Rear wheel bearing -looking for hints and tips

[Jamieg285]

Having a go at my first chain and sprocket change this afternoon, but as I pulled the rear wheel out, the left spacer fell out and exposed a totally knackered bearing.

It will obviously need to be replaced, but this is another job of which I have zero experience. I'm looking for as much info and advice as I can get before I attack this in a few days time.

Are these bearings ones that are best replaced with OEM, or would Wemoto parts or similar be OK?

Thanks in advance,

Jamie

[Chris]

Sure the wemoto parts would be fine.

What else do you need to know?

Chris

[Jamieg285]

Pretty much everything. Only info I have so far is from the Haynes manual.

[JoeRock]

Pretty much everything. Only info I have so far is from the Haynes manual.

That really should tell you how to do the entire job mate?

[ade the blade]

just remember there are 3 bearings to replace ( 2 in the actual hub and 1 in sprocket carrier ). pop them in the freezer for an hour or so before fitting to `shrink` them slightly to aid fitting. good luck mate . take your time , it aint a race !! 

[Chris]

ok.

I'm not sure what the haynes manual said about it so not sure what it doesn't cover...

You need to knock the bearings out from the opposite side so you'll need a long hard  :o  screwdriver or something similar so that when you look through the wheel you'll be able to get the edge of the blade of the screwdriver on the lip of the bearing. you then need to use a hammer or something to tap the end of the screw driver to drift the bearing out of where it sits. Sit the wheel face down on a couple of pieces of wood so that the wheel isn't touching the ground so the bearing can come out. put a few rags between the wood and the wheel so you don't scratch/damage the wheel.

There is a metal collar between the two bearings and it can be very tight. One of the bearings has further to go before it will come out. Think it's the chain and sprocket side is easiest to do first then turn the wheel over and push the other one out in the same manner as the first.

When putting the new bearings in then they can be very tight feeling. Make sure they go into their seats perfectly square. Use a large socket the same size as the outer race (outer metal part of the new bearing) but small enough to fit into the hole the bearing goes into to make sure you can drift it all the way in. Make sure you're not forcing any other part of the bearing or you can break it. Tap the bearing in using the socket and as I said make sure it's going in perfectly square.

When I did this I smeared a small amount of grease around the outer edge of the bearing to help it slide into its seat.

Sure I've forgotten a few things... take your time over it. look about on youtube, search for motorcycle wheel bearing replacement, sure that'll show up a few usefull videos.

Hope that helps...

Chris

[Jamieg285]

That really should tell you how to do the entire job mate?

Yeah, it's got step by step stuff, but I find it very rarely matches real life issues that crop up.

[size=78%] [/size]
You need to knock the bearings out from the opposite side so you'll need a long hard  :o  screwdriver or something similar so that when you look through the wheel you'll be able to get the edge of the blade of the screwdriver on the lip of the bearing.

I've got a slide hammer somewhere, I take it that would do the job as well?

[Jamieg285]

OK, I've been doing a bit more reading, working out what's what. 


The bearing that I have seen as shot was the sprocket carrier one.  Can I change this one in isolation of the others, or is it better to change them all?  Do I need to take a look at the condition of the wheel ones before making that decision?


According to the Haynes manual, it appears that the sprocket carrier should just lift out?  I didn't spend any time looking at this, but a quick tug and it didn't move. Does is just need a little encouragement (BFH) or is there more to it than that?


If I'm doing the full job, and I right in saying I need 3 bearings and 2 seals, and the rest can be re-used?

[Chris]

wouldn't a slide hammer only work to pull the bearing out? You need to push it from behind to remove them. If the slide hammer can be used to that then yes it should work. The only thing is the lip of the bearing you're trying to get onto can be very slim so something like a screwdriver is better as it can catch on the lip easier. 

the sprocket carrier should just lift out but they can need a slight bit of encouragement. BE CAREFULL, the teeth on the sprocket are/can be very sharp!

if the sprocket carrier bearing is shot i'd assume the others aren't far behind. If funds/time allow i'd replace them, they're not too expensive so worth doing while you've got the wheel off.

Chris

[Kentish]

To get bearings out you can use a raw bolt. The type that you use for securing a ground anchor into concrete. They are only like £1 from B&Q etc.  Just wind it into the bearing rest the wheel on something so its off the floor. two chairs etc that kind of thing...then just stick a long bar into the other end and hit it with a hammer. It should fall straight out....Easy

[steeeve66]

Not sure if this might apply to the 600 but I recently had the rear bearing fail on my 1000 and tapping/drifting the bearing out from inside didn't work as the inner race 'collapsed' out of the bearing leaving the outer race still stuck in the wheel (it was the left hand bearing). In the end I had to admit defeat and take wheel to a workshop in order to get what was left of the bearing out.
I replaced all three bearings in the end.