Wheel bearing at 30,000 miles?

[trmn8r]

Bike has just felt odd last couple of weeks, blamed it on the underrated (I know shouldn't have run it this long) front tire I had, thought maybe sidewalls were getting weak or something. Got new Elite III on while I was doing that, moved and shook all the things I thought possibly could be loose, steering head, tried to move rear swingarm, rear tire checked front wheel bearings while the wheel was off... couldn't find anything looked wrong so back on with the front tire, SAME PROBLEM!

Thought well, maybe 30,000 miles things are just breaking in and getting loose, maybe its just my imagination, etc.

Rode in a Toy Run today, 5 or so miles of parade type speed, crap even at 15 MPH something just feels wrong... skipped the party with 3 live bands and free beer after the toy run. Came home put bike on jack, wiggle this that and the other thing... grab rear tire and IT MOVES SIDE TO SIDE!!!??!!!

Didn't notice that movement last week, maybe the bearing was just lined up just right with the way I tried to move it so it didn't move then I don't know but it moves now...

Pull rear wheel, left bearing is GONE, outside seal is missing, 4 or 5 balls missing.

leaving Thursday morning for a 5 day trip, glad I found it now... rush the wheel to HD shop, that was the meeting place for the toy run earlier so I hoped someone was still there would let me drop it off cause I got to work 12 hour shifts next 2 days wouldn't leave me much time to get it fixed Wednesday before we leave Thursday. Got lucky the salesman that sold me the bike was in the back of the shop doing something, dropped it off, he wrote my name and when I needed to pick up. WHEW

Glad I found this before we left... would have sucked a few hundred miles down the road for sure!

What would cause that sealed bearing to fail at 30K miles? Over torquing axle nut? Maybe hit it to much at the car wash? Try to be careful with pressure washer. Just bad luck bad bearing? Guess what really matters is I found it in time. Just like to know if its something I did that caused it is all.

[Berserker]

BS, and BS that it failed.

What about swingarm? Is it tight?

[Berserker]

BTW, I vote just bad bearing. I wash mine at the car wash, I don't blast the axles, can't see rear on a bagger.

I never used a tq wrench, my first few tires, cranked until my eye popped out, and gave it a little more. But I could be a wuss. I prefer to thing you just got better leverage.

[trmn8r]

Originally Posted by Berserker

BS, and BS that it failed.

What about swingarm? Is it tight?

as in BS you dont think it did fail? or its BS that it did fail? cause I can assure you it failed, the seal was missing off one side and there was only about 1/2 the balls in there that should have been. Swingarm itself feels tight. cant detect any side to side give between it and tranny or whatever it bolts to.

[trmn8r]

Originally Posted by Berserker

BTW, I vote just bad bearing. I wash mine at the car wash, I don't blast the axles, can't see rear on a bagger.

I never used a tq wrench, my first few tires, cranked until my eye popped out, and gave it a little more. But I could be a wuss. I prefer to thing you just got better leverage.

thats kind of my philosophy on tightening axle nut since I dont have the 'correct' adapter for my torque wrench. and yea since you can barely see the rear axle without pulling bags I thought the pressure washer was a stretch but dont know why else it would fail.

[LittleBear]

Proper axle TQ is very important both with old style bearing and even more so with the new bearings.
Could have had the internal spacers setup wrong from the factory. I would make sure the shop verifies all specs during reassembly.
I have seen the new sealed bearing loose their seal, not completely gone like yours, and leak out the grease. If that happened, it would not take long for a few bearing to overheat and leave.
My bet is the seal failed, it lost grease, overheated and literally fried itself.
This brings up a good inspection point. The old style bearing would always have a little grease seep past the seal and form a grease layer around the spacer and the seal. People got used to seeing this since it is normal on these type of bearing. When it happens to a new style sealed bearing, it is a serious problem. There should never be any grease residue around the wheel bearing on the new H-D's. If there is, you have a serious issue and need to get it fixed. Inspect these bearing with every oil change. If you see any grease, fix it.
Les, you are a lucky man to find that at home and not when it locked up at 70 going down the road.

[trmn8r]

Originally Posted by LittleBear

Les, you are a lucky man to find that at home and not when it locked up at 70 going down the road.

Agreed, guess I have been living right after all.

Put a new tire on rear just before Junction trip. Looked at bearings then, not real close, just glanced at it, stuck my finger in it and tried to wiggle it, felt tight so I remounted it all and went on about my business. Use lots of Anti-sieze on the axle when I remount it so if there had been some oil from the bearing I would probably have overlooked it. Guess I need to start being neater with the anti-sieze so something like that is easier to spot. This bearing was near complete failure when I found it, about 4500 miles since that last rear tire change.

By internal spacer you mean the spacer inside the wheel itself? Cant really say if its setup right or not, its there and its between the bearings is about all I can say for it being right or not.

[LittleBear]

A thin layer of anti seize is all that is required to keep the axle form rusting.
Yes the internal spacer, no real way for the home mechanic to check it but the shop should check it during assembly.
I was just pointing out that since the new bearing are sealed, most people ignore them. Not a good idea. Should be part of a regular inspection.
Must be why I like the old style. A bigger pain in the A$$, but I get to inspect the races and bearings every tire change and regrease them.

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by trmn8r

as in BS you dont think it did fail? or its BS that it did fail? cause I can assure you it failed, o.

Bs, that it failed prematurely. BS. 30k, is nothing.

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by trmn8r

thats kind of my philosophy on tightening axle nut since I dont have the 'correct' adapter for my torque wrench. .

I got 3/8 drive tq wrenches, went to Sears, for $6 got 3/8-1/2. Could have probaly bough 50 various size for $25. but thats all I needed.