| Author | Message | ||
     Bluzm2 |
Well, yesterday I FINALLY got a chance to take my recently acquired 06 ULY for a ride. The snow is almost completely gone, the roads are mostly sand free and it was 64 degrees! Wah hoo! My joy was short lived however, before I even got 2 houses away, I heard a popping sound from the back of the bike. At first I thought it was pebbles from the tire hitting the hugger but quickly determined that wasn't the case. Every once in awhile you could actuall feel the "pop" in the footpegs. A quick check determined that the rear wheel bearings are toast. A new set is already on order from American Sport Bike. Thanks Al! If I decide to keep this bike, I think for peace of mind, I'll pick up a 2010 rear wheel and not have to worry about it again. Now if I could only find a cheap left saddle bag... Brad | ||
| Dirt |
In addition to the bearings, be prepared to replace the axle spacer and axle. It all depends on how much damage was done. | ||
| Oldwesterncowboy |
how hard is it to remove the rear wheel? how much is a 2010 upgrade? will dealer upgrade to 2010 under warranty? I have an 09 with orange seals (Message edited by oldwesterncowboy on March 16, 2010) | ||
| Larryjohn |
how hard is it to remove the rear wheel? - It's Easy how much is a 2010 upgrade? - You can get it at American Sport Bike for $336 (+$20 to have the bearings installed by them) will dealer upgrade to 2010 under warranty? Doubt it | ||
| Hughlysses |
will dealer upgrade to 2010 under warranty? Caveat to Larryjohn's response- we had at least one Uly owner that suffered a rear bearing failure resulting in damage to the wheel and axle while the bike was under warranty. When the dealer repaired it, they installed the 2010 wheel assembly. It may be that the factory considers that the "standard" repair (when a repair is required) at this point. | ||
| Oldwesterncowboy |
I guess you could get these http://goo.gl/RDsk | ||
| Mnrider |
Well Brad it's good they went out close to home. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
WOW! Wheel bearings that cost more than the 2010 wheel/axle/bearing kit. | ||
| Larryjohn |
OWC - Wow, that is not cheap, but I would be curious if they "cure" the failing wheel bearing issue. Unfortunately they are no cheaper than getting a 2010 rear wheel kit, so I don't see the lure. The jury is still out on the 2010 design if for no other reason than they don't have the miles and number of installations as the pre '10 wheels. The new wheel design seems damned robust to me and I am guessing we won't be seeing many bearing failures on the 2010 wheels. I am likely to make a jump here soon. I haven't had any problems on my Uly yet, but the looks of the 2010 design would give me all kinds of peace of mind. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
So is this an issue that applies to every '06? I have an '06 with 14k miles, bought new, haven't had an issue yet... Am I guaranteed to be screwed by this at some point or is it hit or miss? Thanks | ||
| Larryjohn |
It is not necessarily a foregone conclusion. Some have gone with no problems and other have had issues. I think the problem is two fold. One is the stress the belt places on the drive side of the wheel and the other issue is water getting into the bearings. Given that the Uly seems more prone than other Buells, and with its longer suspension travel, I would lean towards the former being the larger contributing factor. This is just my opinion, but I think it is also supported by the fact that the 2010 rear wheel design has two bearings on the drive side. To me that means Buell said "we aren't dicken' around with these damned bearing failures anymore" If you check your bearings at each wheel change you can usually gauge how they are fairing. But that is no guarantee that you will catch it before a failure. So to answer your question, are you guaranteed? No, there are folks who have attested to many failure free miles with no issues. Is it hit or miss? I would say yes. Fortunately it looks like we have a really good fix for it. Sure it is not the cheapest thing in the world but I think the price is reasonable for what you get, and at least we have the option, for which I am grateful. | ||
| Oldwesterncowboy |
at $35 per set, the easiest thing would be to put new in bearings everytime you put new tires on | ||
| Froggy |
Ceramics aren't invincible either.
Yes, it applies to all XB models from 2003-2009.
No real pattern has been discovered. Many people suffer failures, many people don't.
Yes, if you quickly want to ruin your rim by changing them so much, plus after the 10th tire you would of more than paid for the 2010 wheel. | ||
| Hooper |
Terrible1one3 - my 2006 is at about 14,500 miles with no trouble. I'll be getting a new rear tire at my 15,000 service. I'll have them check the bearings (and probably replace them anyway) and report back. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Although replacing the bearing at each tire replacment sounds good on paper in practice it's not so good. Repeated removal and replacment of the bearings WILL wear out the bearing race in the wheel. The old tuber PM wheels were famous for this. The new style 2010 wheel should be the fix. The tubers ran 2 right side bearings from the start. There were very few failures. Larryjohn, regarding the 2 problems, 1 - a very tight belt and 2 - water.. There is no question that the belt is quite tight however the idler pulley is suppose to keep tension constant throughout rear wheel travel. That's the theory anyway. The water issue may also be a problem I had a toasted set of bearings on my S2 a while back. When I pulled them I couldn't believe how rusty they were. It will be interesting to see what the Uly bearings look like when I pull them. oops, I missed Froggy's post above... sorry for the duplicate info.. Brad (Message edited by bluzm2 on March 16, 2010) | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
Hooper. That's funny I have 14,500 give or take a dozen on mine right now  I put a lot of stress on the bike as I ride it aggressively, have had bags on it since new and ride a LOT of 2-up (I would guess around 80 percent of the miles are 2 up). I have ridden in 8 hours straight of rain once, and a couple hours here and there a often (I would guess roughly 2000 miles in rain, not drizzle but RAIN), so hopefully water isn't the main reason. I (knocking on wood) haven't had a failure, I do notice a slight bearing going bad type vibration when the rear suspension is compressed and I am 2-up but have had no issues and it has been there since 0 miles. I figured it was the tires (still running the Dunlops). Well, the thought of losing a wheel bearing and the damage that can come afterwards worries me, but it seems like the same thing Harley had with their Cam bearings going out on the 99 and early '00 Twin Cam motors. Happened a lot, but hit or miss as it didn't happen to everyone. (My Dad's 2000 FLHTCi pooped out at 18k miles and my '99 Super Glide made it 25k trouble free miles). (Message edited by terrible1one3 on March 16, 2010) | ||
| Larryjohn |
The position of the idler pulley is close to keeping the belt length constant (which equates to constant tension) but there is some change in belt path length through the full travel of the suspension. I recall reading an article on this and it stated that Uly X (not XT) had a greater change in belt path length than any other Buell model. The change was a small amount but it still represents increase in tension. I might have to look for the article, I believe I found the link here on BadWeb a couple of years back. | ||
| Larryjohn |
I think this is the thread, but unfortunately the links to Buell's website explaining everything are no longer any good. The thread does an okay job of getting the points across though. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/341932.html | ||
| Towpro |
Cowboy, I don't think those bearings in your link are sealed. that metal plate on the side of the bearing is a B&R seal (will only keep out birds and rocks). | ||
| Rwven |
The hybrid ceramics have S/S races, so at the very least rust would not be a problem. And rust, anecdotally, is the problem. Edit: It looks like the price Woodcraft lists is for four bearings, front and rear wheels. (Message edited by rwven on March 17, 2010) | ||
| Florida_lime |
About ready for my 4th set of rear wheel bearings in 40,000 miles soon. Changed the rear Michelin Pilot Road 2 out a bit early before I head up to NC for a long Easter weekend, along with oils, filter, and adjustments. Black bearings at 10,000 miles and they don't feel good at all. Rotor side felt OK, but was pretty rusty looking. Pulley side (that has failed twice before) feels pretty gritty. I repacked them like I have always done at my tire changes, but I expect to replace them ASAP. FYI -- Design inside the black seal bearings is a little different from the orange seal bearings. they have a plastic bearing cage riding directly under the seal. Makes it harder to clean and repack.  If the parts were readily available from a local dealer, I'd highly consider the '10 rear wheel. I'm just not sure given the present situation. |
