Warning, something to look out for,
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,390
Likes: 2
From: Naples, Florida
Warning, something to look out for,
I have a 2009 Ultra Classic, since I have owned the bike I have taken it to the dealer several times due to the front in wobbling. I was told it was the low air pressure, this fix worked for a few days. Then I heard about the tire cupping issues and the tire was replaced at around 9000 miles. This helped for a long time however the wobble eventually came back. Then I went from air to nitrogen, this helped for a a while too.
Today my wife and some club members went for a nice ride. Once we turned onto State Rd 29 and headed to Everglades City the wobble was more noticeable than usual, I chalked it up t the road, it seemed more noticeable at a particular speed.
Now i'm fighting the handlebars, we are riding slower as we are heading to the Dealership. Once there the service rep comes out to look at the bike, I show him where it looks like a couple of wheels weight had fallen off. I looked at the hub area and said "see you can see the bearings" he said "wow! this is supposed to be a sealed unit"
Long story short I don't know what caused it to happen, maybe it was riding with lower air pressure. My suspicion is the defective front tire that was replaced under warranty, it was able to wobble the front end for 9000 miles.
Either way, make sure you check you bearings they should be sealed, if you see them, that isn't good. If you had your tire replaced due to a cupping tire, really check it out.
Hope this helps. Ya'll be careful out there
Today my wife and some club members went for a nice ride. Once we turned onto State Rd 29 and headed to Everglades City the wobble was more noticeable than usual, I chalked it up t the road, it seemed more noticeable at a particular speed.
Now i'm fighting the handlebars, we are riding slower as we are heading to the Dealership. Once there the service rep comes out to look at the bike, I show him where it looks like a couple of wheels weight had fallen off. I looked at the hub area and said "see you can see the bearings" he said "wow! this is supposed to be a sealed unit"
Long story short I don't know what caused it to happen, maybe it was riding with lower air pressure. My suspicion is the defective front tire that was replaced under warranty, it was able to wobble the front end for 9000 miles.
Either way, make sure you check you bearings they should be sealed, if you see them, that isn't good. If you had your tire replaced due to a cupping tire, really check it out.
Hope this helps. Ya'll be careful out there
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 5,413
Likes: 17
From: eastern oklahoma
you're lucky you caught it when you did. i cannot imagine anyone riding without doing a visual inspection prior to a trip, but that's a part you must have missed. i do a thorough inspection each time i clean and detail my bike. as a matter of fact, i know that i've spent more hours cleaning, polishing, waxing, etc, than i have riding it. and no, the lower air pressure would not have caused the bearing seal to blow like it did. another thing to think about is that when i did the chrome front end on my 08 streetglide, i installed the chrome tapered spacers. those actually prevent you from seeing the rubber seal which goes around the inner and outer edge of the bearing. i may end up removing those tapered axle spacers so i can actually keep an eye on my bearings. it's great that you made it to the dealership in time before a major mishap.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,390
Likes: 2
From: Naples, Florida
Everything look fine before we left for the trip this morning, the ring didn't look damages or lose at all. I'm wondering if having the bad front tire on so long did something to the bearings that over time finally just gave up. When I got to Harley approximately half of the bearings were missing.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,023
Likes: 989
From: Just Outside Chicago
By no means saying emwolb is a Garage Queen but i do know he is retired and takes alot of pride in his ride....
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Cruiser
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 140
Likes: 0
From: Iowa
Junk bearings made in china. There have been plenty of posts lately concerning premature bearing failure on newer bikes, some with even lower mileage than yours.
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Not to worry about me though, I drank 4 bottles of water, one can of Dr. Pepper, 2 Ice Teas and 3 (8oz) cans of beer. It was 100 degrees. lol