How often does everyone change front or rear wheel bearings? Wait till they fry? Time? only mileage?

Not having any issue with mine, but curious on when or if people change them as a PM.

 

I changed mine at 45k.......i didn't see anything wrong with them but got worried reading in here about the problems some were having.......thought I might be missing something.....lol....

 

I inspect the bearings at each tire change and as long as they feel smooth and tight I reinstall the wheel/bearings as is. I have 80,000 and 102,000 miles respectively on my '02 Deuce and '11 Limited and have never had to replace a bearing.

 

Yep. I don't replace parts at some pre-determined interval. If/when they need replacing, I replace them.

 

I have 33,000 (or so) on my 13 CVO Ultra.
I have about 12,000 miles on my tires and if I can make it until I need tires I'll have all of my bearings replaced at that time.

I've never had to replace a wheel bearing in a motorcycle but with all of the stories starting with the '09 models I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

Do whatever makes you comfortable. For every story on here about catastrophic failure there are others like me that have gone 100,000 miles on bearings. When the back ones started going out they made a noticeable roaring noise but many weeks later hadn’t gotten terribly worse. But the 09 and newer bikes have 6 wheel bearings and my dealer charges $250 installed if the wheels are already off for some other reason.

 

Same here. I had 56k on the stock bearings on the 2010 Ultra when we traded it with no issues. A buddy had 80k on a rear wheel when he had a bearing go bad. Another buddy had less than 20k on a front when it went bad. Just raise the bike and spin the wheels from time to time. You can feel and hear a possible issue. Otherwise check with every tire change.

 

Also , (with bike lifted), grab the wheel, (front and rear),, while stabilizing the bike,, and apply side to side force to check for play ...

If all the above are ok,, ride and happy trails ....

 

13 FLHX 30k miles had right front bearing go out on our last trip.... will spend more time checking when changing tires from here on out!!

 

The front wheel bearings are cheap. Both cheaply manufactured and cheap to replace. I have had two sets in the front fail so I change the front with every tire change for peace of mind. I think they are like 10-20 bucks a piece and another 30 minutes of labor since the wheel is already off. I've never had a problem with the rear but they were changed at 110,000 while the bike was at the indy for head to toe overhaul. The indy said they were starting to wear out.