Gen 1 rear wheel bearings - thoughts please

[Hedgetrimmer]

I asked the dealer who looks after my bike to replace the rear wheel bearings before my Euro trip last year, including the needle roller (gen. Yam. only part?), but they said that on inspection, the bearings were fine. They did the trip ok, and many miles since.
The reason I had asked them to do it, is that I have had them fail on a previous gen 1, at a similar mileage to what this bike was on then. I was a bit annoyed with them, as even if they didn't need it at the time, they didn't carry out my instruction, which I was happy to pay for.
On the recent service, one was discovered to be on the way out, so it was replaced. But should I have asked them to replace all of them? Would a failing bearing have put strain on the others in the wheel? The upcoming trip could extend to more than 3000 miles, so I'm a little concerned.

[tomlinscote]

Seems odd that they refused to do it even when you asked. I did mine last year following an MOT advisory for the rears. I did the fronts rears and swingarm ones too (the swingarm was off to fit a new chain) it is not a difficult job, as I did not have a puller I used a brass drift to knock to old ones out, bit of a pain but all three done in a morning, used the old ones to get the new ones in, had no probs with MOT this year. If you can borrow a puller the job is a pretty easy DIY one..........

[Hedgetrimmer]

They're a funny lot. Not very communicative, although when they do do a job, it seems to get done well enough. They found the failing bearing just as play was starting to show - I hadn't noticed anything while riding. Maybe they didn't have the other side in stock, but you'd have thought they'd say something about replacing it if it was likely to be an issue.


Did you replace the big needle roller in the rear wheel, tomlinscote?


I used to be pretty confident in twirling the spanners, but not so much these days - I struggle a bit due to a dodgy shoulder and back 


Think I'm going to risk it for Europe. Got Euro breakdown cover if worst comes to the worst, and I'll check for any play often as I go.