| Author | Message | ||
     Gunut75 |
I'm going to be getting a new belt soon, and want to grease the rear bearings? How do you get the orange seal off the side to clean and grease them? | ||
| Ratfink |
They are sealed bearings. You can't open them. | ||
| Rays |
Yes, they are sealed bearings and many will say that you shouldn't touch them but you most certainly can remove the seals and re-grease them quite effectively. I have opened them up to find water intrusion and the grease all grey after riding long distances in the rain and successfully cleaned and re-greased the bearings. I use the small, plain blade of a Swiss Army pocket knife to pop the seals out on the outer sides - I have heard of several different ways that seem to work. Stay away from the inner side of the seal as that would be very easy to damage. Let me see if I can take a couple of photos to explain myself. Go and have a search on the Big, Bad and Dirty section as the Uly guys have had a hard time with rear bearing failure and there are several of us who re-grease the bearings as part of regular servicing. Does it work? Well, everyone has different circumstances but I haven't had a bearing actually fail on me yet and I have just passed 98,000km on my '06. I have changed them twice but proactively and not because of in-service failures. (Message edited by Rays on July 25, 2010) | ||
| Rays |
OK, quick trip to the shed. This is an old rear wheel bearing (I replaced this at around 45,000km from memory - at that stage I had re-greased it a couple of times). The small blade of a Swiss Army pocket knife works very well for me.  The outer edge of the seal sits in a lip in the outer bearing. The object of the exercise is to slide the sharp edge of the blade in over the the seal and to turn it around the edge of the seal and pop it out of the lip. Do this in a couple of places and the blade will then slip behind the seal as shown here.  This is the seal completely removed. If done correctly you will have zero damage to the seal and can now clean and re-grease. Given this is not a recommended practice then this is done without any backing by your dealer and is entirely your decision.  There are people who change their bearings with every tyre change but I chose the re-grease method. I make no claims that it is a silver bullet but it certainly can be done. You might also notice that this bearing is not a rusted mess despite having done almost 2 years on the bike - I believe it is also important to keep the bearing regularly cleaned to keep road grime and rain etc at bay. A smear of anti-seize on the outside does wonders. (Message edited by Rays on July 25, 2010) (Message edited by Rays on July 25, 2010) | ||
| Gunut75 |
Sweet. Thanks Ray. I have 15k on my orange bearings, and have to put a new belt on. I figure on at least inspecting them. Kind if a "while I'm in there" type of thing. Thanks again.  | ||
| Dfishman |
I use a dental pick & pry from the outside diam of the seal.27000 miles on my orange bearings with a regreasing every tire change. | ||
| Greg_e |
If you wreck it you can buy new seals from Boca Bearings for a few dollars each and probably get your choice of colors too. You'll have to drop them an email as I don't see a way to find just the seals. | ||
| Fahren |
Even good, US (Timken) or Japanese (NSK) bearings that fit your Buell are not expensive. It's worth replacing them and using quality bearings, not made in India or China replacements. |
