| Author | Message | ||
     Mark_weiss |
My '08 turned 20K today. Do the bearings always begin to leak before failure, sending spider legs of grease across the hub? I don't recall seeing any reports on this list that were otherwise... Or, do some fail without any prior sign? I've got 1k or so left on the current rear tire so it will not be too long before the rear wheel is off the bike. I'm at 14k on a Strada. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Buellerxt |
Mark, Congrats on the rear wheel bearing and the 14K on the Strada. Is your bearing leaking or are you just asking what to look for? I'm new to Buell's but from what I've read you're doing something(s)well. Did you wear out the first tire at 6K? What do you attribute the 14K tire wear to? Front doing as well? Do you change your own tires to ensure bearings/spacers aren't damaged? Tips, Man, we want tips! lol Ths. | ||
| Froggy |
Keep an eye on it, probably a good idea to replace those bearings next time you have the wheel off. Buellerxt, try 18k on a Scorpion Sync. I could of gotten another 1k out of it, but the handling was so skewed I didn't feel safe on it anymore.  | ||
| Rwven |
I'm getting more mileage out of my replacement Strada than I got with the original. The slick area between the rain grooves was not as wide on the replacement either indicating some changes were made. My original went 8500 miles. I've got over 11K so far on the replacement. | ||
| Ourdee |
I've got 10,500 on the first Strada so far. Going to have to replace it soon. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Don't replace the bearings unless they really need replacing. If you are worrying about them, then it is high time to check on their actual condition. Pull the wheel and see for yourself if they need maintenance or replacing. Why worry and wait for something that might very well ruin your wheel. Check them. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Rwven and Ourdee, good to hear of those nice mileages from Strada's. How do your fronts look? Froggy, come on Man, you get 65 mpg and now 18,000 miles on a sport tire, and on the other side of the coin you're a Stoppie fanatic! lol J/K. Of course stoppies are done on fronts and you didn't mention that one! lol Okay, time to exhibit more ignorance. How in the &^** do you know when one of these radials needs to be replaced? I've always ridden on belted cruiser tires with treads across the center and I could easily see when it was getting close. I keep my pressures up and check my tires often but the radials have me stumped. I switched to a long mileage 'radial' profiled Dunlop Elite III on my Harley and couldn't determine wear very well because there are so few grooves in the center. I pulled into a gas station on the way back from Sturgis, with only 8500 miles on the tire, and when I looked down I saw 12 inches of cord!!! I was shocked. I usually get 10,000+ miles on belted, cruiser styled rear tires and I didn't see this developing. The tread was thick in the groves but I had cord for 12" of the center. Any tips? Ths. PS: Okay, I guess this is proof that I'm not a corner carver! lol Hey, I do enjoy the corners but I live in Texas! lol (Message edited by buellerxt on November 25, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
When its too worn and it affects the handling to the point your uncomfortable, or when you get down passed the wearbar. Here is my 18k Sync. As you see, clearly the tire is bald in several parts, but the middle has tread left. In the second photo I pointed out the little wear bars   Oh, and here was the rear with only 15k on it. Still had a good 2k more of life on it, but I decided it was time to change it as it was so square I didn't need the kickstand.  Oh, don't let them get to the point the cords are showing:  Yes, its standing up on its own. (Message edited by froggy on November 25, 2009) | ||
| Ourdee |
There is an edge on the harder rubber strip. It ha got to where I have to push hard to corner. | ||
| Etennuly |
Pull the outside seal with a safety pin. If the grease is clean and looks like new(mine had blue grease)it should be good to go. If it looks black, brown, or otherwise dirty, it is bearing time. Mine went 33,000 and I repacked fresh grease in them with every rear tire. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Ths, Froggy, You are a heck of an asset to this board, Man! However, I still need help on 'reading' these sport profile radials. Your rear at 15,000 looks good to me. The front would scare me but not from 'wear' bars, that I have trouble finding, but just from the look of the center. I need to get someone knowledgeable, locally, to help me see it. The wear bar thing, that I've heard about for years, hasn't clicked with me. In fact the ones you so kindly pointed out, don't help me. How did the tire wear in the groove? why is there a bar showing in the groove when that part of the tire is protected? What the h&^% am I missing? Don't waste any more time. I'll find someone locally who can 'hopefully' help. Thanks for the detailed response. | ||
| Froggy |
Yep it was mostly fine, it was the front affecting the handling more than the rear, but I don't half ass tires and swap one, so I did both. The tires wore the way they did from my riding, and the front is under a lot more stress when turning than in a straight line, so you can see the middle part still has life while the halfway to the rim part is shot. The reason the bars are in the grove is so you know when to replace them. When the bump is flush with the rest of the tire, its time to swap. If you look at my rear tire again, you can see the little bars in the tread. Right above the quarter size wet spot (not the big wet spot), you can see the bar there is flush with the tread, while the one near the rim (left of the long piece of grass) still shows some life left on the sides. It is entirely possible to ruin the sides of a tire and keep the middle pretty much new, but that requires a track day.  But again, the wear bars are just suggestion only, and there are other things to consider for replacement. Personally, I would change them out whenever they start to make it hard to turn or get squirley in the rain. Its your safety on the line, I don't feel its worth saving the extra few bucks by stretching an extra couple miles out of a tire. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Great work, Froggy! I 'get it'! lol Very cool. That was a great tutorial for me. Thanks. I'll keep looking at tires and honing up on my tire reading. Now, how do you ride to get 15,000 to 18,000 miles out of sport tires? Very little engine braking? Very little down shifting to slow down? Using your rear brake and sacrificing the pads instead of the tires? Accelerating slowly? What air pressures do you run, front and back, vs. maximum? Just curious. Thanks again, Man. | ||
| Froggy |
I couldn't even tell you the details on those syncs, that was well over a year ago and I switched to Diablo Strada's now. There is one trick to keeping front wear down.... I miss that bike | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Bearings look OK now. I just wanted to make sure I did not overlook anything. The original rear Sync died prematurely when it received an irrerpairable puncture. I replaced the front Sync at about 12k, just before heading off on a trip. The Strada just seems to wear well. I've been doing a lot of freeway riding the last few months and I do have some concern about it getting thin in the center but not showing the wear bars on the shoulder. I wish that it at least had depth pits, like a racing slick. I change the wheels myself. I have lots of experience with careful reassembly and torquing axles from 25 years of BMWs. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Ourdee |
Well, I'll be in the garage taking the rear wheel off. I wore through to the cords on the way home this morning. Hopefully I'll replace the rear this weekend and save enough for the front soon. I'll be riding the Yamaha for a week or so. Rats! | ||
| Buelet |
+1 on not replacing the bearing if it isn't bad yet, unless you want to replace your wheel more frequently also due to pressing bearings in & out 1 too many times. It's really easy to pick the seal out & see how the grease looks & then either clean it out & re-grease, top off, or just push the seal back on (no tools required) and have peace of mind that the bearing is fine. |
