| Author | Message | ||
     Snoman |
Sorry for another rear wheel / bearing thread, but I thought I'd solicit some updated feedback from those of you who have drilled holes in the center hub of your rear wheels. I had two sets of rear wheel bearings fail in a 10K mile trip this past summer and I'm convinced that both failures were water related. The first bearings were the original orange seal bearings ('07), but the second ones were the new (improved) black seal ones. In both cases, I saw the warning signs of orange, rusty water seeping out of the bearing seal on the LH side when the bike was on the side stand. There were a few times we'd stop for lunch and there would be a puddle of rusty water the size of a softball on the ground. It would sling rusty water on the wheel too. Both times I replaced the bearings, the center of the wheel was almost completely full of water. In one of the previous threads, I've read theories of the wheel somehow developing a vacuum. I'm convinced this is true. I don't know how else all this water could have gotten in there. Much of this trip was rainy and really wet. I only did a few water crossings with water up to the bearings. Water from the road had to get sucked in through or around the bearing when at speed. So... I've borrowed a 90° angle drill and I'm curious what size holes I should drill in the hub between the spokes. How many miles have any of you who have performed this mod logged? Thoughts? Eric. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
It's on my winter to-do list - I thought I read 1/8' for WEEP HOLES. LINK: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/566539.html | ||
| Mnrider |
I will be doing bearings and drain holes this winter,I'll be at 10k by then. I did my first tire at 5k and the bearings were a bit notchy,did the second tire at 9k and they were notchier than before. | ||
| Prowler |
Treadmarks was the original "driller of holes" with this idea (what ever happened to him, anyway?). I did the same when I got my bike back in '07. 1/8" drill bit as shown in the link above. No angle drill required. I drilled two holes 180 deg apart on the left side of the wheel (kickstand side). No water issues ever. | ||
| Snoman |
So just a hole or two on the side will do it? I was thinking about centering the hole in the rim between the spokes because it seems water would be more likely to congregate there under centrifugal force, but I suppose having a hole anywhere would solve the pressure problem and there would hopefully not be any water in there to begin with. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""because it seems water would be more likely to congregate there under centrifugal force"" I would suspect that the water would be forced against the inside barrel of the rim , somewhat uniformly - then spread out from there (side-to-side) regardless of lean angle (centrifugal force being greater than gravity). It's that whole time/space thingy. I'm not an engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once - it was okay I guess, nice enough room, continental breakfast, and all. . | ||
| Nobuell |
I had my bearings fail with no indication of water infiltration. I never did any water crossings but rode in water quit a bit. I believe the bearings are borderline at best for design loads and are not sealed properly for the application. The 2010 wheel is vastly improved and is worth the money for peace of mind. | ||
| Etennuly |
It seems like the best place for a weep hole is on the left side of the 'barrel' part of the hub. Since over the life of your bike, even if you ride it 20,000 miles a year, it will spend over 90% of it's time on the side stand. | ||
| Blasterd |
I may do this later on, checked my rear bearings today while getting a new tire and they were in great shape at just under 9000 miles. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I'd say put 2 holes in it. Roll the wheel until one is on the bottom when its on the kickstand and hit it with some compressed air... see what kinda junk blows out.. | ||
| Timberwolf |
If the problem is caused by a vacuum then a hole anywhere should take care of it. I would put one at the bottom of the barrel on the left side. One 180 degrees away would help it drain faster if any water did happen to get in. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
My rear bearings failed at 14k in EBF, PA. When I got it to a shop, about 1 pint of rusty water was in the hub. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
The front wheel is WIDE open and you don't here to much about them failing. I did change mine around 50,000 because it had the tell tell rust streaks running out of it | ||
| Snoman |
Wide open is good - can't build up negative pressure, and can dry on it's own. It let's the bearing seals do their job without working against them. | ||
| Tk052 |
Just an opinion, but does anyone think that the weep holes should be large enough to fit the red tube supplied with lubricant for example LPS 2 corrosion protection, so that you could shoot a little in there periodically to lessen the effects of oxidation? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I don't think you want to spray any thin spray type lubricants near your bearings. Probably wouldn't cause a problem but I personally wouldn't want the possibility of anything eating at the grease in the bearings. | ||
| Treadmarks |
Treadmarks was the original "driller of holes" with this idea (what ever happened to him, anyway?). He is still here! I still get around to checking in now and then. My hypermotard is my daily now but I still ride the uly every chance I get. She is still running great with all the crazy mods and I am still on the same set of bearings I installed when I drilled the holes. Same factory belt too!  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I put on a new tire tonight and one of the bearings just fell out... wooo hooo.. I put it back in with some loc-tite but I just couldn't bring myself to drill the holes... | ||
| Etennuly |
How the heck did a bearing just fall out? That can't happen in a Buell wheel. With the bearing out, if there was water in the hub you would have seen traces of it on the bearing. The wheel is aluminum. The axle spacer is aluminum. When water gets into the hub the only parts that can rust are the inner faces of the wheel bearings. If you want water that may get in the hub to stay clean, paint the inside of the bearing races with some Rustoleum before installing the bearings. Mark, the holes are no big deal from any I have seen or done. The center section of the hub is very strong. I would not drill like six holes on the same linear plain of the hub, just like two or three around it. I drilled one hole in mine and installed a grease fitting about twenty thousand miles ago or so. I filled the hub with marine grease so there is no chance of water intrusion again by whatever method that it may get in. I have changed other's Uly rear bearings where they were completely dry at over 20,000 miles. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Etennuly, You've changed Uly bearings for others at 20,000 miles and they were completely dry! Did the hubs have holes drilled in them? Did the owners repack their bearings? If not, why do you, an experienced Uly guy, think those owners had such good luck? No rain riding, no water crossings, no washing the bearing area? Just curious. Thanks. | ||
| Etennuly |
You've changed Uly bearings for others at 20,000 miles and they were completely dry! Did the hubs have holes drilled in them? Did the owners repack their bearings? If not, why do you, an experienced Uly guy, think those owners had such good luck? No rain riding, no water crossings, no washing the bearing area? Just curious. Thanks. That sir, along with how the Pyramids were built is a great mystery. Crazy thing is, he rode the same water crossings I did, rode the same places I did locally for the most part, stored in an outside carport, he probably rode in the rain 60% less than me, and yes, I had repacked his bearings when we put new rear tires on it. I wiped the outside with anti-sieze just as I did with my hydro hub. So I gotta say.....  it doesn't make sense to me. | ||
| Etennuly |
Oh and his bike was always cleaner than mine, no weep holes......I just don't know why. | ||
| Tootal |
Treadmarks, good to see your doing well! As far as a hole in the wheel, I was considering drilling my 2010 wheel before I installed the bearings but forgot about it till I had the damn thing mounted!! My plan was to look inside the wheel and find where the largest diameter was and drill two holes at the peak of this diameter. Centrifugal force would then spin out all the water as you ride. Oh well, I guess when those huge bearings fail in 100,000 miles I'll do it then!! | ||
| Tootal |
Vern, I have always contended that the problem might be a machining error. If the spacer is just .001" narrower than the bearing surfaces are in the wheel you will putting side loads on the bearings which will cause an early failure. I would love it if someone with bearing problems would measure accurately the width between the bearing surfaces and compare that to the length of the spacer. It just seems strange that some have constant problems yet others, like myself, never had any bearing issues. I put the 2010 wheel on out of peace of mind, I never had any bearing problem. | ||
| Etennuly |
Well Greg the only problem I see with your theory of improper fit-ment is that every one that I personally have seen fail has had water in the hub and rust present on the races and balls of the bearing. I'm sure there have been exceptions for over tightening and crushing of the spacer. The ones that I have changed that were dry inside, were done as preventative measures. Has anyone had one fail that it can be proven that it was dry inside and no rust was present, or washing out of the bearing grease by water, while having been properly torqued every time? | ||
| Buellerxt |
Etennuly, Thanks. One more question. When you drilled the hole and then inserted a grease fitting and filled the hub with grease, did you fill it until grease oozed out of the hub sides similar to steering head bearings? If not, how did you know it was full? The idea sounds interesting. I read somewhere on here that too much grease causes heat build-up and is bad. Your thoughts and experience? Did you seal the hub sides with anti-seize after filling the hub? Thanks. | ||
| Etennuly |
That hub is big! It took four caulking gun size tubes of marine grease to fill the void. If I had to do it again I was thinking about finding something else to fill it with, then using a smaller quantity of grease. I found that when you fill the hub it will stop taking grease when it is full, it just won't take any more even with fairly intense pressure on the pump's handle. That is because I left the inner seals in the bearings. I decided to drill and fill it after I had installed the bearings. If I was to do it again, I might pull out the inner seals and drill like six holes of about 5/32" to allow grease to freely pump through the bearing to get fresh stuff into the bearings at all times. I just was just being concerned with the possibility of constantly pushing the outer seals out of place. So far I have over 23,000 miles on this set up, my original bearings went at around 28,000 with the hub half full of water, so who knows. But one thing I can guarantee, there is no room for water in this hub.  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Brother Terry Treadmarks. Good to hear from you. | ||
| Treadmarks |
Thanks for the warm welcome brothers EG and TooTal. I don't think I will go the 2010 rim route, simply because my german fags still feel good with the weep holes. I gotta head on over to the tire threads to find me something ruff n tuff for the uly | ||
| Buellerxt |
Thanks Etennuly. I appreciate your taking the time to explain it fully and post a pic. Thanks. |
