re: rear wheel bearing play

[ricster]

Hello All,

I just came back from my Triumph dealer and was checking the rear wheel play on the new sprint st's (holding the rear wheel at the 3-9 position) and pulling back and forth I get a slight amount of movement....very little but if I do it fast enough a small click is heard.....the new bikes on the showroom all 3 of them have no movement at all. I talked with one of the tech's and he said it sounds like a bad bearing. I pm'd OnD and DaveM to see if they had any movement and they said their bikes have the same thing going on. So is it that our bikes once get a few miles on them that this happens and is normal or is it that we are riding on bad bearings? Any ideas?

[oldndumb]

Must have been some confusion in the PM. My bike does not have any play when subjecting the rim to a 3-9 o'clock motion. I thought we were talking about an up and down play, which is why I mentioned the suspension linkage in my response.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[DaveM]

Mebee a little wrong with me too although you did tell me 3 and 9 ric, I did it at 12 and 6 if that makes any difference I dunno, But my shop checked mine Tuesday and said it was ok.

I don't think that would make any difference though and mine is minute but there but I have no click sound.

Mine has 54,000kms of hard work on it.

cheers,
DaveM

[ricster]

Sorry for the confusion....I just tried it again...and if I do it at 12-6 o'clock or 3 and 9 oclock I still get a small amount of movement as if there is a loose wheel bearing..its very slight but definetly there....would you guys ride on it as it will be checked on wednesday and most likely if its bearings...they will have to be ordered...I can only imagine how long this will all take....am I better off parking her or just ride it until its resolved?

[oldndumb]

I want to ask about who and when the wheel was last removed and reinstalled, but I have to believe that you know that it was done correctly.

Have you removed the nut and verified the bellbelle orientation and nut torque?

[ricster]

OnD it was last off the bike a few thousand miles ago to replace the tire at the dealer. So im not sure about torque values or anything else....geez dont tell me my dealer cant change tires without screwing up? What do I need to look for?

[Beach]

Most motorcycle manufacturers seem to have adopted a habit of putting bugger all grease in wheel bearings from the factory. I guess if you add up the cost of all that grease over thousands of bikes it is significant.

Having said that, I've always adopted the attitude that wheel and headstock bearings are mission critical and its a false economy and down right dangerous, to muck around with them. At the first sign of wear or anything that suggests they are not in spec I get them replaced with the best quality bearings available. The bearings themselves aren't that expensive. (About $70AUD each if I remember correctly) If you remove the wheels yourself you will save on the labour cost. The headstock bearings I get replaced at a service interval.

Perhaps Harry would like to chime in here?

Brett.

[oldndumb]

Originally Posted by ricster

OnD it was last off the bike a few thousand miles ago to replace the tire at the dealer. So im not sure about torque values or anything else....geez dont tell me my dealer cant change tires without screwing up? What do I need to look for?

I would never say that the dealer can't change a tire without screwing up, but things like that have been known to happen. In my case, I had my bike for almost a year and then happened to discover that the swing arm nut was not correctly torqued.

Since it is so easy to do, and has a direct bearing (no pun intended) on wheel security, I would be checking the nut torque. The sequence and orientation of the parts are:
1. Large aluminum conical spacer.
2. Plain steel washer.
3. Belleville washer.
4. Nut and safety clip.

Consider this II to represent the rim, this I) to represent the conical washer this I to represent the steel washer, this ) to represent the Belleville and its orientation, and this [] to represent the nut.
The arrangement is: II - I) - I ) - []

Ignore the dashes. they are there because the editor did not want to allow enough pace between the symbols.
Beach is correct that the manufacturers do not seem to use the best grease that is available. He is also correct in that you should always get your bearings from a bearing and seal house.

[ricster]

Any suggestions OnD where you recommend I get these bearings and seals? I hate dealing with dealers

[oldndumb]

Let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages.