As I have stated as of recent, about 2 weeks ago I experienced a front wheel bearing failure. A fair amount of criticism has been thrown about, in all directions, including but not restricted to MOCO's having used inferior parts, proper maintenance, washing of the bike (using a pressure washer), not heading "warning signs" and the list goes on. All that I can talk about without prejudice is what I know of first hand. Here is what I found -

1) The bike is a 09 Road King with approxomately 13,000 miles. It has been regularly serviced as per factory recommendations, BY THE DEALER, since new. The bike went in last fall for its' 10,000 mile service.

2) I am an avid reader here on the forum and have picked up on a lot of the "little" nuances talked about on here. Since finding a rear fender rattle (loose tail light assembly) when the bike was brand new, I have since learned to be responsible and inspect my bike on a fairly regular basis. I am almost **** about tire pressure, had found and fixed loose shift levers (as talked about here) and had been keeping an eye on the wheel bearings BECAUSE OF THE MANY REPORTED PROBLEMS HERE!

3)THERE WERE NO WARNING SIGNS! I had just been on my hands and knees in my driveway washing the bike only days before the failure. My face was no more than a foot away from the bearings at which time I had looked at them. I always wash it with a bucket of suds, a sponge and a garden hose with a wide spray head on it. The bearings were intact, there was no grease running out of them and all felt "normal" when I rode. No loosness, wobbling or noises!

4)5 days later I was rounding the corner going to my house, doing no more than 10-15 MPH when the front wheel all of a sudden let out a huge groan followed by severe grinding. I stopped immediately and then was able to baby the bike the last 50 feet into my garage. At that point I inspected the front wheel and saw the CATASTROPHIC failure of the right front wheel bearing.

5)The dealer picked up the bike 5 days later and I had ALL the wheel bearings replaced with SKF 6205-2RSJ AMERICAN made bearings (I provided) and new tires put on at the same time. I probably could have gotten another 5 to 6 thousand out of the OE's but I figured that while it would be penny wise it would probably be dollar foolish.

6)When I picked the bike up, I also got the old bearings back. I thought that it would be interesting to see not only what the "bad" bearing looked like but also to open up the "good" bearings to see what was going on.

The first two pics are of the failed bearing. The side missing the shield was on the outside and shielded side was towards the inside. The third pic was what one of the "good" bearings looked like inside. WHERE'S THE DAMN GREASE?



When I picked up the bike I ORDERED THE SERVICE MANUAL! Might as well check all these things myself seeing as my life depends on it!

 

Good post Jeff, and thanks for the pictures. Good move on replacing all the bearings. As you well know, there have been many many problems with wheel bearings since they changed over in 08.
Glad yours didn't result in a ruined wheel, or worse!!

 

 

3)THERE WERE NO WARNING SIGNS! I had just been on my hands and knees in my driveway washing the bike only days before the failure. My face was no more than a foot away from the bearings at which time I had looked at them. I always wash it with a bucket of suds, a sponge and a garden hose with a wide spray head on it. The bearings were intact, there was no grease running out of them and all felt "normal" when I rode. No loosness, wobbling or noises!

Not trying to be a wise guy, but inspecting your bearings and checking for wear involves a bit more than looking at them while washing your bike.

 

one of my front wheel bearings failed at around 30,000 miles on my 08 FLHRC

 

Good post Jeff. I also inspect my bearings about once every two weeks when I check tire pressures. I do it on a pitbull lift. That way I can get to the valve stems without laying on the ground and I can spin the wheels; listen and feel for rumbling.

 

I ABSOLUTELY agree with you - but - what I was doing was visually inspecting them to make sure they weren't showing any signs of impending failure. Lifting the bike off the wheels and free spinning them to check for any problems should have fallen under the realm of scheduled maintenance which I was up till now paying the dealer to perform. I'm thinking now that a lift of some sort will become a necessity.

On this forum others have talked about the bearings making noise, the steering not feeling normal, grease being slung out of the bearing over the wheel and such. My bike showed NONE of these characteristics.

 

Gotcha Jeff. One thing I am is super **** about my bike, particularly the things that could possibly cause me great grief and/or compromise my safety. For that reason, in 35 years, I have NEVER left the inspection and maintenance up to anyone but ME. (with the exception of my indy and close friend)

The last place I'd take their word for "checking" everything is the Dealer, not that they'd want to see me their either, lol.

I want to know myself that the bearings, whether it be wheel, neck or swingarm are good and well greased. Wheel bearing are very easy to check, even if wheel spins great and has no wobble, just pull your wheels at least once during the riding season and inspect for dirt and odd wear and pack with a high quality bearing grease. That way, YOU will know and you will have confidence in your machine, PLUS, you will save a ton of money.

 

08 on up touring uses sealed bearings! NON SERVICEABLE!!

 

sealed bearings are a victim of their design. unable to routinely clean, pack and adjust wheel bearings are a thing of the past unfortunately. grease liquefies when it gets hot and flows through the brg. sometimes short distance ridden vehicles of all types are more prone to bearing failures just because they don't get up to a temp for the grease to flow through and essentially run dry even though theres grease in the bearing.

agree with above post.. you can't determine a whl bearings condition just by looking at it while cleaning the bike.. unless of course you see the outer seal missing or torn..