| Author | Message | ||
     Jphish |
It's still a 'mystery' why some have 40K mi with no bearing issues, and some don't make it to 10K. I understand that if installed incorrectly, (as per AL's council) all bets are off. But assume the factory put the little buggers in right in the first place. Curious, for all of you with NO failures, as to 1) How many miles you have gone? 2) Did you regrease or inspect bearing at each tire change? 3) Use antisieze on outer seal? 4) Did you carefully retorque the wheel to spec at tire change? I know there are other variables (water xings, dirt roads, damaged seals etc) but trying to keep it simple....at least for now. "There is a bright future for complexity" later. | ||
| Aeholton |
1) Did 33K on the originals. Replaced because I got paranoid reading about failures on this site. Have 10K on the current set. 2) Never re-greased. Don't remove the seals to inspect. 3) Don't use anti-sieze on outer seal. 4) Don't re-torque. Just tighten, back off and retighten to feel. | ||
| Mike_dinger |
I'm at 13k on my '07 originals. No maintenance on them whatsoever. Rarely ride in the rain, and sloppily took a large puddle a couple months back. My biggest problem is only having 13k miles on my Uly.  | ||
| Prowler |
2007 Uly, got about 10K miles on original red seal bearings. Replaced fixed belt tensioner with FS belt tensioner and torqued rear axle (snug) to maybe 20 ft/lbs at 3k miles (all I want to do is to keep the inner race from spinning on the axle.....). (Message edited by prowler on September 17, 2009) | ||
| Pso |
Had the red's on 06. swapped out at 20K just for piece of mind. A very slight bi tof notch on left could not feel it when bearing in wheel. Thre tire changes, alsoways follow factory technique changes. no wheels, and a few rain stroms only one bad one. no water crossing, alsways use anti-sieze also on bearing seals. Now have the blackies. Any word on how the blackies are holding up? | ||
| Tginnh |
06 1) 11K on the originals. 2) Never re-greased. Don't remove the seals to inspect. 3) Don't use anti-sieze on outer seal. Use anti-sieze where instructed by SM. 4) Tightened and torqued per SM. | ||
| Reepicheep |
30k on originals (XB9SX orange seals). Follow manual by the book, put anti-seize on axle before installing. Don't grease / repack etc. Never touch the bike with any kind of pressure washer, and have only really washed the thing maybe 4 times in 5 years (if you don't count riding in the rain  ). | ||
| Etennuly |
'06 33,000 on originals - now at 42,000 left side failure, right side good opened re-greased per each tire, anti-sieze coated per each tire All tires installed and re-torqued by me, per spec. replaced with red seal bearings just as new black seal bearings were coming out. | ||
| Kimberley |
Did Buell upgrade these puppies on the '09's? I ride year 'round in Oregon.......lot 'o rain (and I like mud puddles)..... | ||
| Jphish |
PSO - So far 2 confirmed BLACK bearing failures (thetable & Fskinner) Don't know details. j | ||
| Hughlysses |
Kimberly- they upgraded mid-year on the 2009's. If you've got orange seals, you've got the old ones; black seals = new ones. | ||
| Teeps |
1) How many miles you have gone? 17k & counting. 2) Did you regrease or inspect bearing at each tire change? No; Had rear wheel off at 5600 and 15k for tires. 3) Use anti-seize on outer seal? No; but I liberally slather it on the axle. 4) Did you carefully torque the axle and pinch bolts to spec at tire change? YES | ||
| Hangetsu |
13000 miles on an 09 purchased last November. No problems yet. | ||
| Growl |
Just swapped red bearings for black bearings at 20,000 miles for peace of mind ('06 Uly). These red bearings were ridden on rough surfaces, two up a lot including several water crossings. I popped off the seals and regreased at each tire change... they needed it. Bearings were as smooth as can be when swapped at 20,000 miles. Never used anti sieze on seals, but always re-torqued axle to spec. (Message edited by growl on September 17, 2009) (Message edited by growl on September 18, 2009) | ||
| Jammin_joules |
2007 Uly 1) have near 19k on originals. 2) Not re-greased. Don't remove the seals to inspect. 3) Don't use anti-sieze on outer seal. 4) re-torque per Buell specs. | ||
| Kurbennett |
06 Uly 1) How many miles you have gone? 23K 2) Did you regrease or inspect bearing at each tire change? I look at them every ride. 3) Use antisieze on outer seal? Dont put anything on them. 4) Did you carefully retorque the wheel to spec at tire change? Wheel mounted according to manual. | ||
| Motorfish |
06 Uly Brake disc side failed at 13K miles. Never coated with never seize, checked or re-greased. Rode in lots of rain, no water crossings, or pressure washings. Wheel always installed by the book. Not much 2-up riding, no off road riding. New black seal bearings will be coated with never seize, and inspected at tire changes. | ||
| Bttrthnwrk |
09 XB12X - 12500 miles - red bearing seals. No problems so far... Plopped more grease into bearings at tire change about 4000 miles ago (switched to Michelin Pilot Road 2's). No anti-sieze on the seals. Torque axles to spec. I live in Tucson. About only water crossings I get to do are the ones from when the folks up the hill drain their pool, and the water washes down the street. Rain? That's the stuff that falls from the sky that DOESN'T come from birds, right? I think I might have seen some of that. Maybe it was last year, though. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
08 Uly 17,000 miles original red seals inspected for wear at 7500 (tire) and at 14K (prep for a trip) service manual procedure for axle installation & torque Mark in AZ | ||
| Jont |
06 50k+ miles Pull seals clean and re-grease at every tire change. Still on original orange seal bearings. I carry a pair of SKF replacements on longer trips just in case. Bike ridden all day long, in dirt, rain,etc. Now I am jinxed prolly. | ||
| Xbimmer |
'06 Uly, 60K miles, 10/05 build bought new 05/06. Limited water crossings but lots of torrential downpour riding, limited dirt, very limited washing, average two-up. 1. 50K+ on the original red NTN's, replaced with Buell black KBC's because I figured that it was time. The seals had become less pliable and at the last check one front one was letting the grease get dirty. The NTN's didn't feel bad but the KBC's definitely feel smoother. 2. Regrease/inspect at tire changes, yes, after the bearing problems started surfacing here and after Electraglider's pushing of the procedure. Initially at about 20K. Four bearings, four different grease volumes, two different-color greases. 3. Only anti-seize on the seals is what gets pushed off the axles. 4. ALWAYS torque by the book, with a beam type since my clicker is old and may be out of spec and I don't take chances there. I've never believed it was solely a bearing problem anyway, especially now that some blacks are failing. (Message edited by xbimmer on September 18, 2009) | ||
| Xbimmer |
Kimberly- they upgraded mid-year on the 2009's. If you've got orange seals, you've got the old ones; black seals = new ones. I saw a new CR on the floor at Skip Fordyce that had three blacks and one orange! | ||
| Hughlysses |
I saw a new CR on the floor at Skip Fordyce that had three blacks and one orange! I guess they finally got down to the bottom of the parts bin! | ||
| Steve046 |
2006 Uly. I ride in the rain quiet a lot. First set of bearings went at 9900 miles (road the bike hard - street riding with GSXR's and running forest service roads as hard and fast as I could). Second set changed at 25,000 as a precaution - bearing felt rough (riding slower). Third set went at 30,000 (went out after I got back from the Alcan). Bike in the shop now for 2010 rear wheel. | ||
| Murraebueller |
Three Uly's- 10K, 20K and 35K miles two have been to Alaska and back, one has been extensively off road including Copper Canyon in Mexico- no bearing problems. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
07 Uly 1) Got 20K out of the first set, then they gave out. 2) Never touched the bearings,never thought about it, noticed after a tire change that the wheel was moving weirdly, turned out to be bearing Couple of water crossings, rode some in the rain, beat the crap out of it off road. If I get 20K out of a set of bearings, I'm fine with that. I've had other far more worrisome issues. | ||
| Jphish |
Thanks folks - when this thread gets another few days of responses I'll sort out the fields to see if we get anything meaningful and post results. Not sure it's going to lead to any definitive conclusions but may offer something useful (at this point I'm not sure exactly what) Steve046 - did 3rd set fail after 30K more miles, or at 30K ODO miles ? (which would only be 5K miles since the previous failure) Also - any Black bearing failures? | ||
| Steve046 |
30,000 ODO. The bearings lasted 5000 miles. They were installed by a non-Buell motorcycle shop. I assume they mucked up the installation somehow. All three sets of mine were orange bearings. | ||
| Tootal |
Just changed mine at 17,000 on an 06. The old, orange ones, were still good. I was just wanting a little piece of mind. I also changed the belt and the new one is really tight. My old belt had just the right amount of play. It would be interesting to see if belt tightness and bearing failure run hand in hand. | ||
| Etennuly |
I think a few questions are missing on this thread. Was there water in your hub, if so how much? Was the inside of the bearing rusty? Did that water get into the bearing grease? This is directly why my bearing failed. The hub had about three ounces of water left in it after I removed the first bearing, removing it had me spilling some about. When the bike was sitting on the side stand, probably 97% of it's life, the left side inner bearing seal is under water. It caused the inside edges of the bearings to rust, and came through the failed bearings grease as rusty water. I believe the water accumulated there through condensation over time. The hub gets plenty warm as a function of running, going into cool rain or cold creek crossings could easily pull moisture in. It has no vent or way to exit, so it accumulates as a puddle, growing with time and use. |
