| Author | Message | ||
     Bking |
I thought I saw here that Buell was bringing out updated new rear wheel bearings, but can't find any information in my searches. Anyone know if Buell in fact did update the rear wheel bearings for the Uly? If so, do you have a part number. Asked my dealer to check them out before I went on my Ozark trip last week, as I could hear a squeal when I backed up, but of course they could not find anything and could not duplicate the sound. I'm about due for another rear tire, I'll change the bearings then for sure. Here is what they looked like on the last day of the 1,000 mile trip. Since I saw this, I swear I can now feel them grinding. Thanks. ---Bob http://www.hardysls.com/bk/buellstuff/bearing.jpg | ||
| Froggy |
There shot, get them replaced before they cause damage. Don't bother worrying about if it is the new seal or not, just get yourself back on the road for now. Worst comes to worst, we will know more by time your due for a tire. From what it looks like, its new seals, I don't know if its new bearings inside. The seals are black now. | ||
| Hootis29 |
I just had a front go out after less then 5K, then smoked another rear after 6500. AARGH!! 35,000 2 failed rears, 1 more replaced preemtive. 2 set in the front, 1 failed. | ||
| Riding_tall |
Mine just failed ( 06 Uly with 6500 Miles !! ) New part number is E0005.02A8B Dealer had to do some searching to look it up. I only knew about them from this fourm. None of the dealers around ATL have them is stock. I just went with some SKF's. My bike is still sitting as I decided to do it myself but did'nt want to F'up my wheel so I'm waiting on a bearing puller. Also found that my axle adapter tool thingy, tool used to loosen/tighten the axle, is missing from my toolkit ?!? It was there when I got the bike this spring ( bought it used ). Only thing I can think is the dealer that replaced my flat rear tire "borrowed" it to change the tire and never put it back. | ||
| Skyclad |
I am going to add my bearing update in this thread instead of starting another. As many folks here know, I have been one of the bearing bad luck poster children. First set left me at <2500 miles, and second went at 6600 miles. After the second set failed, I decided to change to SFK bearings. I was looking for the better seals the SFK bearings have over the OEM. I now have 14500 miles on my 08, and I just got done replacing the failed SFK bearings. I thought that the seals failed, because I first got that terrible scrunching sound shortly after a DS ride in WV. I pulled the seals, flushed out the bearing and regreased it. Ran smooth for another week, them had severe failure. Instead of going to the dealer, I replaced them myself this time. I am glad that I did. I used a slide hammer bearing puller I picked up at Harbor Freight. Got the belt side bearing out first. This is the one that has been giving me grief. Looky at what I found.  Check out the damage to the bearing seating surface just left of the top. That spot had a raised edge, probably about 1/16" high. With that high spot, the bearing could not be properly seated in the wheel. I do believe that I have found the cause of my repeated bearing failures. I did take the wheel to the shop. They took pictures and are going to be sending them to Buell to see if the wheel should be replaced under warranty. In the mean time, I smoothed out the damaged area and put a set of Koyo's in. We shall see how well they last. I got about 8000 miles from the SFK's, but from the looks of it, they were doomed from the start. | ||
| Wademan |
I had to have my rear wheel replaced under warranty because the bearing boss was too worn and the bearing would just slide out if the wheel was not mounted. They should cover that under warranty. Wonder why the dealership didnt catch that? | ||
| Court |
Q: Wonder why the dealership didnt catch that? A: Instead of going to the dealer, I replaced them myself this time. Keep us posted. I'm watching the bearings in the Newlysses closely to see if I can detect anything. Thanks for the head up! | ||
| Hughlysses |
Court- seems like most bearings give **some** warning before they self-destruct. A standard symptom is that metal particles show up on the axle at the seal right before the bearing goes. BTW- Skyclad AFAIK has the first set of SKFs that have failed. Jlnance had a set of replacement Koyos fail and of course we've had several reports of the OEM NTN bearings failing. I'm really hoping the updated NTN's from Buell turn out to be the permanent cure for this. | ||
| Xbimmer |
If SKF's and Koyos are failing in wheels that have had previous NTN failures, some repeated, I'm not convinced it's all about the bearings. But what do I know I'm no engineer. Knock wood but I just put a new Sync on the rear a couple days ago, I've been pulling the seals and cleaning/greasing my wheel bearings for +30k now. 51k on my Uly now and the bearings look great. The seals are getting hard at the lip though, so I'm figuring replacement soon. The wheels have mfg sequence codes cast into a spoke, I wonder whether there's a correlation there with troubled wheels. I've said it before that the Chinese casting on my bike's front wheel is eccentric at the hub but the rim spins true. Not good QC IMHO. I suspect bad machining tolerances on the wheels/spacers for the problems, but again what do I know? | ||
| M_singer |
>>>>>>>I suspect bad machining tolerances on the wheels/spacers for the problems, but again what do I know? That makes more sense to me then belt tension or bad seals. It would also explain why some bikes have trouble and some don't. | ||
| Froggy |
The warning sign for me when mine went was the bike was getting wobbly when on only 1 tire  | ||
| Skyclad |
Court, the damage was there before I pulled the bearings out. This was the first time I have done the job myself. I absolutely am not going to bitch about my dealer. They are a good shop and a good service department. Shit gets missed sometimes, especially when you have a customer that wants his bike back NOW (like me) or a bunch of such customers. When I took the wheel in, they did not hem and haw about it, try to say it use my fault or anything like that. | ||
| Pso |
Hughlysses-Is this confirmed that there are new bearings out by Buell? Is the part # that Riding Tall mentions the new part # as opposed to the original bearing? Thanks | ||
| Hughlysses |
Paul- the only thing we know for certain is that later-build 09 bikes (maybe post-August 08) have black seals on the wheel bearings instead of the orange seals formerly used. This seems to indicate there has indeed been a change to the bearings. I don't have my parts book handy but maybe someone else can confirm if this is a new P/N. | ||
| Riding_tall |
Pso - That part number is for the new bearing. The original part number is almost the same but ends in an a I think. There is a new front bearing also. The dealer did'nt know anything about it other than looking up the new part number and that they did'nt have any. | ||
| Skyclad |
The new bearings do have a different seal. That much I am certain of, but nothing else. | ||
| Bud |
i"m very sure buell has don there home work on the seals determining as the cause of the premature failure we service a lot off buell's ( we do only buell ) and i check the wheel bearings with every service or every occasion on XB's , i know it a allot extra work, ( i become quit handy at it ) but for us it's a extra service for our customers, having my own bearings blown , i know what it feels like stranded at the side off the road what me most surprises is the the difference in force needed to turn the bearings by hand, even on the newer models, while the bearings are never been replaced, or wheels have been out sometimes there very hard to turn, that it is almost unpossible to tell if there bad, i took one a part, and with the load off the bearings there where fine , needles to say i replaced theme never the less , i have a little rule never to reuse pressed out bearings. so this one was on my account, i did measure the spacer , little to see there, come's the point off pressing theme in again, this is a big variable , you can press theme in so that the spacer is just fixed , you can spin the bearings nice and easy by hand, or you can push theme in so they can go no further ( on to the bearing seats in the rim ) and they become very hard to turn, and this a one of my concerns, there is a great difference between the xb wheels i check the bearings, and i think this has to do with spacer length and press in force used, | ||
| Neurorider |
I think it also has to do with how they're pressed in. If you press them in only contacting the center race, then you're side loading the bearing as you install it. If you press it in contacting the outer race, and the spacer is too long, then you're side loading the bearing by compressing the spacer. I prefer to press bearings by contacting the outer race so it isn't side-loaded and potentially damaged before even using it. So, I filed a tiny bit off the ends of the spacer before installing the bearings. They rolled great after installation! |
