Looks like the rear wheel bearing went today. Scared the crap out of me. Here's a video showing the gawd awful noise like nails on a chalkboard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zt9dHyZxmc
Going to see about replacing them this weekend if I can get them shipped in time. Will be searching for a good how-to vid next.
2007 XB12STT 19,800 miles
Wow, glad that didn't lock up on you or cause you to crash!
How far did you have to limp it home?
Any damage done to the rim, axel or spacer?
Good luck with the repair.
www.buellmods.com for a service manual. Should help you figure out how to attack the repair.
Hard to really tell from the video but your belt doesn't look all that healthy either. Isn't gonna hurt at all to replace it while your doing your bearings. Glad to see you made it home safely and had what looks to be full gear on.
you'll need more than a vid to successfully install F&R bearing sets. i post this up to help you insure that it's done correctly and that you know the correct specs to work with. the critical things to remember are to NOT hammer or strike the bearing inner race in the slightest or you risk damaging the rollers/balls and-or the cage.......that on the rear install the PULLEY SIDE bearing always goes in first.....and to accurately measure the inner spacer tube prior to re-using it. if out of specs it must be replaced. here's the specs in both metric and SAE:Originally Posted by bananaburger
Rear Spacer Tube: 202.8 +/- 0.05 mm, 7.984 +/- 0.002 inch
Front Spacer Tube: 107.9 +/- 0.05mm, 4.248 +/- 0.002 inch
if all installed correctly and you have just a very slight amount of spacer movement meaning a "few thousandths" slop.....don't worry about it. torquing the axles to specs removes that slop.
Is that in Leesburg VA, getting off 267 and onto the bypass?
Thanks everyone for the pointers and concern for safety. I have not removed the wheel to inspect the parts yet, but will be checking tolerances as recommended (good looking out, lunaticfringe!). I replaced the drive belt about 600 miles ago, it still looks good to me...and yes, during that operation, I did the whole tighten the axle, then loosen it, then torque to spec. The vid was indeed in Leesburg heading west. I limped 16 miles...the longest 16 miles of my life. I got off the highway and onto back roads to keep the speed down just in case...probably would have been smarter to just get a tow.
It looks like the inner bearing race broke free and the ball bearings were digging into the spacer. Goes without saying I cannot salvage the spacer.
IMG_4749.jpg
I'm going to need a tool to remove the outer race. It looks like there's some damage to the wheel...along the "shelf" where the wheel bearing butts up against the wheel (tried to capture it in the picture below). Question for the old Buell greybeards: Would you continue to use this wheel or drop $200-300 on a new one?
IMG_4759b.jpg
In hindsight, a tow would have been much less of a headache
the wheel can be salvaged. Outer race should just come out with some finagling with a small internal three jaw puller on a slide hammer. Think you can rent one at AutoZone. Make sure you clean all shavings and burrs of the bearing register ("shelf") with a metal pick and some scotch-brite. Just clean it enough that there is nothing to flake off and get into the new bearings. If you don't want to buy a factory bearing spacer you can have a local mom and pop machine shop turn you a new spacer on a lathe (1045 carbon steel will work) pretty reasonably. Take the old one with you and give them the tolerance's that Lunatic gave you above.
A quick update. I rented a bearing puller from Advanced Auto Parts, but the jaws kept slipping. I heated the wheel with a torch and all, but the thing was being stubborn as hell. I broke out the dremel and grinded away ever so carefully, cutting the outer bearing race down to the point where a couple good whacks with the screwdriver (I know, I know) broke it into pieces that would finally release. It doesn't look as bad as I expected and should hold the new bearing just fine. Once the new spacer comes in, I'll get to work. The days have been nice and cool, can't wait to get it back on the road!
IMG_4805.jpg
Last edited by bananaburger; 09-28-2016 at 01:57 AM.
The S**t is banana's. B a n a n a s!
Good job man, the wheel hub looks fine in the pic. Get bearings from Lunatic and you'll be good. I change the bearings when I swap tires. It's a little overkill, but they are cheap and as you know, they can let go catastrophically.
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