Front Wheel Bearings on Ultra Classic
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Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 565
Likes: 1
From: Pittsburgh
Front Wheel Bearings on Ultra Classic
I have a 2011 Ultra Classic with 8k miles on it. When I'm turning in either direction I can feel what feels like a tire rubbing vibration in my handlebars. I've heard that the HD front wheel bearings have a early failure rate. How do you know if you've got one of the defective wheel bearings(s)?
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 12,653
Likes: 18
From: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
I have a 2011 Ultra Classic with 8k miles on it. When I'm turning in either direction I can feel what feels like a tire rubbing vibration in my handlebars. I've heard that the HD front wheel bearings have a early failure rate. How do you know if you've got one of the defective wheel bearings(s)?
When the wheel falls off? I'll be watching this thread closely. I don't feel any vibration like you are, and I have 15,300 miles on mine.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,616
Likes: 17
From: Mid West
Check your tires for any, ANY cupping to the tread lines, this will induce a hum or a notable feel of vibration in the bike. Seems the Dunlops are worst to develop it but is quite normal and can be unnerving until you figure it out. Both front and rear will do thism most noticable on corners using that tread that sees little straight line use.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 427
Likes: 1
From: Hot Springs, AR
I had the cupping pretty bad on my 2010 RKC at 8k miles. I could hear it more than feel it through the bars. This is the rear. The front wasn't as bad. I actually took a belt sander and knocked off the high spots and it worked excellently. This is the before pic.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,878
Likes: 17
From: The Desert SouthWest
The front wheel bearings on my '09 RK were just replaced at 73,000 miles. I had been hearing a slight noise from the front at low speeds - ended up being the bearing was starting to fail on one side.
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If I had paid attention to what the grease marks meant I would have caught it sooner instead of it looking like this. You can see there are no ball bearings left in the upper cup. I could hear a scraping sound but couldn't figure it out until it was too late, I had stock pipes I'm sure I wouldn't have heard it with louder pipes. I don't remember if I felt anything prior to what was almost total failure.
This was at about 11k miles
This was at about 11k miles
Last edited by EricD10563; Jul 15, 2012 at 01:29 PM. Reason: added content
