It doesn't fall off with heat, 9 out of 10 times. Been there, tried that, sounds like a good plan until it doesn't work. And then the machine shop tells you it was harder for them to remove the bearing because of the heat you applied!?!?!?

 

Yeah, tried the heat thing, no dice.

I have removed hundreds of bearings in jet engines, heating the bearing is a waste of time, because you can`t heat the bearing much faster than you heat the stem, they just grow together and stay tight.

Best way is pay a competent shop to remove it.

Quick way to install, wrap the stem in paper, and cover with dry ice.

Heat the bearing to about 275F with a heat gun.

Drop the bearing onto the stem, turn on the heat gun and keep the bearing warm so it does not get cold and let water condense on it.

 

I agree. I had a problem on my 2005 Sportster last summer that should have been an easy fix but after messing with it for 3 days, I realized that there was something going on that I wasn't seeing and I was eventually going to destroy something, so I decided to stop. My ego took a major blow. Since it was Harley specific, I took it to the nearest (2 hours away) Harley dealership that has a long-standing good reputation for honesty and workmanship, to have their service department work on it. They estimated about 2 hours for the repair and they would use my parts. 9 days later, I got my bike back with many additional new parts, most of which they paid for because their original diagnosis was wrong. Even though the job was expensive (I paid about 1/4 of the total bill.), I don't regret taking the bike to them. They admitted that they actually did not find the root cause of the problem and kept replacing parts until it was fixed. I appreciated their honesty.

This dealership has been in the same location since 1917 and under the current ownership since the 1980's. They have survived this long and outlasted many other motorcycle dealerships for a reason. I got more than what I paid for.

 

So what was the problem you thought you had and what was the final fix?

 

When I bought my new-to-me 2005 XL883, it had been stored in a garage for at least 10 years. Even though the bike looked perfect but dusty, I changed everything that could have aged such as tires and fluids plus I changed the plugs, cleaned the carb, made sure the tank was clean, etc. The brakes worked well but the rear pads were down to about 20% life expectancy. When I tried to replace the front and rear pads, I found the pistons would not retract to make room for new, thicker ones. I started using screwdrivers, small levers and before started using the big levers, After sleeping on it, I decided not to take a chance on breaking something. I made an appointment at the H-D Shop and was told that I could wait because the job wouldn't take more than a few hours at most. My appointment was at 9:00 am and by 4:30 pm, they said it was ready but it needed a caliper rebuild. I was OK with that and started to ride the bike home which was 2 hours away, over twisty mountain country roads with 15 mph turns. By the time I reached my first stoplight, I had no front brake and had to use the front brake to stop -- thank God, I was going in a straight line. The brake pedal was hard but there was no stopping power, like the rotor was coated in grease. I rode the bike back to the shop, explained what happened and told them to test ride it. Ten minutes later, they apologized and said to leave it. They did not know what was wrong and that I would not have to pay any additional charges. They gave me a brand new loaner and told me to ride it as much as I wanted. We were all polite to each other.

When I called the next day, they said they still did not know what was wrong and that new parts were ordered. A few days later, they said the new parts did not work and more parts were ordered. This continued for 8 days. On the 9th day, they called and said it was ready and that it had been tested ridden for many miles under all braking conditions and it was working perfectly. When I arrived, I test rode it and it was indeed perfect. When I asked what the root cause was, they said they still did not know, that they just kept replacing parts until it worked. I appreciated their honesty. They gave me the 3-page receipt with all the details and all the charges for parts and labor on the last 2 pages had $0.00 beside them. I'm guessing they ate about $2000 to make this right. Everything regarding the rear brakes was new with OEM parts.

When I got home, I put the bike on a stationary jack so that I could rotate the rear wheel by hand to see if anything was too tight, too loose, out of alignment, etc. All was perfect. I called them to confirm this and I have since been back to the shop to talk to them and they said my bike was the first and only bike to have ever done this. This dealership has been under the same ownership since the 1980's and it has a very loyal customer base, so that is saying something. They treated my old bike like it was a brand new top-of-the-line bike. The other motorcycle dealerships which sell metric and euro bikes have terrible reputations regarding customer service.

 

Like playing detective now... Did they say what the last part was they put on? lol!!

I can't think of anything more scary than failed brakes.

Sounds like a real nice place to do business with though.

 

No, but the first things they did after rebuilding the caliper and replacing the brake line (I paid for this part) were to replace the reservoir, master cylinder and caliper (all of these and the rest of the parts plus labor were at no charge) After that, they replaced the rotor and other unknown parts. They didn't order all of the parts at the same time and that is what took so long. When they received an order, they replaced all the parts at once; then took a test ride, then ordered more parts, took another test ride, etc., until the rear brake worked. They called me every few days with an update until they were satisfied that it was safe.

The day I picked it up, the service manager was out riding it one last time, putting the bike through several very hard stops to try and make it fail. They were very patient with all my questions and I was patent with them. It literally paid off. I am very glad that I didn't get a shade tree mechanic work on it with aftermarket parts. I have nothing against aftermarket parts on some things but safety is a priority for me.

Repairing the piston on the front brake was never a problem. The repair was instantly successful but the rear brake was a completely different issue. I've put about 8K miles on the bike since then and all is well.

 

new rotor, seriously? those guys went the extra mile in-deed!

and rear brakes on early rubbermounts are known trouble makers. my 08 never failed me to this day tough *knock on wood*

 

Yeah, I was blown away by the new rotor, too. The service manager and staff were 100% cooperative and never tried to put me off when I called repeatedly, asking if my bike was ready. I don't know if it was because they let me go initially with an unsafe bike or not, but they couldn't have been nicer. This includes the sales staff because they offered me any bike I wanted as a loaner, I simply said that I preferred a Sportster but I was happy to get anything. They filled up a brand new Iron 1200 with gas which had less than 50 miles on it and told me to ride it as long as I wanted. They knew that I didn't buy my 2005 Sporty there but I guess they were looking at me as a potential customer which is what I am now. I'm not in the market for another bike but this is the first place I will look, if I ever change my mind.

Both brakes were performing well before I took the bike to them. The only problem was the pistons not retracting when I needed more room for a new pad. The front pistons repaired easily but the rear one remains a mystery. Anyway, all is good.