| Author | Message | ||
     Doogiehiser |
just had my left rear wheel bearing blow out coming home from work. almost dumped it. would of sucked to trash such a sweet bike. question i have is what could of caused it to happen in the first place. HD dealership in the area was the last to touch the bike in the spring changing the tires. other then that nothing has been done with the rear wheel. i only have 6500 miles on it. don't think a wheel bearing should go that quick. | ||
| Sprintst |
pics pls! | ||
| D_adams |
What's the color of the wheel bearing seal? Black or orange? If it's orange, those were the originals and prone to possible failure. Mine were replaced under warranty last year with the black seal version. (Message edited by d_adams on July 23, 2011) | ||
| Doogiehiser |
here is a few pics    | ||
| Sprintst |
Ouch, that is ugly | ||
| Froggy |
Rear wheel bearing failures are common, especially if the axle is overtorqued. They redesigned the rear wheel to reduce failures. | ||
| Jcjohnson33 |
So is the axle ok or does that need to be replaced as well. Glad you kept control and didn't lay it down and hurt yourself or the bike | ||
| Rogue_biker |
Doesn't it make a horrible racket before it fails? Or did it fail with no warning? My XB's front wheel bearing failed after I hit a pothole from hell and nearly broke my wrists. However, before it failed it was making a horrible noise that got worse over time. I finally replaced it before it seized up. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Failure of the rear wheel bearings is somewhat common on Ulys; we have an entire thread on the subject. (XB wheels are all the same, except that the X model wheels have a slightly thicker rim.) http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/442488.html?1311433262 There's some great info from Al Lighton that I cross-posted in that thread. The best thing you can do if your original wheel is OK is buy the latest black seal OEM bearings (or other quality bearings), ensure they are installed in the wheel properly (Al's post covers that), and ensure the axle is torqued by the book when you install the wheel. The best fix for the problem is to install a 2010 wheel and axle. The 2010 rear wheel changed from 2 to 3 bearings, the bearings are larger, and they added external dust seals to the wheel. The whole setup will cost you about $400 for the parts IF you can still get them. It's a significant improvement over the earlier XB rear wheels. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Could have been overtightening of the axle at the last service, or it could have been a normal failure. At this point, it would be hard to prove one or the other. Definitely replace the axle and spacers. Hopefully the wheel isn't damaged. And if it is, then you should step up to the new 3 bearing wheel. | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
In that last pic it appears to be the orange seal bearings. | ||
| Notblues2 |
"Could have been overtightening of the axle at the last service" The axle nut only squeezes the inner races and the spacer together. The outer races are pressed into the wheel. So tightneing the nut doesn't cause any extra stress through the bearing because the clamp load doesn't go through the bearing only the inner races (unless your spacer is too short). | ||
| Hughlysses |
The spacer is aluminum. If you over-torque the axle (the axle threads into the swingarm- there isn't a nut) you can easily over-compress that spacer which puts a continuous side load on the bearings which can lead to failure. See Al Lighton's post in the thread I linked above. | ||
| Stirz007 |
I can't follow the 'overtorque the axle' explanation. I've seen this before, but as I understand it, it works this way: The axle shouldn't apply load to the spacer, as only one end of the axle is threaded. The other end floats and is secured by the clamp screws after the axle is torqued, so the axle itself would not apply any compression load to the bearings or spacer. Please explain, because I don't get it (I am a bit slow sometimes...) Now if you were to overseat the bearings during bearing installation, that would apply load to the spacer, but that doesn't have anything to do with axle torque. JM (Message edited by Stirz007 on July 24, 2011) | ||
| Hughlysses |
The axle has a shoulder on the non-threaded end. The shoulder on the end of the axle presses against the inner race of the bearing on that side. The axle squeezes the inner bearing race, the spacer, and the other inner bearing race together between the axle shoulder on one end, and the swingarm on the other. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
If this is such a common issue, is it not covered by the dealer to replace the faulty seals? And if you do have the orange sealed bearings (i think i do, am not certain though), how much is involved in doing the different seals? or do you have to replace complete bearing? | ||
| Froggy |
It is covered under warranty. Replacing the seals will do nothing, the issue is with the bearings themselves. The seals just make it easier to identify which generation of bearings you have, but they all have about the same failure rate. The fix is a new rear wheel with the 3 bearing design. | ||
| Doogiehiser |
Yes they were orange seals. not to much of a warning though. just a quick shudder then bang. the ass end was all over the place. felt like i was on a motor cross bike all of a sudden. didn't get much info from Erik Buell Racing when i emailed them about there axle kit. said they didn't know if the 08 had the 3 bearing axle or not for the 1125R. hope it does though. already ordered it. don't want to be down for to long. | ||
| Jacob83z28 |
I think only the 2010 Rs have the 3 bearing wheel. I know a guy who has a 2010 CR and it doesn't have the 3 bearing wheel. | ||
| Froggy |
All 2010 Xb and 1125 models have the 3 bearing wheel. If that CR didn't have it, he was ripped off. | ||
| Sportster_mann |
The 3 bearing axle was new on 2010 models - my 2008 R has the standard 2 bearing rear wheel, my 2010 CR has a three bearing wheel. The axles are not interchangable ... | ||
| Stirz007 |
Hugh - right you are, sir!! I went back and looked at my spare, and "get it" now. JM | ||
| Froggy |
The 2010 three bearing axle will work on the older wheel, but not vice versa. Just an FYI if you have a spare 2 bearing wheel or if by some odd chance you can't find the older style axle. | ||
| Fast1075 |
A measurement of the lenght of the spacer will tell if it has been overtorqued. | ||
| Dktechguy112 |
If I have an 09 cr, my wheel will work with the 2010 axle and three bearing system? Or would I have to get a new 2010 rim? | ||
| Hughlysses |
You have to buy the wheel too. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
I'd have service carefully inspect the wheel to make sure the failure did not screw up the milled out area the bearing presses into. | ||
| Sprintst |
ugh, orange seals here. have to hit up American Sportbike and order replacements. Cost is fairly cheap, shouldn't be too hard to replace, I've done lot's of bearing removals and pressing in new (Message edited by sprintst on July 25, 2011) (Message edited by sprintst on July 25, 2011) | ||
| Harley_jethro |
Can the older wheel be machined and revised to the new 3 bearing set up? | ||
| Froggy |
Sprintst, I wouldn't replace them unless you have to, the newer bearings aren't really any better. The fix is a new wheel. The old wheel cannot be machined to match the new wheel. |
