IDS wear experience
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Tourer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 464
Likes: 1
From: NoCal
IDS wear experience
Checked my rear IDS sprocket 6K miles ago at last tire change. Play was well within spec and bearing was fine. Today heard a slight chirp and felt a slight jerk when taking off from dead stop. Checked the rear sprocket and excess play was seen. Bearing has a little sideways play with the inner race. But after checking with 8 dealers within 1 hr radius of Sacramento none carried the bearing. Some had the rubber isolators. In all of California turns out only 3 dealers all near San Diego have the bearing. So at 30K miles on my present IDS, the isolators and bearing need replacing which I can only do the isolators at this time until the ordered bearing comes in.
May I suggest if you plan on replacing your IDS bearing and isolators make sure your dealer has them before you start and take your wheel off as it appears not many dealers are stocking the bearing. When asked some of the dealers that had the isolators why they did not stock the bearing and it was like duh why should we do that!
May I suggest if you plan on replacing your IDS bearing and isolators make sure your dealer has them before you start and take your wheel off as it appears not many dealers are stocking the bearing. When asked some of the dealers that had the isolators why they did not stock the bearing and it was like duh why should we do that!
Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,622
Likes: 0
From: South of Raleigh, and west of the coast, NC.
Thanks for the heads up will order a bearing (and maybe the isolators also) I have approximately 12000+ miles on my IDS since installing it. So far the isolator play is only about 1/8" at present (just did my 30,000 mi service).
Banned
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,551
Likes: 6
I think it's a good idea to have a spare bearing on hand and ask dealer to install with every new rear tire......Thanks for reminding me.....I'll get her ordered today cause I'm due for a new tire in next few months.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
Likes: 50
From: Baton Rouge, LA
If my present E3 rear tire ever wears out I will be making a routine check of the IDS when the wheel is off. What do you look for in the IDS bearing to determine if it needs replacing or not? IIRC, in May 2008 when I last looked at it, the IDS bearing showed some minor movement of the inner race, no more than with any wheel bearing I've inspected in the past, so it didn't raise any red flags with me and I buttoned it all back up after changing the tire. While on the bike I cannot induce any lateral movement in the sprocket at all and there is no visible or audible indication that the bearing is anything but in good health. There is also no longitudinal play in the sprocket that would indicate the bumpers inside the hub need replacing.
I was thinking about replacing the bearing at the next tire change, but if it ain't broke.... It now has about 22k on it and I'm about 4-5k away from another tire change.
I was thinking about replacing the bearing at the next tire change, but if it ain't broke.... It now has about 22k on it and I'm about 4-5k away from another tire change.
Last edited by iclick; Oct 10, 2009 at 04:58 PM.
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Banned
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,551
Likes: 6
I'm certain most, if not all failures to present were due to improper installation. The IDS took many dealers by surprize when it was first released and I doubt they had the proper bearing installation tools handy-same for many home installers....
Those of us who have lots of experience handling bearings know how and where to apply pressure, but many folks will just hammer them in with a chunk of wood or whatever.....Not sayin those who had failures ain't talented, just sayin...
Those of us who have lots of experience handling bearings know how and where to apply pressure, but many folks will just hammer them in with a chunk of wood or whatever.....Not sayin those who had failures ain't talented, just sayin...
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Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
Likes: 50
From: Baton Rouge, LA
I'm beginning to think this way, even though a bearing install shouldn't be rocket science. IIRC the install manual doesn't give any instructions on installing the bearing outside of using the official HD installer tool. If it is proprietary and has the proper machining to get the bearing exactly in the proper position, you wouldn't know what that position is without it. Next time I remove my wheel I'm going to inspect it closely and take some measurements, this under the assumption it was installed properly. Mine was the first install Zanotti's did on an IDS bearing, and I have no idea if they used the right tool.
