I had my front bearings and races replaced by a local shop. After remounting the wheel on the bike its now hard to spin. I followed the manuals method of installation. It said to slide the axle in, then align it so the spacers look good, then tighten up the pinch bolts, and then tighten the axle bolt to 50 foot pounds, then to loosen and re-tighten the pinch bolts. I tried that, and other methods but all yield the same net affect, the wheel is hard to spin. If I loosen the axle bolt to 20 lb's or so, the wheel spins fine, its just when its torqued down I have the issue. Is it possible they did something wrong when the bearings were installed? I'm bringing the bike back to then with the wheel installed tomorrow but wanted to see if you guys had any ideas.
Thanks!
Chuck

 

Bearings and races - these are tapered bearings then? Did you re-shim them? Do not ride the bike until this matter is solved - you could really get hurt if the bearings are too tight. What year is the bike?

 

I believe they are tapered. The bike is a 95 fatboy.
Yes, I agree, I don't plan to ride it until it's fixed. I'll trailer it to the shop.
Thanks

 

Yeah, OK, sounds like they were not shimmed properly. Because they are tapered bearings it should be an easy fix though. Good luck.

 

Having had something similar happen to me, I suspect that the bearing on the side of the brake rotor was not installed first and it's not fully seated.

 

NO - The axle nut should be pulled tight first while the other end is free to slide in the pinch section on the right fork.

The wheel should spin free with just the axle nut tight, and then move to tighten the pinch cap - if it binds up after tightening only the axle nut, then the bearings are not correctly seated.


Edit: Disregard my comments - just realised your model has tapered bearings.

 

Shim too short for new bearings. When changing bearings the end play must be set. If the new bearings have a different tolerance than the worn ones when they were new, the shim won't be right.
How much does the wheel move back and forth? That is end play. It must be set up to the model specs for safe proper use. Too tight and the hub will heat up causing possible wheel lock. Too loose and wobble or loss of control can kill ya.
Remove one side seal and bearing to access the spacer. Measure it. Either get a longer one to trim down (the safer way) or add a shim to get more length. Using the axle, spacers, and something else to mimic the assembled front end, check for the required endplay. When you get that, assemble the wheel to the front end and again check the end play. If it still OK pull the wheel and add the seal and reassemble & go ridding. Don't use the seal until after the end play is right or you can wind up wasting seals.
This will be a greasy job but after getting it done, you'll feel better about the work. This is why you don't let amatures or "don't cares" work on your bike. The shop that did the work should have set endplay when they changed bearings. Just because the bearings are the same type does not mean they are just changeable and go on down the road. Things wear and sometimes the races don't get fully seated. That wheel should have not left the shop in that condition. Good thing you noticed it.

 

Lots of great info, thanks folks! Now I have an idea of what is wrong, hopefully the shop will be able to fix it.

 

Did you ever figure this out?

 

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