Are there any other choices besides Harley bearings? I have a little play in the rear when grabbing the wheel with both hands and moving side to side. Suspect wheel bearings. Bike's got 17,xxx on it and they are stock. Just heard of alot of premature Harley bearing failures and wonder if there is an aftermarket alternative. Bikes an '02 Deuce.

 

Yes there are bearings that will fit, there pretty much std. Do NOT ride it in that condition, please.
Coyote

 

drag specialties has bearings. i have 52000 on the back and they are fine. if the rim or internal spacer is wrong they will not last. i was using 11k to 16k on the front and then HD found i had a rim cut wrong and replaced it out of the warranty because it was repaired while in warranty. they do need to have a recall on the rims as this could cause death.

 

I just had the front and rear wheel bearings replaced on my 05' Softail Standard at 18,150 miles. I lost one of the rear bearings back in November 2009 and the front went in the last 200 miles. By lost I mean the grease seeped out on to the wheel hub. I didn't realize how bad they were getting until the new bearings were put in. The bike rides smoother than it has in a long time. They were replaced with HD bearings so I am hoping to not have any trouble with them. At one time I thought I read on the forum that Timken made the bearings for HD. I think changing the wheel bearings will just become an every 20,000 mile preventative maintenance task.

 

Right on. I found an industrial supply place in Merriam, KS that sells Timken, SKF and RBC. Gonna have the front and rears pulled and take them up so they can match them. They guy I talked to said the Timken's have "Made In U.S.A." stamped on them so I'm gonna go with them.