thin thread of grease (like a string on one side of the bearing maybe 1/16th inch in diameter, seen many of these), often a clear stuff that looks like vaseline, and once that gets slung into unrecoverable crannies or cooked off, the bearing is toast real quick.
I've seen this on aftermarket Harley bearings, but haven't seen one without any grease at all... yet. I have in other applications, one reason I'd never put a wheel bearing on a bike without popping a seal to see what's inside first. And those Harley bearings with the metal shield - you can't pop that without ruining it, and I'd never use one. If I don't know what grease is in the bearing, I clean it out and pack with a good quality synthetic that I know doesn't mix easily with water (hygroscopic), those may still lubricate when water soaked (doesn't need standing water, they'll absorb it out of the atmosphere) but the bearings will rust. I've found Mobil 28 and Chevron Starplex (both red) to be bad about this. Mobil 1 is red, but I've used it and it seems good, also a Chevron that's green, forget the name, so it's not the brand that's bad, but the type of grease.
From the photos and descriptions of failed bearings on this forum, grease often seems to be a culprit. When I pull a tire, I replace bearings I didn't install, but if I did, I just check the grease, and if it looks like it did when I put it in there (good grease with good seals should), and still rotates smoothly, I'll leave it in. If a ball bearing fails in less than 100,000 miles, it either wasn't a good bearing to start with, or wasn't greased or installed properly. Or someone pressure washed it... I've opened many bearings with grit, even sand, in them, and that's a bearing killer, guaranteed.
06-11-2019, 09:34 PM
Had to change front bearings last wrkend
