| Author | Message | ||
     Mark_weiss |
The original bearings lasted 68000 miles before becoming notchy. I replaced them with OE bearings and followed the service manual procedure and torqued the top cap to 40 ft lbs. At each maintenance check all seemed fine until last weeks' check. With the front wheel in place the steering did not seem completely smooth. With the mass of the wheel removed, notchiness had returned. These bearings have only 27000 miles of use. Disassembly revealed that the problem is with the upper bearing. The lower is not perfect, but not nearly as rough as the upper. I'm wondering if the specified torque is too high. After all, there is no spacer between the bearings so all of the preload is directly side-loading the bearings. | ||
| Tpehak |
My bearing lasted 17000 miles before it developed a noticeable bump spot and roughness. Typical crappy Buell design. | ||
| Tootal |
Mark, was there any sign of rust near the seals? Were they losing grease? That's what I noticed when I changed mine. When I changed mine I used quite of bit of anti-seize to try and keep it from rusting. These bearings are designed to work like this. They are used "back to back" in many industrial applications. | ||
| Teeps |
I went with All Balls kit back in 2014. Bike probably had around 30K. Don't know how long the all balls lasted as I moved the Ulysses down the road in 2018 with 42k miles on the clock. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
"Typical crappy Buell design." The factory installed set lasted 68k miles. That seems pretty good design. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
No rust near the seals on either bearing. I live in a desert and rarely wash the bike. No sign of grease loss other than the typical ring of grime just outboard of the seal contact on the inner race. Interestingly, when I removed the seals from the outboard side of each bearing, the seal material was very hard and shattered from sliding the pick. Neither seal would be reusable. Inside, no grease was present. It was clear that that some sort of lube had been in the bearing, but there was barely a coating on the inner parts. I have replacement bearings on the way from Twin Motorcycles. They are claimed to be of an improved design. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I've installed the new bearings and set the stem cap torque to 40 ftlbs, as specified. There is a LOT of drag. I borrowed a fishing scale to check. At 40 ftlbs, drag is in the 11lbs range. A lot more than the 1 to 7 spec'd in the steering head inspection directions. If I lower the torque to zero freeplay, drag is in the 3 to 5 lb range. Torque the cap nut to 10 ftlbs, drag is in the 6 to 7 range. Raise torque to 15 and drag goes up to 7 to 8. Raise to 20 ftlbs and drag is in the 7 to 9 range. So, set it at 40 and check drag after 500 miles? Set it at 20 and check drag after 500 miles? | ||
| Arry |
It does seem that a lot of bearings are assembled with a minimum of grease. It seems they would grease them up good, but...? I wonder if the 40# torque is recommended knowing that they will seat in and loosen up (?). Just a guess. | ||
| Tootal |
They are claimed to be of an improved design. What is the improvement? Are they still Angular Contact roller bearings or tapered roller bearings? Angular Contact bearings are the original style and must be installed either face to face or back to back. If you install them backwards then it will cause the problem you're having. Did they come with instructions? | ||
| Mark_weiss |
"Are they still Angular Contact roller bearings or tapered roller bearings?" They appear to still be angular contact ball bearings. They install the same as the originals, back to back. Overall appearance appears to be a little more cleanly machined than the OEM parts but that is just judging from external appearance. The seal material feels more compliant and looks to be a better fit at the inner race. I'll keep a closer eye on these than the last set. The originals lasted long enough that I assumed that the ones I've just removed would be similar. I checked drag every front tire change, but that was all. I'll be monitoring these more frequently. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
After 500 or so miles, 40 ft/lbs was too stiff. The steering was not smooth and the bike tended to follow every single crack and groove that ran roughly parallel to my direction of travel. Self-centering was non-existent. I loosened the front end and reset the stem preload torque to 30 ft/lbs. Better, but not great. Reset everything again with the stem torque at 20. Too low. Reset to 22 ft/lbs. Greatly improved. It's going to stay at 22 ft/lbs for a while. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
"It does seem that a lot of bearings are assembled with a minimum of grease. It seems they would grease them up good, " The problem here is the application of these bearings. Bearings that spin, such as wheel bearings, require very little grease. Add more and the added drag creates heat and the bearing leaks. Steering bearings barely move and that is a difficult application for point loaded bearings. Tapered rollers are better, bushings are probably better still. |
