| Author | Message | ||
     Troyyz |
Pulled the front and rear wheels off today to have Motorcycle Depot http://www.shopmotorcycledepot.com/ put on some new Scorpion Syncs. Original front tire has 11,316 miles and the second back tire has about half of that. Maximum was kind enough at an extended lunch today to come over and assist me pulling the wheels off. During the process, the back wheel proved very difficult to remove. After much effort we were able to break the torque on the axle loose enough to remove it. Upon inspection of bearings in the hub we found them both seized to the wheel..  The axle showed some scoring at the bearing location as well. Thank goodness we found it now and that during the last rear tire install the service shop liberally applied the anti-seize compound... I believe it was the only reason the wheel was still turning. I have read of the horror stories associated with a bearing failure on the forum. NOT something I care to experience! Rocky Mountain HD/Buell http://www.rmh-d.com/ agreed to take it tomorrow for warranty work. I have about two months left on the two-year factory warranty. Spent a lot of time in rainy weather and I suspect this was the problem. Looking forward to the new bearings that alleviate this issue. Any thoughts or suggestion are appreciated. | ||
| Froggy |
Awesome, glad you caught it before anything serious happened. Keep us informed, let us know if you get the black bearing seals  | ||
| Troyyz |
Dropped off with Rocky Mountain HD/Buell today. Larz in the service department said he would order the new version of bearings and install them. I requested a new axle based upon my observation of the scoring and he is going to contact me with the update. So far, so good. I am just thankful we caught it before the upcoming ride I had planned with my four-year old son to celebrate Veteran's Day. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Troy, would you please take a photo of the new bearings before you reinstall the wheel (or after if the shop has the whole bike)? I'm just curious if there are any visible differences in the seals on the new bearings. | ||
| Troyyz |
Will keep you updated. The shop would NOT take just the wheel but required the entire bike. So I will post the pix post-service. | ||
| Glenn |
I had the same thing happen to me last summer and noticed it when I rotated the motor to put my ceramic coated pipes on. My shop is good though and just took the wheel. I brought my own bearings and the shop manager pointed out that he couldn't reimburse me for them. North county Harley in Augusta where a number of the techs own Buells. One even has built one with a big bore kit. Glenn | ||
| Troyyz |
Picked up the bike yesterday at Rocky Mountain HD/Buell http://www.rmh-d.com/ Upon their inspection the bearings were OK. I discussed at length over the phone the issues Maximum and I observed and questioned the results the shop saw. Apparently the bearings moved without issue. Stopped by yesterday and checked it out. Just like the shop said, all was well. I personally checked it out and all seemed in order so they put it all together and I rode it home. As usual, Rocky Mountain HD/Buell, represented Buell well. Went for a ride today and everything worked well. Bonus: no charge for looking at the issue. | ||
| Bertotti |
They were seized when you took them in and moving fine when they looked at them? Sounds funny to me. | ||
| Hughlysses |
That is a weird one. I guess the axle was seized to the inner races due to lack of anti-seize when the bike was put together. When you had to "force" the axle out, you would have side-loaded one or both of the bearings which could have temporarily caused them to bind up. OTOH it does seem like this would have caused some permanent damage to the bearings which may come back to haunt you. I'd keep a close eye on them. | ||
| Troyyz |
Bertotti/Hughlysses, I agree... it doesn't seem right. I am looking at them after each ride now. | ||
| Skinstains |
Cheap insurance, new bearings. I wouldn't even think of rolling a bearing that "was" siezed. | ||
| Bertotti |
In my experience with industrial equipment bearings that were seized then ran free didn't last very long before disintegration, there are always exceptions but I would definitely be very wary! I wouldn't run them, a machine that won't hurt someone is one thing, something I rely on is a whole other story! | ||
| Neurorider |
When I removed my rear wheel at 11,000 miles to go back to a 616 rear tire, the bearings would almost not turn at all. After removing them to replace them, they turned Ok. One felt normal, the other a bit gritty but nothing like it did on the wheel. I still put in the new ones! Whatever is going on there maybe it is one of the reasons they fail. Too much lateral preload? |
