| Author | Message | ||
     Starsplitter |
I've heard talk about the rear bearings going out in '07 Ulys. Is this a common problem? My '07 Uly has about 5k miles and I am going to CO, maybe CA this June. Should I change out the races or something? Advice? Thanks. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Just curious, have you checked out the "New owner info page"? http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/442053.html?1238017122 Where do you live? If going to Cali in June, and it's going to be a long trip, you'll probably be thinking about a new tire before you go. Tires on the road are almost always way more expensive.... I have 3700 on mine right now and will have at lest 6000 by June, and I'll probably get 6000 miles in from June through July easy. When getting a new tire, is a great time to check out your bearings and lube up or replace. | ||
| Starsplitter |
Thanks. | ||
| Pso |
Orange or black seals? | ||
| Ironhead1977 |
At 7500 I changed the rear tire and found the pulley side bearing was starting to get a little rough,the rotor side was fine.I changed just the bad bearing and plan on changing it at every tire change. I believe that the bearing is not lasting due to the extreme side load from the belt,not from the bearing being inferior, that is why Buell went to dual drive side bearings like the old sportsters. | ||
| Pso |
Al, one of our knoweldgeable sponsors, made some good observtions about changing out the bearings to frequently. He stated that he thought that it would eventually open the hole to much, not good. Sorry if I paraphrased wrong, but my impression was that it is not a good idea to change out the bearings to often. | ||
| 7873jake |
I have a very smooth feeling set of orange dust seal bearings (8300 miles). Should I be considering changing them just because they are of the orange seal iteration? | ||
| Paralegalpete |
My left orange bearing failed at 6k, however I had done a few water crossings. I would definitely keep a couple bearings on hand if planning any length of a trip. As well if you hear loud squeaking you will know that that is probably the rear bearing. I didn't know this and kept riding. Later in the day the bike started to shake uncontrollable and became unrideable. By that time the swing arm, brake rotor and rear wheel was damaged. On the plus side HD replaced everything under warranty including upgrading me to the 2010 3 bearing rear wheel. Despite this I would not have continued riding had I known the squealing was the rear bearing as I could have been thrown from the bike. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
if you ride that thing off road, change your bearings every third tire. DAMHIK | ||
| Motorbike |
Ironhead, You mentioned that you believe the rear bearing failures are caused by "the extreme side load from the belt". I'm not and engineer and may be wrong but I'm not so sure about that. A lot of Buells have had front wheel bearing failures and, of course, there is no belt tension on front wheels. Also, I believe the weight of an average size rider and passenger would put more load on the bearing than the tension from the belt ever could. Also, if the belt tension was causing rear bearing failure, it seems that the transmission output shaft bearings would fail also. I don't recall ever reading about that happening on these bikes. I know the 2010 wheel kit has 2 bearings on the belt side so I guess that would maybe validate your claim, not sure? Who knows? I don't think anyone really knows for sure why these bearings are failing but as a new Uly owner I am concerned. I would like to just order the new 2010 wheel kit but I think I would be risking a divorce if I told my wife I was going to spend $336 plus tax for a new wheel on my bike. With all of that said, has anyone had good luck with their rear bearings or are they all going to fail prematurely? I guess I will just keep a close eye on the bearings and inspect them at every tire change. If I take a longer trip, I would probably carry a set of bearings with me although I'm sure it would not be easy to change the bearings out in the middle of nowhere. I know this subject has been beat to death multiple times but I just wonder what percentage of these Ulys never have bearing fails? | ||
| Xbimmer |
My original orange NTN's went over 50K, but I'd been regreasing them every wheel removal for probably 30K of that. Changed them out for the KBC blacks because the seals were starting to harden and crack. Had a little water in the rear hub and a rusty left rear bearing race on the inside hub surfaces. Drilled a weep/vent hole in the hub. I've never thought it was solely a NTN orange bearing problem. | ||
| Mnrider |
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| Motorbike |
When you guys pop the seal out, do you just insert a fine tool between the seal and the inner race to pry it out? I would be afraid of damaging the lip of the seal which could allow moisture to enter the bearing and compound the problem further. I do agree though on the fact that a little extra grease won't hurt. Is there a better way to remove the seal? | ||
| Motorbike |
Xbimmer, drilling a drain hole in the hub seems like a good idea. Does water in the hub set against the inside surface of the bearing after riding in the rain or washing your bike? If that is the case, it seems that the rotor side bearing would fail most because the water would pool on that side when the bike is on the kickstand. Most of the bearing fails I have read about occur on the belt drive side. If water is causing a problem, I will have a lot of trouble because I wash my bikes often. I have been riding for over 40 years and have never had a wheel bearing failure. I never use my pressure washer on the bike and am careful to not spray with a garden hose directly at the hub/bearing area. Maybe I've just been lucky, so far?  | ||
| Paralegalpete |
In one of the previous bearing thread it did appear that most of the failures were on the left (rotor) side. | ||
| Mnrider |
The seal got bent a little but straightened out and seams to seal OK. | ||
| Etennuly |
Motorbike, That is how mine failed. There was about three ounces of water in the hub. The left side bearing failed. The inside of it was well rusted. The right bearing was still good. I did do a few deep water crossings a few months before the bearing failed and I had been doing the re-grease at every tire change. Now I have new orange bearings, I got them just as the black ones came out but could not yet be had. I have drilled my hub and installed a grease fitting. I then filled the hub with marine grease. Water will no longer be able to condense and or leak into the void. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I bit the bullet and installed a 2010 wheel assembly. Hopefully I don't have to worry about rear wheel bearings for another 100k miles or so... | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
After you put the seal back into place then coat the seal and surrounding area with Permatex anti-seize. That will waterproof and dust proof it quite well. Works for me. | ||
| Liv2 |
I have about 16k on my orange seal bearings and still feel pretty smooth. I know this subject has been beaten into the ground, but I'm thinking about going with skf bearings rather than the black sealed bearings which have also known to fail. Anybody else using skf bearings and have had them fail? (Message edited by liv2 on March 11, 2010) | ||
| Hughlysses |
IIRC, there was at least one Uly rider here that switched to SKF bearings early on and had a failure. | ||
| Froggy |
If you find us the magic 6006 size bearing that can't fail, let us know  | ||
| Florida_lime |
In one of the previous bearing thread it did appear that most of the failures were on the left (rotor) side. Both of mine were pulley side, FWIW. | ||
| Froggy |
On the 1125s most of the failures have been pulley side which is on the left. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
BOTH sides on mine filled with water and clicked. |
