Carrier bearing going out?

[Tom]

Anyone have a carrier bearing go out on them?  It's the one that the driveshaft goes through in the swingarm.  The Strada is making some weird sounds.  I don't get it when I'm coasting in neutral.  Strada and it has 38K miles on it.  It's not the trans.

[bigbikerrick]

Hi Tom, Thats a fairly easy/cheap fix. I know the bearing is dirt cheap, and pulling the swingarm on a Tonti is a simple mechanical operation. Great time to get in there and service/grease the swingarm bearings, and cush drive, and lube up all the splines. Fun little project!
Rick

[Triple Jim]

Agreed, Rick.  When I changed the rear tire on my Mille at about 35,000 miles, I did what you said just to check things out.  I found the U-joint crosses just starting to get notched, and evidence of slight spinning of the inner race of the carrier bearing on the U-joint.  It was great to get things back to new before the grinding of parts begins, for a change.   

[Tom]

Agreed guys.  I had replace the u-joint on this bike and greased everything.  The carrier bearing was okay when I checked it.  I thought I'd ask before I tore into it.

[Triple Jim]

Ooooh... that hurts to hear you had it all apart and didn't replace the bearing.

[Tom]

It's not that hard to do.  Just wanted to hear if someone had one go out on them.  If I had taken the engine apart or trans. then it would be a bummer face emoticon for me.

[nc43bsa]

Somewhat along the same lines, where is the thread on greasing/rebuilding the U-joint?  I can't find it with my rudimentary search-foo.

[Triple Jim]

Somewhat along the same lines, where is the thread on greasing/rebuilding the U-joint?  I can't find it with my rudimentary search-foo.

There's a good description in Guzziology, from what I remember.  The trouble is that I've never taken apart a used U-joint that didn't have at least the beginnings of ridges from roller wear.  So you end up having to replace the crosses, and saving the yokes.  Then you have to decide if it costs much more to just buy new U-joints.  When I did mine, the price difference was small.  Last I looked, it might be worth rebuilding them or getting them rebuilt.

On the other hand... http://www.theujointstore.com/tus1m1.html    They show a 20x44 and a 22x50, but not the 22x49 that my Mille uses.  I bet that's part number TUS-2MG.  They do say to contact them if you need something they don't show.