| Author | Message | ||
     Travisd |
The bearings in my 08 with 8000 miles bit the dust yesterday. The left rear side protective cover was hanging on the bolt, exposing the bearings. My question is can I replace the bearing myself or should I take the wheel to the dealer and have them fix it? Or should I order the newer wheel? I am still running the stock tire and need to replace it. I wanted to buy the tire online and have someone local install it. The dealer is an hour drive. I am trying to make this as easy as I can. I have two problems and I am not sure what I need to do. Thanks for any help... | ||
| Froggy |
Well replacing the bearing, assuming no other damage will be a 30th of the price of a new rim. If you damaged the rim, perfect excuse to upgrade. It comes down to your finances, can you afford to shell out the $300+ for rim and goodies to get it prepped? Since you are due for a tire, might as well take care of that since the wheel is coming off, thats another $200+ down the tube You should be able to have a local powersports shop do either type of bearing and the tire replacement. Verify with them ahead of time, some shops can't do Buell wheels due to the large sprockets and rotors won't fit their machines. | ||
| Ratbuell |
For the sake of the Data-Collector types... Orange or black bearing seals? Which side failed, belt or brake? | ||
| Froggy |
99% chance of orange 
I'm pretty sure thats brake rotor on the Uly | ||
| Travisd |
It was the belt side. The outer covers are all black. No damage to the rim. I thought I had a rock hitting the front fender when I heard the noises. I was within a mile from home when this happened. So I got very lucky. | ||
| Travisd |
Sorry I missed the correct side on my first post. I dont see any orange. The fronts are black too. Are the orange ones the newer styles? | ||
| Rwcfrank |
Since it seems I have nothing to lose should I inject some grease into my wheel bearings as preventative maintenance or is that a waste of time. I have read a million posts on bearing failure but no real understanding of why they fail. Are they going dry or just failing? I have a needle size grease gun fitting with a slash cut point for injecting grease. I can get it in through the seals and into the outer bearings then use some silicon to seal the very small puncture. is this a waste of effort? I cannot reach the inner bearings with this technique. | ||
| 1125rcya |
From my experience a bad wheel bearing will weld itself into the rim and that is bad! IMO spend the extra dollar have someone properly pull the bearing out and press a new one in. You might as well have them both replaced. Someone should offer better advice from here hopefully! | ||
| Oldwesterncowboy |
I too have been reading about all the bearing failures. and fixes. nutshell= water/condensation eats the bearings from the inside. or axle nut was too tight. are the bearings rusted? I have seen a fix I like, some have drilled drain holes/weep holes in the rim. Has anyone had a failure after drilling holes in the rim?? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Are the orange ones the newer styles? Bearings with black seals are the newest OEM bearings. | ||
| Ratbuell |
99% chance of orange : ) The outer covers are all black. Hmm...guess there's that 1% quote: The left rear side I'm pretty sure thats brake rotor on the Uly : ) Now you're just showing off because you actually *read*, instead of *skimming* like I do!  | ||
| Towpro |
TravisD, any chance this Uly is still under warranty? take it to HD. If No, but you the original owner and maybe the warranty just expired? I would call my dealer and tell them you want it fixed for free. You might need more then just bearings. could also need the sleeve between the bearings, might need an axle, I have even heard of the rim damaging the swing arm when the bearings fail. | ||
| Someday |
Okay, here's my $.02. There probably is a condensation problem BUT in my opinion the belt is just way too tight. When the bike is cold my belt was like a bow string, then after riding a few hours everything gets pretty hot. The pulley & swingarm are made of aluminum which expands like crazy, this makes the belt tighter still. The belt, according to the manufacturer, has practically no stretch so it gets tighter still. I believe it's just too much load for that bearing. I have a '98 S3T that has 50,000+ on the original belt and the wheel has only one bearing on the drive side. You run 7/8-1" belt deflection using 10 lbs of force. You're lucky to get 1/8" deflection on the XB. This bothered me so much I elongated the holes in the idler wheel mount to give me more play in the belt. I'm running about 5/8" deflection when cold. After riding a while and things are hot I still have a little play in the belt which I'm hoping will add life to the right rear bearing. I have the black seals and almost 8,000 miles on my Uly. | ||
| Rwven |
The fault is not with the bearings, the fault is with the engineering. My originals went at 8000 miles (orange seals) the SKF's I replaced them with are getting notchy and they've been in under 10,000 miles. These bearings are meant for ATV use, low miles and slower speeds, not for long distance high speed highway use. If you don't have the tools to replace the bearings and you are having a new tire mounted, let the shop do the bearings. The labor should only be about $20.00 from an independent shop. If you can afford it, just get a 2010 wheel. The bearings are significantly heavier and there are three of them instead of two. I have mine in my garage and I am getting the bearings pressed in and the tire swapped over this week. Edit: My belt has plenty of slack in it, I can easily turn the idler by hand. (Message edited by rwven on May 04, 2010) | ||
| Travisd |
It looks like my bike is under warranty until July. Should I worry about the front wheels? How do we prevent this 100s of miles from home? Can we carry spare bearings? | ||
| Conchop |
About 12k miles, luck set in. I had ordered a new PR2, that night at bike night I picked up a screw [ wrong kind of screw ]. The tire came in yesterday so I pulled off the wheel. Bearings were seizing up. I could barely turn them. This is a ridiculous issue. There should be a recall as this could be a bad situation and could cause a hell of an accident. Be very vigilant and keep a keen watch of these faulty bearings - They are proven to be dangerous. | ||
| Motorbike |
I'm with Conchop on this one. Although I have not had a bearing failure yet, I know they will go bad sooner or later. Why can't the NHTSB get hold of this and force a recall to replace all of our rear wheels with the 2010 wheel update? This is definitely a safety issue and sooner or later one of us will die when a bearing fails at a high rate of speed or even at the speed limit. I take extreme measures to keep my bike in top mechanical shape at all times and to keep it looking good. Often times I ride out a full tank of gas without stopping to inspect my bearings. How do I know I might not have a catastrophic failure during that time? I don't. I know there are those of you who think this is no big deal and we should just blow it off but I think Harley Davidson / Buell needs to take care of this. Why should I have to fork out hundreds of dollars of my own money to fix a safety issue? I work too hard for my money to throw it out the window like that. I would be willing to do my own install, just don't think we should have to pay for the parts. Anyone with me? | ||
| Rwven |
Motorbike, I agree with you and Conchop also. I'm just tired of  | ||
| Mnrider |
Besides the fact that the bearing is too small I think the reason some fail and some don't is cause some bearings are not installed so that the inner and outer races are in perfect alignment when the wheel is installed. I greased mine and I'm going to change them at the next tire change.  | ||
| Arcticktm |
I don't follow the logic that these bearings are too small or not intended for this application ("ATV bearings"). The same type of bearing (single row ball bearing) is used on the vast majority of other brand bikes I have been inspecting lately. Using the double row type seems to be a H-D thing, as I have not seen these on Japanese bikes that I have looked at. I was specifically looking at Honda ST1300 and BMW GS1200 and RT1200's last weekend, and they all have external protectors outside of the bearings, like I have always had on dirtbikes. I also looked at a Ducati MS, which had the bearing seals exposed, like our Buells. IIRC, folks on the board have described the 2010 Buell wheel as having these added secondary seals outside of the bearing. I continue to believe water intrusion is the root cause of the majority (meaning not 100%) of failures described on BadWeb, and mine as well. There have also been front bearing failures reported (though appears far less), and those certainly cannot be blamed on belt tension or overloading. The rear hub would also appear to be "better" at trapping any water that gets in past the seals and/or axle. | ||
| Mnrider |
I agree that water intrusion is the cause of many of the failures. An external seal that runs on the axle would keep water from entering between the axle and the bearing and through the bearing seal. It also seems that Ulysses has a higher failure rate which could be blamed on load and or alignment. | ||
| Motorbike |
In my last post I wrote "NHTSB", should have been "NHTSA." I am considering filing a complaint with the NHTSA. Has anyone on this forum gone that route for anything, especially this wheel bearing issue? Since I have not had a failure yet I am guessing my complaint probably will not hold water. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there really is a safety concern here. I am not talking about a lawsuit here at all. I don't want to make any money at this, just want a safe bike. Rwven, I am also sick of beating this dead horse. But, I really like this bike and of all the bikes I have ever had, this one is the most fun to ride. But, every time I ride it, I am always thinking about what might happen if the bearings fry and I experience sudden loss of control, especially when I have my wife or one of my daughters as a passenger. Those of you that are sick of reading about this, please skip over any posts that have anything to do with bearings. No one forces you to read any of this. I intend to pursue this further but I'm not sure if I can do it alone. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Arcticktm, in your judgment, do you think riding in the rain is enough to infiltrate the seals or do you think washing the bike or water crossings cause it? I know you don't have a crystal ball but you've given this issue good thought/review. Any thoughts on greasing the sealed bearings at tire changes as to extending life, being a good or bad practice, etc.? Thanks. | ||
| Buellerxt |
I certainly understand your concern, Motorbike, and I'm not tired of the discussion. I share your thoughts on the Uly being so much fun as well. Being a new Uly owner, and having only 4100 miles on my bike, I haven't had a bearing problem but I've sure read about a slew of them. Terrible. I put over 98,000 miles on a Harley with no bearing issues and I know of a number of Harley owners who have gone way over 100,000 miles with no bearing problems. Motorcycle companies seem to get a heck of a pass on recalls. I'm trying to find out if 'greasing' them at tire changes will solve the problem. If not I'll go to the 2010 wheel. Best of luck. | ||
| Paralegalpete |
To the original poster, your bike is still under warranty. Take your bike in and tell them the 2010 wheel upgrade is a proper fix to this problem and that other owners have had this upgrade under similar circumstances. Your existing wheel may be damaged along with your swing arm and brake rotor. Mine were and I got the upgrade. Good luck | ||
| Blasterd |
This worries the heck out of me as I have no other form of transportation and like Motorbike my children spend a good bit of time on there with me. I went through alot of crap to get this bike and sold my other Buell and rode a 12 year old Vulcan Classic for two years to save up for it and I don't have the funds to buy a 2010 wheel. I can't begin to say how much this worries me, I don't want to sell it but with a 60 mile commute daily I need to not have to worry about stuff like belts breaking and bearings seizing, especially with my kid on there... I love the bike, not the worries though. | ||
| Rwcfrank |
I agree that the bearing issue should be fixed. The mere volume of issues stated on this forum will give the poor unfortunate person(s) who actually suffers some compensable loss a great witness list for the plaintiff. I for one will be calling upon the witnesses in this forum if I ever so much as stub my toe from a bearing failure. As far as a lawsuit is concerned, HD would simply add an addendum to the owners manual that states wheel bearing should be checked every XXXX miles and replaced if worn. That would circumvent any class action suit. Just my 2 cents. | ||
| Oldwesterncowboy |
I have seen a fix here, some have drilled drain holes/weep holes in the rim. Has anyone had a failure after drilling holes in the rim?? | ||
| Arcticktm |
Buellerxt, My thought is that water can get in during normal riding in rain and normal washing. I say this because my rear bearings/hub had water in them, and I never use a pressure washer, do not point water stream directly at axles, and have never crossed any water as deep as the axles. To those that want to "go Toyota" on Buell/H-D, do what you must, but (for your own safety) also inspect your bearings at each tire change in the meantime. this has been well documented on Badweb. Bearings rarely fail without warning, if you know how to look. I caught mine before failure during a tire change. I noticed water on the stand where I had laid my rear wheel down on its side. When I turned the bearings and they felt a bit gritty (not smooth). I used a dental tool to remove the seal, and found evidence of water (rust) inside, so I changed the rear bearings with SKF's I found locally. I then inspected my front's, and put a little grease in them before re-installing the seals. I am not so sure about routinely removing the seals to re-grease these "sealed" bearings, though, so I have not done this since. I do put anti-seize on the outside of the bearing seal, to discourage water from entering, and give me an easy visual sign if anything has removed the silver coating. If I had a convenient and economical way of getting a 2010 wheel assembly, I am sure I would do so, but I am not expecting H-D to volunteer to buy me one for my 4 year old bike. | ||
| Motorbike |
I DO keep a close eye on the bearings as they are quite easy to get at. Even with frequent inspections of the seal, the internal parts of the bearing can be failing with no visual evidence on the outside. When the bearing begins to grind itself up, the seal will usually pop out and it would be obvious that your day is done. My concern ( one of them ) is that they will fail on a longer trip and even if I carry spare bearings, how will I change them alongside the interstate in the middle of Nebraska for instance? I really hope that doesn't happen during my annual bike trip with my four brothers! I have no plans to "go Toyota" at all. I don't hate Erik Buell or his former company. I don't hate H-D or anybody for that matter. I just don't want to see anyone hurt or killed because of a known issue. I feel we at least need to make a good effort. Thanks. One more thing, does anyone know how long the 2010 wheel will be available? I would really dislike having to scrap the bike just because I cannot get a wheel for it. I suppose the hub could be machined and sleeved and a new bearing could be installed but I don't want to count on that. |
