| Author | Message | ||
     Ohbuellman |
I knew I would jinx myself by responding to a thread the other day that my 09 R has not had any problems to speak of after 6K miles... (and yes, I searched the archives first). What I am looking for is confirmation of my problem. I think this is a rear wheel bearing problem, but I have not had one go before. I was running about 55 mph on a broad sweeping curve, heard a "pop" near the rear axle and the rear wheel immediately started to wobble side-to-side uncontrollably. Fortunately, I was able to get off to the side of the road quickly. I just changed my rear tire 300 miles ago (and balanced it) and torqued the axle to spec. Does this sound like the most reasonable explanation? Thanks. | ||
| Joshinga |
the easiest way to tell is to get the rear off the ground somehow and check for movement by grabbing the tire from the side and give it a left to right twisting motion. is there movement? if there is get it to a shop and get those bearings changed. if you don't feel anything slowly rotate the wheel listening for pop's. also feel for vibrations in the wheel as you rotate it if you feel of hear something get to the shop. | ||
| Pwillikers |
Wheel bearings don't often pop. They deteriorate over time. I'd wager it's tire related. Maybe a broken belt? Any bulges? | ||
| Hdwrenchtx |
i have seen several wheel bearings fail on harleys 25mm bearings. I dont know what size the buell bearings are but it is possible. Sometimes they pop as you describe. | ||
| Blackflash |
18k drive side  | ||
| Duchunter |
Problems with bearings led to a switch in suppliers during the 2009 production run. The first part of the 09 production run used bearings that have an orange seal. Buell had problems with them and switched suppliers. The later portion of the 09 production run used bearings that have black seals. You can easily ID your bike as having the early vs. late bearings by the orange vs. black seals. My understanding is that there is a silent warranty campaign on this issue -- if you have the orange seal bearings and you have a problem with them, they'll replace them with the black seal bearings. But if you don't have a problem with the orange bearings they won't replace them with the new type. You need to document a failure to get the upgrade. | ||
| Cafefun |
sounds like something that should be a recall IMO | ||
| Froggy |
No, you may still get orange bearings if thats what the dealer has in stock. Only reason you would get the black seal or any other bearing is because thats what the dealer had. Oh, and the black seal bearings aren't really an upgrade based on what us Uly riders have been reporting. There have been several failures, so the jury is still out on them. The only real upgrade would be the 2010 wheel, which has a new larger 3 bearing setup and different axle. | ||
| Court |
>>>My understanding is that there is a silent warranty campaign on this issue -- Explain to me what a "silent warranty campaign" and how you keep anything silent while communicating it to thousands of dealers in 17 countries. Just curious . . . | ||
| Joshinga |
Its a program that HD uses to warranty problems that don't happen to everyone. ie: in 2006 the street glide had a silent warranty for the fuel injectors. BUT only if you had issues. if you did you got updated ones, no issues no jets. Does it make sense now Court? I really think its a shady practice but thats Harley for ya. | ||
| Court |
Harley-Davidson (to the best of my knowledge) has NEVER applied the term "silent warranty" to anything. The do issue, quite publicly, Technical Service Bulletins, to address known issues that impact a number of bikes, but not all, in a population. This has been employed with both the Firebolt headlights and the rear wheel bearings. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Don't forget the infamous rear signals and clutch weep. | ||
| Court |
>>>Don't forget the infamous rear signals and clutch weep. Perfect example. There were few of the rear turn signals but . . . from reading the Internet . . . one would have surmised it was akin to H1N1. | ||
| Joshinga |
im not saying that they call it that but they do it. The only difference from a normal warr. is that they dont send out notification . Iv been told by HD brass that it is for non life threating issues and its for people that only have the problem not every one that happens to have that bike. | ||
| Court |
I'm glad you brought it up here. The information you were given was inaccurate. The information is widely disseminated. Care to share the name of the "HD Brass" . . . I'd be happy to call them and bring them up to speed as well. The entire "secret warranty" thing smacks of hiding something and would be an invitation to litigation. I'm not taking you to task but this is the type of crap that gets started at some dealerships. | ||
| Joshinga |
I just said secret because that was the term used in the first post. But Im not gonna debate the legality of it but I have seen it first hand. That is why I stated the example that I did about the Street glides the injectors in question that were installed caused driveability issues in SOME bike not all. It was not a danger to the consumer just an inconvenience their for not everyone would need the recall so it was not sent out to all owners. now if a owner came into the shop with issues it would be checked and if the part was the one in question it would be replaced under warrt. As for the guy who said it it was the regional rep about 4-5 years ago. Im not bad mouthing any one Im just stating something I have seen in my time in the shop of HD dealers | ||
| Court |
>>>As for the guy who said it it was the regional rep about 4-5 years ago. Ahhhhhh. . . The Harley-David District Manager. You have answered all my questions.  | ||
| Joshinga |
Iv seen a lot of weired stuff while I was working in the shop. like harley denying a radio warr. claim because the bike had aftermarket exhaust. Im still trying to figure that one out. | ||
| Duchunter |
i have to laugh at how worked up some people get about the semantics of whether a defect is covered by a "warranty" vs. a "recall" vs. a "campaign". "Silent" campaigns are a fact of life in the transportation industry, regardless of what we may want to call them. Looking at the big picture, if someone from the "inside" is leaking helpful information, the LAST thing that you want to do is to push them for a name so that you can go to the factory and "take someone to task." Although that may provide short term ego gratification, the ultimate result will be to silence the insider who is trying to pass helpful information to you. Sometimes its better to set the ego aside and to just accept information when it comes, rather than trying to enforce a debate upon a person who may be going out on a limb to help you. | ||
| Fast1075 |
More in line with the thread....be sure to check or HAVE checked the spacer...if it got chewed up and lost ANY of it's lenght...there will be repeat bearing failure...the immediate failure was caused by moisture intrusion in combination with loss of lubricant. | ||
| Ccryder |
Guess your search didn't work too well: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/495005.html THis is what mine looked like:  You should have been able to feel something b4 it went that critical, mine did give some warning signs. Neil S. | ||
| Avalaugh |
Now hear me out..... My front wheel bearing has been replaced under warranty, the rear shows no signs of play but i presume the previous owner used/kept the bike out in the rain. I only use it in the dry and keep it in the garage. If i were to use a small syringe and add some more grease to the rear bearing, if it were starting to run dry would this be a cure/prolong its life ? | ||
| Ccryder |
If the seal is still intact then you have no issues. If you add grease the odds are you make compromise the seal and, you can over grease a bearing. Also you don't know what grease is in the bearing from the OEM and your grease might not like their grease (happens ALL the time). Put your fingers in them at tire change and feel if they are smooth to turn. They may be hard or stiff to turn but that's ok. If they are gritty or notchy, replace them. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Buellistic, who has a tuber with over 100k miles on it with the original wheel bearings swears it is because he uses an injector to lube the bearings...just throwing that out there... | ||
| Avalaugh |
fast0175, i have heard of this before which is why i ask, but wondered if anyone has done it, some advice is always good | ||
| Ohbuellman |
Thanks for feedback. Neil, I did see your post/pic, but mine looks nothing like this and gave no advance warning. Bike is still on the trailer from when I picked it up roadside. Will take into the dealer today (in the hopes it may be covered via warranty or recall ["secret" or otherwise]). Otherwise, I would have had it apart in my garage by now. Will get back with the result later in the week. | ||
| Zac4mac |
My rear bearings as of 05 OCT 09.   | ||
| Ccryder |
Brian: When you changed your tires 300 miles ago did you "finger" your bearings? From description, I would bet you a 6-pack that you should have at least felt some roughness if not looseness at your tire change. I caught my front ones b4 they went too bad when they felt notchy. A bearing may feel stiff to turn, but it has to feel smooth. Anything else is suspect. | ||
| Fast1075 |
If a bearing shows ANY sign of roughness, it is failing...if it is not buttery smooth, there is only a matter of time before it completely fails...because it is already failing if it is even the least bit rough. | ||
| Dirty_john |
In the UK wheel bearing failure seems quite common, I replace them every time I change the tires, wheel bearings are cheap, I value my life - the question that should be asked is why an additional rear wheel bearing was considered necessary on the 2010 models if there was not a problem, no manufacturer adds production costs by changing design unnecessarily by adding a bearing. It is interesting that there were no similar mods to the front wheel so the factory considered that the design was ok. I never use a pressure washer to clean the bike either since I don't want to risk getting water into the bearings, to be honest how many wheel bearing failures on the XB range were down to belt tension excess when the rear wheel suspension was unloaded which was easy to do under hard braking,most of the UK roads are tight and twisty begging for the brakes to be used to the limit - just right for Buells - when I bought my XB12R the first thing I fitted was a free spirits tensioner. I keep a careful watch on the 1125R wheel bearings - thanks in part to the posts on this forum. (Message edited by Dirty_john on November 24, 2009) |
