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Rear wheel bearing failure

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1183
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My rear bearing just packed it in as well. 40000km. I am in Labrador City NL so getting new parts is not easy. Was going to replace all bearings & seals but was told the O ring on the drive side is on back order. I'm from Vancouver BC 5000km away. Stuck here for a week.

I assume your waiting for the other parts and not just the o-ring seal ? The sealscould be reused and greased to get by until your home, then do a proper repair.
Labrador City is long way from every where..........if the bearing has a generic number ( example 6204 ) on it I would try a bearing supply or even an auto or tractor parts supplier before I waited a week.
 
what are the chances the wheel gets locked because of bearing failure?
sound like mine is giving up after 10k miles...
 
Have you checked for play in the bearing with the wheel off the ground ? That is how I found out about mine.
 
I've got a failing rear wheel bearing as well, at 45K miles. I noticed some pulsing from the rear brake on Sunday and confirmed some wobble in the rear wheel when I put it on a stand. I ordered the 3 replacement races for the back wheel and figured it'd be OK commuting for the two days until the parts arrived, since I'm taking off work the rest of the week after today. But during the ride in this morning it screeched for a few seconds on two occasions and feels a little wobbly. Now I don't know whether I should risk riding it home or spend the bucks to have it hauled off to a mechanic and find some other way home.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I would not ride it . Too much chance of damaging other components or having it put you on your head.
>T
 
I know someone that will additional grease to new sealed bearings before install. Many new machines,come with undergreased bearings.
 
I know someone that will additional grease to new sealed bearings before install. Many new machines,come with undergreased bearings.

With the opportunity it presents to damage the seal during removal or reinstallation, I would not recommend this practice. Instead, I would buy high quality name brand bearings and trust that the manufacturer knows how to properly build them. My own practice is to replace sealed bearings at 40,000 miles whether they are giving trouble or not. I would not ride a motorcycle with a screeeching bearing. Best case it spins and ruins the hub. Worst case is obvious. I had a front bearing start screeching on my 1991 Honda ST1100 on a road trip and I called a wrecker from the side of the interstate highway and had it towed to the nearest dealer. That bike had 40,000 miles on it. Thus my questionable and highly unscientific selection of a 40,000 mile interval to change them regardless.
 
My rear wheel bearings went out at 60,000 miles and again in a accident where I hit a tree stump at 78,000 miles. I replaced the entire rear wheel at the 78,000 acident with one I found on ebay with only 1,800 miles on it. I have never replaced my front wheel bearing that now have over 80,000 miles. So, it appears 40,000 to 60,000 wear out on the rear wheel is normal. Proper torque on the rear axel bolt is very important!!
 
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So I made it home without any further screeching episodes, though the wobble was disconcerting. Thanks to holiday traffic I was able to go nice and slow without causing additional safety issues on the highway.
 
After repairs ........please report back on the worn bearings. Interested in rust/ water intrusion ?
Obviously all bearing would get replaced .......but........do they all show the same issue or is one more of a problem than others?
 
what are the chances the wheel gets locked because of bearing failure?
sound like mine is giving up after 10k miles...

They wont lock up, they will just chew up and eventually mess the housing up. Some dirt bikes ive seen get ridden to an unbelievable condition. Well I don`t actually know they cant lock up but the bikes weight and the leverage of the wheel and the aluminium housing suggests to me its pretty unlikely
 
what are the chances the wheel gets locked because of bearing failure?
sound like mine is giving up after 10k miles...

They wont lock up, they will just chew up and eventually mess the housing up. Some dirt bikes ive seen get ridden to an unbelievable condition. Well I don`t actually know they cant lock up but the bikes weight and the leverage of the wheel and the aluminium housing suggests to me its pretty unlikely

I imagine that it is very unlikely that the bearing would lock up and stay locked. When I had the front failure on my ST1100, it screamed loudly and a couple of times I felt it catch for a fraction of a second and drop the front end like I was putting on brakes. Both times it released. Not sure I would bet on it. While the hub is aluminum, the axle, both races, and the bearing balls are all steel. If the steel bits bind up, you are counting on the outer race to spin in the hub. This was easy to do (and often happened) on old BMW's where the interference fit was pretty loose. On newer bikes the race is in there pretty tight.
 
After repairs ........please report back on the worn bearings. Interested in rust/ water intrusion ?
Obviously all bearing would get replaced .......but........do they all show the same issue or is one more of a problem than others?

It was just one race that was bad, the radial on the brake side, though I had all three replaced. The bad race came out in pieces according to the mechanic, so not very photogenic. There was some rusty color to the debris, so I'm guessing water got in at some point. No damage to the wheel or hub, thankfully, though they told me one of my cush drive bumpers was cracked. Whether this was because of the bad bearing or just got noticed because of it is hard to say. I ordered a new set and replaced them all, but it turns out all that was broken was the thin band that holds the two sides in place while the hub is removed, so replacing it probably wasn't actually necessary. The rubber of the old ones was noticeably harder/less squishy than the new ones though.

cush.jpg
 
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There was some rusty color to the debris, so I'm guessing water got in at some point.

Pack a load of grease under the lips of the dust seals before you reinstall the wheel to act as a moisture barrier. Since the bearings are "sealed", the only job of this grease is to help prevent water intrusion, don't worry about getting the greatest lubricating performance. I use grease intended for boat trailer wheel bearings.
 
Like Beemerphile said the bearings are sealed bearing.

However, should you ever run into open races remember there are three types of grease.

1. Lithium - Most times white in color.

2. Carbon - Most times a dark almost black color.

3. Aluminum - Most times green or blue in color.

All are great greases, but never ever will they mix. Use the grease that is required. I have seen this problem many times on watercraft where folks mix the greases. These folks are trying to do right by greasing the bearings, but they do more harm than good. This will burn out the thrust bearings.
 
Pack a load of grease under the lips of the dust seals before you reinstall the wheel to act as a moisture barrier. Since the bearings are "sealed", the only job of this grease is to help prevent water intrusion, don't worry about getting the greatest lubricating performance. I use grease intended for boat trailer wheel bearings.

First time I ha my rear wheel off the axel had some surface rust on it. Did what Beemerphile suggested. Used lithium "boat trailer" wheel bearing grease. Light coat on the axel, packed it under the seals ( the seals have a couple of ridges where they contact the axel, packed them with grease), the O-ring on the cush drive hub, basically a light coat on all surfaces where water can enter. Even with the deep water crossings I've never seen evidence of water again. Also did this on the front.
 
As a prevent............Some guys will pull the bearing seals on new bearings and repack with a more water proof grease.


Yes.......your not suppose to pull those seals......but.......it's done all the time. It must be done with care or you will cause more issues than you solve.
 
Hi. I took my NC700X for it's first service this week. I bought the bike a year ago and it's now go 11,800 miles on the clock. I thought it would be a breeze as I maintain the bike well, I think, for a relatively inexperienced rider. However, it failed the MOT due to seriously worn rear wheel bearings. Had it done at a main Honda dealer and they said it's just one of those things. It also had very worn swing arm bearings which may have been a contributing factor. Seem to be a fairly major issue for the low milage.

What do you guys think? Thanks in advance. Just found this forum and wish I'd known about the issues so I could have got an extended warranty to cover them being done earlier.
 
Mine went at about 10,000 miles. Maintenance will not affect it as there is no maintenance that you can carry out without removing the seals. Just bad luck for some of us. I must check my swing arm bearings though. Never thought of them failing. Handling seems ok........
 
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