I just got an older second hand FLHTCU.
On the 300 mile ride home i ran through the biggest torrential downpour i have ever seen.
Like riding suspended through a cloud for an hour.

Next time i road the bike i noticed it was squeaking up front and discovered it was the wheel bearings.
I say this because i suspect a ride like that will wash the grease right out of it completely.
So its not about how many miles - but rather, the type of miles. Heavy dust or rain will shorten the time frame between repacks.

Second, when you buy a used bike, you really should, just for the peace of mind, go over it completely like a full service.
Grease everything. Change all oils n fluids, and check every wire and hose is secured and not rubbing anywhere and every wearing part (brake pads, cables tires, chains, belts) are lubed and not worn; and every nut n bolt is tightened down - top to bottom and front to back and you'll have a bike you know is ship shape. Then the bike will feel tight and smooth and like new.

 

Real biker threads are boring...

Removing wheels and axles once a month is ridiculous.

There is no reason to service wheel bearings more often than every 15k miles (as long as the bike is not cleaned with a pressure washer)

A good practice is to repack both front and rear bearings every time the rear tire is replaced.

My `89 Softail still has the original wheel bearings, almost 150k on them now.

As long as the seals are in good condition, riding in a downpour won`t wash out any grease at all.

 

Am i going to listen to my grease-less bearings, or you?
I didnt say it was a 'downpour'.
I said it was "the biggest torrential downpour i had ever seen".
in 60 years!

Ive literally ridden a thousand miles through hurricane weather that peeled the left sides of both tires right off in one day and wasnt near as bad, and thousands of miles of xcountry winter riding out of the Yukon, across Canada - Not Florida!
This 'downpour' was the equivalent of running a high pressure washer str8 into it for an hour. Thats why i said it.
And it could not have even possibly been noticed until the next more civil ride, without the pressure washer like rain effect.
A wiser man would ignore your down playing of something so serious; and just do the seals to be sure.

Do your bearings before any extended xcountry trip as well. Any old timer with a brain in his head will tell you that.
It doesnt take much to do.
Not doing it could send you *** over tea kettle and cost you everything.
Especially if the used bike has more than 15k on it - and even if it only has 7k on it.

They were bone dry. So this was a revelation.

 

Sealed bearings require no maintenance. I've never greased the wheel bearings on my 2002 in it's entire 80k+ mile life and I'm only just this winter replacing the bearings with new ones as a preventive measure.

Standard packing interval for the tapered wheel bearings is 10k miles. Many guys wait until the tire change as that often coincides with close to that mileage.

 

Deleted post, just noticed the age of this thread...

 

With it being new to you and having sat for a long time it wouldn't hurt to jack it up and check for play in the bearing and spin it to see if the wheel spins smoth and quiet (you will have to pull the belt off and hold it to the side on the rear), if there is no play or grinding noise and is spins smoothly your good to go till the next tire change.

 

Wheel bearing repacking should at least follow the FSM maintenance schedule. However, it's a good idea to clean and re-grease the axles as per the FSM maintenance schedule and/or every time you pull a wheel. There are a lot of stories of mc owners having trouble pulling the axles out of the hubs due to axle corrosion.

 

post is from `09 , he should have figured it out by now