Bearing fails again

[DVH]

I keep having problems with the rear wheel bearing failure, bevel box side, they are only lasting 3-400 miles. tried various makes of bearing in case it was a poor supply, buying them in bulk now.

 

checked the spacer tube fitting, nice and tight, bevel box bearings and spacers. checked with the parts book and the dealer for correct spacer, washers assembly. ( when I first bought it , used, the spacer was too short and the rear was incorrectly assembled.

 

the bearing fails by becoming notchy in use and what appears to be metal flakes around the ballcage,

 

 

i have run out of ideas where to look next, any help much appreciated

[Paul Minnaert]

you are shure that the spacer between bearing and bevelbox is in there? We are talking the right wheel bearing? Can you see if it fails because it get forces pushing the inside ring to the left or right? Picture of the metal flakes? There must be something in the chain of things not ok. And that's not the bearing.

[jrt]

How does the bike handle? It's kind of a far-out idea, but can you check the square-ness of the axel to the swingarm?

[DeBenGuzzi]

Weird Mine went out brake side. No bearing is Safe ooOOooooo Scary.

 

[Guest Nogbad]

If the bearing is flaking this indicates excess thrust load. Check that the spacer isn't too short.

[DVH]

Checked and rechecked the spacers and assembly nothing astray, working on jrt theory put the axle through the wheel, clamped it across two vices, with spirit level across axle to ensure its horizonatl, dropped a string line down from outside edge of tyre. The wheel is out by 5mm from the vertical. I managed to contact the previous owner this morning, he had sold it on because it kept eating wheel bearings, and his dealer never found a solution either

what with the shock breaking, wheel bearings failing, gearbox spring, leaking gearbox, I am tempted to move it on

It is thrown in the back of the garage in disgust at the moment, my 2000 model never gave a seconds problem in 18000 miles. this is a monday morning model

 

time to sleep on it till morning and decide what to do with it then I think

[al_roethlisberger]

Is the swingarm bent? If everything else is to spec, but the wheel is crooked, it sounds like you might have a bent/twisted swingarm, or it wasn't welded and rheamed out to spec in the jig.

 

Maybe you(and the previous owner) just got a bum swingarm from the factory??

 

 

If so, this would be an easy fix.

 

 

al

[DVH]

it appears that the axle is not 90 deg to the wheel, the wheel possibly incorrectly machine for the bearings, this would explain the difficulty inserting the axle

[al_roethlisberger]

...that would do it too <_>

 

 

At least OEM wheels aren't expensive. I'm sure you can find a used one around for cheap.

 

al

[Paul Minnaert]

if that is the case, put the axle in the wheel, and measure from axle to the rim on each side. That should be the same. But if that's wrong, it isn't posible to dynamicaly balance the wheel. The wheel will wobble then. And 5mm out of line won't give a pleasant ride. A pitty that you don't live near. I love sorting out these things.

[Guest Nogbad]

have you checked that the axle is true in the bevelbox and swingarm without the wheel in place?

[belfastguzzi]

have you checked that the axle is true in the bevelbox and swingarm without the wheel in place?

50182[/snapback]

 

What model year is the bike?

How did you check the tightness of the spacer?

Are you sure that it is the correct length? The faulty spacers are only 1mm too short – that's not much, so you would need to measure accurately. Your bad bearing is the same one that was very bad in my bike and I found that the spacer was short.

[Alex-Corsa]

Is the swingarm bent?   If everything else is to spec, but the wheel is crooked, it sounds like you might have a bent/twisted swingarm, or it wasn't welded and rheamed out to spec in the jig. 

 

First thing I thought after reading the symptoms....

 

 

...Hmmm couuld be the rim as well.Ehh?

[DVH]

belfastguzzi, it is a 2002 model,

the spacer was initially found to be out by 2mm, it was taken to a local engineering shop to measure up the spacer and make a new one to suit. they also measured up the bevelbox spacer.

 

nogbad, I will check the bevelbox is square to the swing arm today, not quite sure how to go about that yet, i am well in with the local Honda dealer, who has a 2000 he can't sell, might see if he will lend me the wheel to try.

 

Nothing lost by asking

[belfastguzzi]

belfastguzzi, it is a 2002 model,

50219[/snapback]

2002 seems to have been a bad year for Italian measurement capacity, what with too short spacers and too big spring bosses...