slug Posted September 5, 2007 Posted September 5, 2007 Argh. Rear brake wouldn't stop groaning. Pulled the caliper, cleaned and lubed the seals. No improvement. Heard clunking in the rear end. Thought it was the gimbal (sp?) joints on that torque rod thinger attached to the rear drive. Nope. Fine, I'll pull the fookin' rear wheel... Uh oh. Not good. Anyone need a slightly used wheel bearing? I believe I'm another victim of too-short wheel bearing spacer syndrome. Fortunately, after much cleaning, I'm happy to report there's no major damage. I have two spare bearings ready to go, and I picked up some 6061 T-6 aluminum tube to make a new spacer. www.onlinemetals.com rocks. Great resource for aluminum, stainless, copper, brass, titanium in small quantities. The upside? This means I'll be forced to ride my buddy's '06 Firebolt that I'm bike-sitting for the next couple of months while he's on a road trip. (But not too much. I noticed he wrote the mileage down in the owners manual...)
Guest ratchethack Posted September 5, 2007 Posted September 5, 2007 YYYEEEEEEEEEEFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTT!!! This is the kinda thing that's kept me carefully checking for lateral play on BOTH wheels a few thou miles after every re-torque of the spindles. Hard to imagine there isn't any blueing visible a-tall from heat as the bearing expired. . . Looks like you fared well, here, Slug -- all things considered. Must've been many small trips, rather than long ones, or it might've been a different story altogether. . . Looks like the outer race got lots o' miles well after it was entirely GONE. . . No witness marks on the bearing carrier??!! Good choice of T-6 for the new spacer. I'd expect the probabilities of a repeat performance here approach ZERO.
slug Posted September 5, 2007 Author Posted September 5, 2007 YYYEEEEEEEEEEFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTT!!! This is the kinda thing that's kept me carefully checking for lateral play on BOTH wheels a few thou miles after every re-torque of the spindles. Hard to imagine there isn't any blueing visible a-tall from heat as the bearing expired. . . Looks like you fared well, here, Slug -- all things considered. Must've been many small trips, rather than long ones, or it might've been a different story altogether. . . Looks like the outer race got lots o' miles well after it was entirely GONE. . . No witness marks on the bearing carrier??!! Good choice of T-6 for the new spacer. I'd expect the probabilities of a repeat performance here approach ZERO. There's very little bluing anywhere. I did about 700 miles weekend before last, and I remember the clunking started around then but thought it was the torque bar that I got from Rossopuro. So with the riding I did (some two-up with the Mrs. ) after that, I'm guessing ~400 miles on a fragged bearing. Glad it wasn't the left-side bearing (again). Anyone in Seattle with a metal lathe that I could use for a few minutes to do up a new spacer??? I have enough material for three of them.
jrt Posted September 5, 2007 Posted September 5, 2007 Good eye (or ear). And thanks for the pictures. Sounds like you got it under control, so and (please post the dimensions of the spacer when you get it out)
Guest ratchethack Posted September 6, 2007 Posted September 6, 2007 Glad it wasn't the left-side bearing (again). Hey Slug -- you won't be replacing just one side this time around, will you?? Jus' checkin'. . . I haven't replaced a wheel bearing yet at 34K mi., but first one to go gets new both sides with the new spacer. BAA, TJM & YMMV
slug Posted September 6, 2007 Author Posted September 6, 2007 Hey Slug -- you won't be replacing just one side this time around, will you?? Jus' checkin'. . . I haven't replaced a wheel bearing yet at 34K mi., but first one to go gets new both sides with the new spacer. BAA, TJM & YMMV Doing both sides. I checked the left one and it feels "gritty".
dlaing Posted September 6, 2007 Posted September 6, 2007 JRT's friend (father-in-law???)Bob made a few of these to Jason's spec. Dimensions are 113.04 mm (4.452") long X 25.2 (.9945) outside X 20.37 (.8) inside. Wall thickness is 2.51 mm. It is made of either 2024 or 7075 aluminum (I'll have to ask). Both are high grade aircraft aluminum. It took ten forum pages to arrive at those numbers...and we are still not sure they are ideal or if wheels vary throughout production. But I bought one and it is holding up great.
slug Posted September 6, 2007 Author Posted September 6, 2007 Done. I went wide with the spacer @ 113.5mm. Seems to fit ok without the bearing sticking out too much. Used a touch of anti-seize on the outside surface of the bearings to ease removal, just in case I fry the bearings from the spacer being too long (if this was a bad idea, someone please speak up!!) Used "All Balls" brand (what a stupid name) 6204-2RS bearings. $10 each. Only problem I had was leaving the rear drive on it's side on the bench overnight, so lots of pepto-pink fluid to clean up (yes, I topped it off afterward). We'll see how it rides tomorrow. JRT's friend (father-in-law???)Bob made a few of these to Jason's spec. It took ten forum pages to arrive at those numbers...and we are still not sure they are ideal or if wheels vary throughout production. But I bought one and it is holding up great. One day, when I update my own web site, I'll have a page dedicated to V11 specs, procedures and bodges. Might do it Wiki style so others can contribute. Anyone interested in helping?
Tom M Posted September 6, 2007 Posted September 6, 2007 How many miles did your bike go before the bearing disintegrated Slug? Also, did you bother doing anything with your cush drive (grease, holes, cheese, etc) while you had the wheel off?
slug Posted September 6, 2007 Author Posted September 6, 2007 How many miles did your bike go before the bearing disintegrated Slug? Also, did you bother doing anything with your cush drive (grease, holes, cheese, etc) while you had the wheel off? About 11k for the first failure. Second failure happened around 19k. Didn't have time to monkey with the cush drive last night. Planning on doing that at the same time I replace my fork springs (if they ever arrive...)
Greg Field Posted September 7, 2007 Posted September 7, 2007 Slug: That's the worst wheel ball bearing failure I've seen. If you had only changed your muffler juice more often, you could've saved yourself all that work . . .
slug Posted September 7, 2007 Author Posted September 7, 2007 Slug: That's the worst wheel ball bearing failure I've seen. If you had only changed your muffler juice more often, you could've saved yourself all that work . . . Heck, you shoulda seen the left bearing when it went Regarding the muffler juice: do you recommend synthetic or dino? Would the synthetic react with the chrome muffler bearings? Would blinker fluid work in a pinch?
dlaing Posted September 7, 2007 Posted September 7, 2007 One day, when I update my own web site, I'll have a page dedicated to V11 specs, procedures and bodges. Might do it Wiki style so others can contribute. Anyone interested in helping? Feel free to take what you will from my website. All the info is stolen, mostly from here... I am apparently to busy fighting with people here to help you with your website, or update mine, or fix my bike, or ride my bike There are a few other good websites, as well as this site's FAQs that I am sure need more content. A wiki could be cool though!
slug Posted September 7, 2007 Author Posted September 7, 2007 Feel free to take what you will from my website. All the info is stolen, mostly from here... I am apparently to busy fighting with people here to help you with your website, or update mine, or fix my bike, or ride my bike There are a few other good websites, as well as this site's FAQs that I am sure need more content. A wiki could be cool though! It may be a while before I start. I still have to finish my tail section mold, tank pad mold, rear hugger mold, etc.
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