| Author | Message | ||
     Bdrag |
Hey all, O.k., I asked a friend who is way up on the food chain at a major bearing Manufacturer. I asked him to look at the pic from another thread of a black sealed bearing. It says KBC on it. The thread claims this is the GOOD BEARING. I have the Orange seal bearings in my bike. What brand are they? Here is his comment about repacking and what type bearings to buy. "The SKF bearings come sealed for life. Grease is inserted at the factory and you should not screw with them after that. By attempting to regrease, you only ruin the sealing capability. People think they should pack the bearings full of grease but that is wrong. This only generates heat and purging of excess grease. We only fill them 25 - 50% full. Buy good bearings from an authorized distributor and don't f#*+ with them. The KBC bearings are from Korean Bearing Company.........now owned by a German company - FAG. I would not save $3 and use them. Use SKF, NSK, Timken. So there ya go. I guess buy stuffing my bearings full of grease I may have dicked up the seals. Who knows. All I do know is I will be buying some of the above recomended bearings for the next tire swap. BDRAG | ||
| Hooper |
I plan on using the FAG bearings in my Harley. Ausgezeichnet!   (Message edited by hooper on May 19, 2010) | ||
| Xbimmer |
This could end up like an oil thread... | ||
| Idaho_buelly |
hahaha! I've got SKF!!!  | ||
| Froggy |
The FAG bearings came on the 2003 models and were so bad Buell was swapping them out free before they failed. Yep it is known here that you shouldn't tamper with the bearings, but statistically it works out in our favor to do it.  | ||
| Whisperstealth |
So, where do you get the SKF, NSK, timkens? | ||
| Gamdh |
SKF's http://www.applied.com/apps/commerce/catalog/catal og.do?e=10&s=6366801 (Message edited by gamdh on May 19, 2010) | ||
| Bdrag |
Whisperstealth We have MOTION INSDUSTRIES here which is also a nation wide distributor. Also as noted APPLIED and another called PURVIS BEARING. Any local bearing supply should be able to get any bearing ya want. On line is always there. BDRAG I am probably doing the SKF or TIMKIN. Don't really like CHINA or KOREA on any important parts. | ||
| Bdrag |
Froggy So a question for ya. I know back before I had changed many wheel bearings that when I would install the new ones I just got a threaded rod and washers and nuts and pulled the bearings in. I used the center race not knowing any better. Those bearings lasted about 7500 miles before I noticed an issue. Many were running the same and getting 50,000 plus and just changing them out for insurance sake. I now know this causes damage by crushing all the balls against the races and can damage things. I now do the same install but ONLY use the outer race. Made a spacer for the Strom that ONLY touches the outer race. Never been an issue since. Any chance Buell had a MO-RON just pounding them in or using the inner race to install as opposed to the outer race? Ya think many home grown mechanics here are damaging the bearings during install? BDRAG | ||
| Hughlysses |
Guys- A lot of this info is already here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/442488.html?1251983886 BDRAG- note Al Lighton's post about installing bearings. You really need a tool that presses against both the inner and outer races to install the bearings. Pressing on just the inner race is definitely bad, but pressing on the outer race only can cause problems when the inner race seats against the bearing spacer. If you press the outer race a little too far, the inner races contact the spacer and the races and balls can be damaged. At any rate, the installation is probably the biggest factor in how your bearings hold up. (Message edited by blake on May 20, 2010) | ||
| Rwven |
That may all be true, but the SKF's I put in my Uly didn't last any longer than the orange seal bearings it came with. The bearings aren't the problem, the design is. | ||
| Hughlysses |
We also found out earlier that all SKF/NSK/Timken bearings aren't created equal. Some are still produced in their "home" countries while others are outsourced to cheaper producers. Apparently the only way to figure out which one you've got is by looking on the actual bearing. I think it's fair to say that from all we've seen, the bearing failures are caused by a combination of factors: (1) improper installation (2) possible marginal quality bearings (3) water intrusion (4) marginal design (recommended bearing load limits exceeded under some circumstances) The fact that it must be a combination of factors explains how some bikes have gone ~40,000 miles on the original orange seal bearings with no problems, while we've seen 2009 Ulys with the latest bearings toast them in ~8000 miles. The design of the 2010 rear wheel addresses items 2-4. Al Lighton personally installed my bearings so I'm confident that addressed item #1. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Personally, I would stay away from all OEM bearings, they are all sourced by price-pont. Bearings aside - I think, for what its worth, that one key component here is to drill a weep hole (small) in the rear wheel housing. . | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I'm no bearing expert by any stretch. I pull my ULY wheel bearing seals once per season and finger push in grease and then reapply the seals. I even have pick holes in my seals BUT I also Permatex the outside of the seal and bearing to seal from dirt and water. This has done me fine for over 20,000 miles and I've not crapped out a bearing. In fact, I've rejuvenated factory greased bearings with this method. I only bring this up because I keep reading here that over applying the grease is BAD. I say the opposite. My old school 97' Electraglide has tapered roller bearings that you have to clean and grease the devil out of, but the darned things last and last. No where do they say that just a little dab of grease will do it. I'd really like to read something about these new fangled 2010 rear wheels. Particularly about the condition of the bearings as observed during a tire change. Do they seem tight, notchy, etc??? Is the in between bearing even able to be checked or is that impossible? I'd like to know if buying one of these wheels is worth it. Sounds nice but no real data has been presented. By all rights it should be much better but sometimes empirical evidence is necessary especially considering the costs. Kind of surprising that Buell engineers screwed the pooch on our original rear wheels. Heck, the much maligned Sportster has a much more robust design on the rear axle assembly than does my 06' ULY. Give it some decent longer travel suspension and it could be an Adventure Touring bike. | ||
| Reepicheep |
That brings up another question, that somebody who, unlike me, knows something about bearings could probably answer... Couldn't you source a tapered roller bearing and race that will press into the factory wheel? I assume that picks up a little more rolling resistance, but would also be far more durable (given the much greater bearing surface). | ||
| Etennuly |
I have been thinking the same Reep. Seals would be the issue though. | ||
| Teeps |
Reepicheep Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 12:32 pm: Couldn't you source a tapered roller bearing and race that will press into the factory wheel?. Probably but setting the preload might be problematic. Would be far easier to have the wheel bearing bore in the hub, machined deeper to accept a double row bearing. Would also have to shorten the distance spacer the appropriate amount too. | ||
| Stellaglide |
What is it specifically about the Uly that causes bearing failure? Hugh mentions: improper installation, marginal quality, water intrusion, and marginal design. I don't own a Uly but plan to hopefully soon and I try to follow issues with the bike. I've had several HDs all with sealed bearings and all with no issues, bearings on HD can easily go 50K miles no problem. Is the wheel/bearing design different than what one finds on a HD, are their more stressors on the Uly bearing than say an 800+ lb Ultra Glide. Is it that Ulys are ridden off-road and subject to more of the elements than an HD? | ||
| Teeps |
Stellaglide Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010 - What is it specifically about the Uly that causes bearing failure? The only sure failure is because of water intrusion. The rest are pure speculation. That the Uly rear wheel is "under designed", IMO is admitted, with the release of the 2010 rear wheel. Though no one at Buell/Harley would ever admit that. Given the release of the, clearly improved, 2010 wheel. The question is: Should the 2010 wheel be retro fitted to all pre 2010 Ulys, as part of a product update or recall? | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""What is it specifically about the Uly that causes bearing failure? "" There was an article in FUELL (remember that mag) where a Buell engineer stated that because the Uly's design, an extra 30% (IIRC) more stress is place on the rear drive unit than with other XB's. It had to do with susp. travel. The engineers knew about this issue years ago - hence the redesign in '10. John | ||
| Rwven |
But the XT doesn't have the extended suspension travel and it still eats bearings. | ||
| 99savage |
Getting to be about the time to replace my bearings. QUESTIONS (possibly dumb ones): Where have you been buying your bearings; * Dealer? * Industrial Distributor? + Internet? In above link "Hughlysses" mentioned a Harbor Freight bearing installer. - Just went to their site & could not find one. Help on this on this one, it sounds critical. For a bearing puller, have you just been using the standard, 3 jaw gizmos? | ||
| Ronmold |
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-bearing-race -and-seal-driver-set-95853.html on sale this week! http://www.harborfreight.com/2110B_retailcoupons?u tm_source=retail_V2&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign= 2110B | ||
| Dio |
This set appears to be for tapered bearing races. The next time you are at your dealer shop, ask them to show you the factory bearing installer set. Driving them into the wheel with a hammer and driver is asking for a failure. I had the local vo-tech machine shop mill out a set of drivers custom sized to fit the bearings for front, pre-'10 rear, and '10 rear wheel bearings that will allow them to be drawn in with a threaded rod, as shown in the FSM. Cost less than $100 for all the materials, tooling cutters and shop charge. I have a '10 rear wheel for both my '06 Uly and my '09 lightning long. I'm 100% in agreement with Al Lighton on wheel bearing installation. Several have looked into remachining the bearing bore deeper, and because of how the wheel is cast, there is insufficient material in the wheel to allow for this. | ||
| Bobhorse |
I was looking for a solid, informative thread to embed a good link. This thread was my choice...lots of good info here. http://www.fagbearing.cc/plus/search.php?kwtype=0& keyword=6006+2rs&searchtype=title&x=0&y=0 This company lists all the bearings in our size, for the rear wheel, with a small company bio for each brand's bearings. I just bought a set from my local stealer to install before i replace my broken belt (21,000mi spirited riding), and I was a bit sad to see the KBC name on them. So, I started to look around; I found this. ^^^ It lists part numbers for all the different companies' products. I got a buddy that is trying out the Nachi set...He got them for $30 shipped...Thats CHEAP! We'll have to see how they fare in the long run. Hmmm... |
