Went for a ride-out this morning. On the way home the bike (850-T3 California) began to feel a bit odd and I thought I might have a slow puncture. Pressed on to get home and she started to make a funny noise about half a mile from home. I was on a fast road, no lay byes so kept on home at a very slow speed. I discovered one of my front wheel bearings has lost balls and the carrier is a bit of twisted tin.
Got the inner race out by tapping through from the other side but because the bearing was totalled it has left the outer race still in the alloy hub. I cannot seem to get it out and fear damaging the bearing carrier.
Can anyone help? I have ordered new bearings on line (SKF).
All the best,
David.
You may need to hit the other side out to give better access from the other side, or possibly, use two flat bladed screwdrivers, tap them between the race and the hub, on the inside, not the outside, you may then be able to tease whats left of it out. You are lucky to have stayed on. Best go buy a lotto ticket.
The bearing carriers have a shoulder that the bearing pushes up against when it is in place. There is a circlip outboard of the bearing and that came out no problem using snipe-nosed pliers. Tapping through from the other side is not really possible because the bearing carrier shoulder gets in the way. There has to be a crafty dodge here that someone will know!
All the best,
David.
If you have welder you can run a bead of weld round the outer race, it will just drop out then.
It that to give me something to hit from the other side? Sorry to sound so thick.
David.
yes
and when i replace them I always specify bearings with Rubber shields in them instead of the metal ones they are more water repelantI also remove one seal from each (inner one)and fill tunnell with water repelant grease, I have no faith in the amount of grease that come as standard from makers
The race will shrink with a bead of weld round it and should fall out. I’ve used this method when all else has failed. It always works.
Have found that a bit of gentle heat on the carrier and a bit of diesel WD40 etc helps the outer to let go. I use a piece of gas pipe about 3/4" diameter and 6" long as a drift. It is pretty soft and has a 3 to 4 mm wall thickness. Also fing that a soft hammer works well but don’t know why.
Best of luck
Steve
The problem is that with the inner race gone (along with the balls and carrier) I have nothing to hit that I can actually get at with a drift.
I will leave it to soak in Plus-Gas and see if I can lever it out by prying under it with a screwdriver.
I am not a welder but I know a man who is.
All the best,
David.
If you have a real problem get the wheel to Ray…Ex smoking biker he helped me when I had to sort out a rear wheel bearing and carrier
Bend the end over of a old long screwdriver to about 30 deg
and tap it out from the otherside.
If it dont want to move get some heat in the hub.
tonewuk2013-01-27 22:42:12
Why did the bearing fail?Before you put the wheel back in the forks with the new bearings put the wheel spindle through the wheel with some spacers and tighten up .This is just to check that the bearing spacer is the correct length.I’ve had two of these on guzzis a front and a rear. I don’t,t think this is a uncommon event.
Hi Ralph. The disc brakes line up dead on with the calipers so I assume it is all OK. In fact it was possibly the brake discs that stopped the whole lot wobbling to destruction as I rode blithely on!
What Ralph is getting at is the spacer between the bearings (I hope there was one fitted!) can become compressed if the spindle nut is overtightened repeatedly over the years. This can lead to the bearing inner races getting pulled together and producing side loading on the ballbearings that that they were never designed for. If you do as Ralph says you’ll be able to tell if the bearings tighten up.
Aha! OK, thanks chaps, I will check once I’ve got the old one out and the new ones have arrived.
Bearings do fail now and again, but usually when you change the tyre or go for MOT the bearings can be noticed when worn. In all the miles I have covered I have only ever had one catastrophic failure, on the rear wheel of the V11 THAT was due to a faulty spacer. But they seem to need replacing a bit more regularly than the old V1000
Go with GB. Also the old Tonti frame is a good frame.
You were not lucky to get home, it was excellent design by a genius.
Allans (Bikeral) tip about a weld works to my knowledge and whilst Allan is not a genius he knows his stuff.
Can you get one of these( http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/clarke-4-inch-3-jaw-gear-puller-cht607) in there since the inner race is absent? You’ll probably need to have the other bearing out already though.
Put a bit of load on and then give it a tap should get things moving
You might need to use only two legs and if you go to the right place find a smaller one.
Failing that a combination of a long bolt/studding, nut, a thick washer filed to bearly clear the through bore and a socket as a spacer could work
Good luck!!
Yes thats it.Thanks for that saved me more typeing.just one other thing you say you have ordered skf bearings apparently there’s plenty of fakes about. Just search for skf fake bearings. Makes you wonder its no only the chinese at it,and what’s even more worrying is there’s little info on how to spot the fakes sometimes the fakes look better than the real thing!apparently skf can tell the difference if you give them one to look at but they don’t,t tell everyone else what to look for. Mind you if the fakers knew what then!ralph2013-01-29 15:40:49
Well I ended up getting my local bike garage to get the bearing out for me! They removed the other side too.
I have very carefully put the new (possibly fake) SKF bearings in and all seems well.
All the best,
David.CylvaBirch2013-02-03 14:29:32