| Author | Message | ||
     Dirt |
Taking care of some much needed maintenance on the Ulysses this weekend. Installed new rocker box gaskets on the front and rear yesterday (uneventful) and was going to put a new rear tire on today. However, when I pulled the rear wheel off the bike, the right side bearing dropped out and rolled across the garage floor. This was one of the newer type with the black colored seals. The good news is that after almost 20k miles, the bearing was just as smooth as new. It showed no signs of water damage and I rode the bike through plenty or rain, snow and salt this winter. I would have to say Buell got it right with these bearings. The old orange bearings always felt rough to me, even when new, and I've been through several sets of those. Of course the bad news is the wheel is shot. I can install and remove the bearing from the wheel with my fingers at leisure. There is about 1/16" of slop in the wheel. Not sure what caused this to happen. Always something new. I hadn't planned to buy the new style rear wheel but looks like things have changed. Also, checked the belt while the wheel was off and there are several cracks in between the teeth. Probably looking at a new one very soon. Turning into a real expensive weekend. (Message edited by dirt on April 11, 2010) (Message edited by dirt on April 11, 2010) | ||
| Swampy |
Court had a Uly wheel for sale. I have used JB Weld to hold the bearings in place, it works.... | ||
| Froggy |
Cheap out and pick up a used XB/Uly wheel, or go for a new 2010 wheel  | ||
| Growl |
I have used brass shims to secure loose fitting bearings in a rear wheel, successfully for 1000's and 1000's of miles (on my old 1973 Ironhead Sportster) | ||
| Buellerxt |
Dirt, Is the wear from prior bearing changes? It is good to hear about those black bearings though, though I have the orange ones. Let us know if you go with shims or the new wheel, and how it turns out. Ths. | ||
| Reg_kittrelle |
I have an '07 rear wheel sitting around collecting dust.... maybe a 1,000 miles on it, max. Cheap. Lemme know if this works for you. | ||
| Dirt |
Bueller, The current bearings are the second set for this particular wheel. My original wheel was replaced under warranty after the second bearing failure. Everything seemed tight when I pressed them in last year. No hint of being loose. It's a mystery to me. Reg, I sent you a PM. | ||
| Ronmold |
Could you have the wheel knurled to reduce the diameter of the hole? | ||
| Dirt |
Thanks for all your suggestions, but Reg set me up with a great deal on a replacement wheel. Thanks Reg. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Dirt- glad you found a fix. In case anyone else gets in this bind, here's a product Loctite makes just for this purpose:  Another alternative would be to have a machinist bore the hole slightly oversize, and then machine a sleeve of the required size to restore the original I.D. and press that into place. | ||
| Nadz |
Just fixed similar on a Blast. The bearing pocket diameter was about .035 oversized. We cleaved some .015 shim material to size and let it spring out against the pocket. Tapped the bearing in with a piece of wood, runs nice. |
