| Author | Message | ||
     Cyclonemduece |
WHEEL BEARINGS 101, how do i know if mine are bad, i would imagine that they would squeal or grind or what, i dont think that i have reason to believe that they are bad, but they will go bad eventually i just want to make sure that i dont overlook them, the wheels will be of this winter to polish them should i throw new bearings in at that point, or would you if it were you, i am a fan of preventative maintaince. | ||
| Warlizard |
Buell used cheap third world bearings on the tubes. I would change them at first opportunity ie.. tire change etc. As far as when they go bad? I like to touch mine after a ride to see if they are hot. I guess for the front you could get the wheel off the ground and see how it spins. When you do change them, don't use dealer parts, order them yourself. I w/ go w/ American Sport Bike. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Blake Bearings don't always make noise during failure. When you change tyres roll them with your finger. Expect smooth easy movement. There should not be metal filings around. As above they should not be hot. Joe | ||
| Court |
>>>Buell used cheap third world bearings on the tubes. Hogwash. Mine were just changed . . . at 12 years old. But . . . for the sake of credibility tell me the source of the cheap "third world" bearings. I'm all ears. | ||
| Rich |
16 years on my RS wheel bearings, had it over 100 yesterday. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Close to 27k on 2000 M2 stock bearings, no problem. All bearings should be so cheap  | ||
| Beatx1 |
My rear bearings failed at 40,000 miles. As I spun the tire i could fell a tight spot. Sort of like a bump-coast-bump. Fronts fail after a rain ride, there was rusty crap all over the rim and when spun where very rough sounding. I actually purchased my front bearings from NAPA on a Sunday. (Message edited by beatx1 on September 18, 2007) | ||
| Djkaplan |
I just turned 40,000 miles on mine. I wanted to change them, but Al at American Sport Bike suggested I leave them alone if they were turning smooth... so I did. I check them everytime I have the wheels off. | ||
| Beatx1 |
When my fronts went the vibration level in the handle bars went up and the front tire started to cup slightly. I only noticed the rear failing because I was doing a tire change and noticed things didn't work as smoothly as usual. They seem to last pretty good. I ride a lot in the rain but store my bike in the shop at work and garage it at home. | ||
| Djkaplan |
I got some Timkin wheel bearings for my truck, and was surprised to see they were made in Poland. | ||
| 5liter |
34,000 plus on mine. No problems. | ||
| Sanchez |
You can tell your bearing is going out when it looks like this:   | ||
| Beatx1 |
I don't think the place of manufacture matters. A good quality bearing can be manufactured anywhere. I would look out for the 1.99 specials. I guess that Sanchez could have run those bearing for another season, just clean them with WD40 and repack them. | ||
| Cyclonemick |
Over 45k and still going.... | ||
| Warlizard |
Hogwash - OEM bearings have been known to fail prematurely. This was especially true of PM's. Unless the guys at X1 Files are lying. Just because yours didn't fail doesn't mean sh#t. They ALL don't fail, they are just more likely to. Third world or developing countries such as China,Korea,Mexico etc. These nations don't adhere to world standards and just churn out crap for profit. Mattel just had the big recall due to Chinese parts. I would run the OEM bearings until they fail. Personally I will change mine at 10K regardless. I will only use European,U.S. or Japanese manufactured bearings. Court feel free to use Chinese, Mexican, Nigerian etc. After all they are all the same right? | ||
| Djkaplan |
But . . . for the sake of credibility tell me the source of the cheap "third world" bearings. I'd be interested myself. Where do the stock bearings come from? | ||
| Rick_a |
I replaced all mine at 10,500 miles (PM wheels). The fronts were starting to go bad (seals leaking), and the outboard rear bearing on the sprocket side had some roughness and play, so I replaced them all. Usually it's premature seal failure that kills 'em. | ||
| Warlizard |
After Market Parts Solutions Wheel Bearings The wheel bearing used on both the Castaloy (powder coated) and Performance Machine (aka PM – chrome) wheels have been known to fail prematurely. This may be because the bearings are low quality third World manufactured parts. The replacement bearings from the Harley Davidson/Buell dealers may also be of substandard quality as well as being overly expensive. A set of high quality NSK bearings for both wheels have been known to cost half of what the dealer gets for the junk ones. Always check your bearings whenever changing/replacing tires and them make sure you are getting high quality replacements at a fair price if they are bad. Castalloy Wheels –Front - 2 ea 6204-2RS, Rear/Right side –(2) 6205-2RS/Left side –(1) 62205-2RS PM (Chrome) Wheels - NSK bearings Front – (2) 6204-2RS /Rear – (3) 6205-2RS This is a cutout from Don Castro's website. Anyone else want to put their foot in their mouth? | ||
| Yo_barry |
I've got 42K miles on my OEM bearings. I'll replace them this winter when I powdercoat the wheels. Thanks for the NSK partnumbers, btw. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
25k miles here with no problems. There seems to be many more people here with no problems versus people who've had problems, therefore, I throw the hogwash back at warlizard. | ||
| Warlizard |
Hey Einstein, there isn't anything to throw back. I didn't say anything, just posted what was on two very credible sites. You can always go to those sites and call them liars, matter of fact I insist. Even the promo at American Sport Bike for the bearings stresses that they are high quality. Why w/ they need to say this if all bearings are the same? It's amazing how many people on here like to start arguments. | ||
| Firemanjim |
I never had a problem,but did change out my S-2 bearings at about 30k,they were from Turkey and the guy at the bearing supply place laughed when he saw them. | ||
| Kyrocket |
I don't want to put my foot in my mouth; but I'd like to find a woman that could  VA VA VA VOOM Oh yeah, back on track. Haven't personally had any problems yet but I think anything that's manufactured has it's share of lemons. Everyone pawns over a Camry, the wife had one throw a rod with a few thousand miles on it. Just sayin'. | ||
| Tom_b |
i'd be very interested also to know where the bearings come from also. Fill us in court, since your all knowing about buell and quick to criticize about where they aren't from. Firemanjim already said his were from turkey. i've been there, it is pretty 3rd world | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
But . . . for the sake of credibility tell me the source of the cheap "third world" bearings. WHERE????????????????????? TURKEY !!!!!!!!! I changed my bearings in my PM wheels at 5000 miles Front was leaking grease and rear was well questionable!!!!!!! I went the X files route and got my bearings from Bearing boss .com or some place, I installed the NSK ones from the X files notes I think. American Sport Bike's price is outrageous for these bearings. http://www.bossbearing.com/z.asp?ID=167 they are from Japan.........NSK is japan..... If you go there you can see in black and white that you can order this bearing from China for 4 bucks or the real deal from Japan for 8 bucks and change. THATS THE DIFF. I searched this website and the KB about this. One person took his old bearing to a bearing shop to match up and get the best he could get. When they read the TURKEY stamp on the bearing they started to laugh because they had never seen any from Turkey lol. And yes Warlizard is right. You should be paranoid about these bearings. Im not the only one with PM wheels finding leaking and failing bearings at 5k-10k miles (Message edited by mmmi_grad on September 18, 2007) | ||
| Iamike |
My '99 had the 'Turkey' stamp on the bearings. Since some guys had posted about damage to their PMs from bad bearings I changed mine out at 12,000mi. even though they were still smooth. The USA Timkens now have 50,000mi. on them. p.s. My son's CBR lost a rear bearing at about 15,000mi. Don't know the brand. | ||
| Xldevil |
45k on stock bearings and still rolling. Ralph | ||
| Mikef5000 |
It's amazing how many people on here like to start arguments. Maybe the reason it appears to you that many people on here like to start arguments, is because you seem to have an attitude problem. That is most likely hogwash though. | ||
| Warlizard |
My attitude is fine. What I have a problem w/ is being called a liar. then being asked to prove what I said? I am not on trial and don't need to prove anything. I merely posted what I had found in an article. I have to explain to people what a third world country is? Read a newspaper. I disagree w/ a lot of posts on here and don't resort to calling people a liar. | ||
| Bad_karma |
I remember a problem with the belt tension of the early tubers that cost me a PM wheel. I wonder how much this has added to the early failure of bearings. Joe |
