rear wheel bearings

[bentombed]

My rearwheel bearings have carked it and i need to replace them - lots of play in the back wheel.

The job looks to be something that i can do at home, but having never replaced motorcycle wheel bearings before is there anything i need to look out for?

any advice or videos showing the process would be greatly appreciated

[Ncdan]

A lot of these types of projects can be accomplished by using the internet through Google and other servers. There are usually good, how to videos available.

[Furbo]

This is pretty straight forward; tap out the old from the opposite side, tap in the new using the old bearing as a drift. A bearing puller helps, but is usually not absolutely required. Determine the size of your bearings (outside dia, inside dia, thickness) and you can probably get good quality new at a local bearing house for a few $ ea. 

[wirespokes]

I've not replaced Guzzi wheel bearings and have wondered what's involved. There's a snap ring on one, but not the other - curious why that is. I'm guessing the housing needs to be heated to a couple hundred degrees F and the bearing will fall out.

Let's see what the local experts have to say. I'll bet you'll be directed to Greg Bender's site. And I can understand you asking here as you can't always trust the internet for the right answer - best asking the experts, the guys you can trust.

Also, when asking tech questions it's best entering the year and model Guzzi as they're not all the same.

[Wayne Orwig]

Simple enough to do while in a parking lot.

[malik]

I've replaced the front wheel bearings of both V7s before. No heat/freeze required, gentle tapping with a drift from the other side to remove & I used a large socket to tap the new ones back in squarely.

[Wayne Orwig]

I've not replaced Guzzi wheel bearings and have wondered what's involved. There's a snap ring on one, but not the other - curious why that is. I'm guessing the housing needs to be heated to a couple hundred degrees F and the bearing will fall out.

As far as I know the spacing is maintained by the INSIDE bearing race. The outer race is held from moving on one side, and is left to float on the other. If you put a second clip on, you might side load the assembly, and bearing outer race, which is not wanted.

[Kiwi_Roy]

In my experience the front bearings usually go well before the rear ones, they are seem to be mainly just common 2RS bearings stocked by multi brand shops. I have started changing the front every second tire and I usually take an old one as a spare when on a long trip.

Only one bearing on the Griso has a clip, the other floats to take up the play, this was the only bike I had trouble with, needed a blind bearing puller and significant heat to free up the bearing.

[guzzisteve]

Buy quality bearings from bearing house made in USA/EU countries. Do Not use All Balls or other Chinese/3rd world country junk.

[brider]

Do a search on this forum and you'll find more discussion/instructions than you need. I went thru this less than a year ago ad nauseum on this site, and STRUGGLED with the tried-and-true "use a drift and punch it out from the backside" method. Bought a Pit Boss bearing extractor, and never had such an easy time with it.

If you expect to ever change bearings again, buy the tool. Good luck if you attempt the drift method; I have done it that way in the past, but would never do it again unless I HAD to (stuck in a parking lot, say).

[Texas Turnip]

A Guzzi rider stopped by the OleoRanch with bad wheel bearings. We called Motion Industries that had the bearings in stock. Yanked off the tire, picked up the bearings and stopped at Auto Zone and they lent him the bearing puller. Did the job in the parking lot. Returned here, put the tire back on. Fed him lunch and he was on his way back to Seattle.

Hope this helps,
Tex

[wirespokes]

In my experience the front bearings usually go well before the rear ones, they are seem to be mainly just common 2RS bearings stocked by multi brand shops. I have started changing the front every second tire and I usually take an old one as a spare when on a long trip.

Only one bearing on the Griso has a clip, the other floats to take up the play, this was the only bike I had trouble with, needed a blind bearing puller and significant heat to free up the bearing.

It appears a lot of the Tonti wheels are spec'd for ball bearings. I wonder why that is? I'm used to the airheads with roller bearings that don't wear out when adjusted and lubed. Is there a reason I shouldn't convert to roller bearings?

Roy - I was going to suggest that possibly the pre-load on the bearings is wrong, but now that I've found they're balls not rollers, that may or may not be the case. But I'd think ball bearings should last longer than 20,000 miles.

[bentombed]

I've not replaced Guzzi wheel bearings and have wondered what's involved. There's a snap ring on one, but not the other - curious why that is. I'm guessing the housing needs to be heated to a couple hundred degrees F and the bearing will fall out.

Let's see what the local experts have to say. I'll bet you'll be directed to Greg Bender's site. And I can understand you asking here as you can't always trust the internet for the right answer - best asking the experts, the guys you can trust.

Also, when asking tech questions it's best entering the year and model Guzzi as they're not all the same.

Hello - yeah i come here or the Airheads page on ADV riders - the bike is an 1987 LMIV

[n3303j]

It appears a lot of the Tonti wheels are spec'd for ball bearings. I wonder why that is? I'm used to the airheads with roller bearings that don't wear out when adjusted and lubed. Is there a reason I shouldn't convert to roller bearings?

Roy - I was going to suggest that possibly the pre-load on the bearings is wrong, but now that I've found they're balls not rollers, that may or may not be the case. But I'd think ball bearings should last longer than 20,000 miles.

Quality ball bearings properly instaled and maintained will last a really long time (easy 100 K miles). They are easy to set up. In the Guzzi they clamp the inner races agains a spacer together on the axle. They lock the spindle in position by capturing one bearing outer race with a snap ring in the hub bore.

On a newer Ural there are two equal width savers in each wheel. Outer races are clamped against a spacer by a threaded ring in the hub bore. Inner races are clamped against their spacer by the axle nut.

In both setups bearing installation requires no judgement or adjustment. Just put them in and tighten up the parts.

Taper roller bearings MUST be set to the proper clearance. The /2 BMW group spends hours discussing proper setting for these bearings. Inner and outer races are both clamped against spacers and these are shimmed to establish proper adjustmemt. To do the installation properly requires skill, patience and TIME. If a bearing is replaced with another it is necessary to redo the shimming. Properly done and kept clean taper rollers also provide 100K mile plus service.

Dirt will ruin any bearing. 2RS ball  bearings have a rubber seal on each side and they are cheap. Taper roller bearings are NOT sealed and depend on external seals to keep them free of contamination. Moisture creeping in along the axle can enter the bearings from inside the hub.

That's why the newer systems run ball bearings in the wheels.

[Kiwi_Roy]

It appears a lot of the Tonti wheels are spec'd for ball bearings. I wonder why that is? I'm used to the airheads with roller bearings that don't wear out when adjusted and lubed. Is there a reason I shouldn't convert to roller bearings?

Roy - I was going to suggest that possibly the pre-load on the bearings is wrong, but now that I've found they're balls not rollers, that may or may not be the case. But I'd think ball bearings should last longer than 20,000 miles.

20,000 is good when you consider they only have the dust seal to keep the grease in, no lip seal and the front is exposed to all sorts of weather.
My all brand mechanic couldn't believe Guzzi don't have a dedicated seal.
My California II had 4 different brands of bearings
My 72 Eldorado on the other hand has tapered rollers and proper lip seals, they are built to last, I'm fairly certain they are original.

[bentombed]

This is pretty straight forward; tap out the old from the opposite side, tap in the new using the old bearing as a drift. A bearing puller helps, but is usually not absolutely required. Determine the size of your bearings (outside dia, inside dia, thickness) and you can probably get good quality new at a local bearing house for a few $ ea.

gotcha, went to a bearing place and found new bearings for $5 each - the bike is an LMIV

when tapping the old bearings out does the internal spacer get in the way? the schematics i was looking at made it look like the bearings sat on the spacer lip. I guess then you tap on the spacer to remove the bearings

[wirespokes]

Thanks guys! I didn't know that about tapered rollers needing special seals - a system with seals specially designed for them. Five bucks a bearing aint nuthin - and if you say they can last 100K, that puts the issue to rest for me. Even if they only last 20 or 50K, it looks like a really easy job so nothing to worry about.

[double.d]

Ben, i replaced rear bearings a few months ago and one side came out very easy and it was found that the hub?? the bearing fits into was over sized from wear which means at some stage a sleeve will have to be inserted or a new wheel fitted.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Ben, i replaced rear bearings a few months ago and one side came out very easy and it was found that the hub?? the bearing fits into was over sized from wear which means at some stage a sleeve will have to be inserted or a new wheel fitted.

I found that on my California II, you could see the oil squishing out, I think a good clean and some Loctite is all you need.

[n3303j]

I found that on my California II, you could see the oil squishing out, I think a good clean and some Loctite is all you need.

Tried Loctite RC-680 on properly cleaned and primed ball bearings installed in a worn hub on my Ural. RC-680 is very good for this sort of application BUT it failed within 10K miles. Being a rig it has a lot more side loads on the wheel but the outer races are clamped in the hub so the load on the Loctite should still be compression / tension. Oh well, it's never failed me in any other application.

Meanwhile  $5 bearings scare me. Can't imagine everyone in the chain making their profit and having enough margin to buy quality materials and manufacturing. My time is worth more to me than a few dollar savings on a part that might fail prematurely. SKF produces an "Explorer" series of bearings that are claimed to be a better part of their production run. Been using these for awhile now in everything from alternators to wheels. Haven't managed to kill one yet.

A bit of time with Google, using search terms "SKF, Explorer, bearing number, shielding specs" will pop up a fair pile of the Explorer series at prices that won't make you cringe.

[Chuck in Indiana]

 $5 bearings scare me..and.. there are a lot of bogus bearings floating around. They'll have the right logo, etc. but are *not* the real thing. I get bearings from a known bearing house or industrial supplier.

[Kiwi_Roy]

$5 bearings scare me..and.. there are a lot of bogus bearings floating around. They'll have the right logo, etc. but are *not* the real thing. I get bearings from a known bearing house or industrial supplier.

I replaced the bearings on my Griso with a kit from AllBalls before riding to the Arctic Circle, when I came back I went to change the rubber on front, I couldn't get the axel out. One of the ball races had seized and worn a groove half way through the axel. I thought I posted it on here.

[bentombed]

$5 bearings scare me..and.. there are a lot of bogus bearings floating around. They'll have the right logo, etc. but are *not* the real thing. I get bearings from a known bearing house or industrial supplier.

I live about 5 minutes from a bearing wholesaler, the ones i bought and installed are FAG brand out of Korea. 

[bentombed]

This is pretty straight forward; tap out the old from the opposite side, tap in the new using the old bearing as a drift. A bearing puller helps, but is usually not absolutely required. Determine the size of your bearings (outside dia, inside dia, thickness) and you can probably get good quality new at a local bearing house for a few $ ea.

done and done - the hardest part was separating the brake mount from the axle, they had bound up and took a bit more effort to shift than they should have.

both sides tapped out and went back in easy. both bearings were cooked, hopefully that fixes the wild vibrations

[Perazzimx14]

FAG, SKF and Koyo are all quality bearings and not a lot more money that rebranded junk the All Balls and Moose well you.