Greasing the wheel bearings

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gtoron
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Greasing the wheel bearings

Post by gtoron »

Can this be done without damaging anything? If so what is the best way to do it. Do you need to pull the bearing as the manual says if you pull the bearings they must be replaced.
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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

It's kinda like painting something...most of the % of how good the job turns out depends on the prep.

You can put some grease in them without removing them...but it won't be a very effective job. You cannot remove the inside seal with the bearing in the hub...so you can't clean them effectively OR regrease them effectively.

Removing a wheel bearing entails pounding on the inner race. That's never a good plan on a bearing you plan on re-using.

By the time a wheel bearing needs grease it's probably worn out anyway. What's a new bearing cost...<$10 I think. I get mine from CBR..considerably more than $10, but I like 'em. Lifetime guarantee, too.

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Post by gtoron »

>|<>QBB<
canyncarvr wrote:It's kinda like painting something...most of the % of how good the job turns out depends on the prep.

You can put some grease in them without removing them...but it won't be a very effective job. You cannot remove the inside seal with the bearing in the hub...so you can't clean them effectively OR regrease them effectively.

Removing a wheel bearing entails pounding on the inner race. That's never a good plan on a bearing you plan on re-using.

By the time a wheel bearing needs grease it's probably worn out anyway. What's a new bearing cost...<$10 I think. I get mine from CBR..considerably more than $10, but I like 'em. Lifetime guarantee, too.
So I assume by what you are saying is run them till they are shot then replace?
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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

I've tried the wheel-bearing regrease route. Didn't seem to accomplish anything.

That makes it a 'Yes.'

Maybe replace them just slightly before they are 'shot'.

It's easy to tell when they're due. If you have play in the hub you can feel at the rim diameter, they're due.

Order some to have on-hand. That way you won't get a bad surprise when you find the day before a big ride you have been looking forward to that you have to wait for parts to show up.

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Post by gtoron »

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canyncarvr wrote:I've tried the wheel-bearing regrease route. Didn't seem to accomplish anything.

That makes it a 'Yes.'

Maybe replace them just slightly before they are 'shot'.

It's easy to tell when they're due. If you have play in the hub you can feel at the rim diameter, they're due.

Order some to have on-hand. That way you won't get a bad surprise when you find the day before a big ride you have been looking forward to that you have to wait for parts to show up.
Understood...that is what I meant when I said "shot". Not with the wheel waiting to fall off :mrgreen:

Also who is CBR?
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Post by jc7622 »

Don't let them go too long. We ruined the rear hub on our KTM50 by letting the rear wheel bearings go too long.
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Post by canyncarvr »

CBR is the name of a bearing company. Google 'CBR bearing' and you find 'em.

From 'shot' TO the wheel falling off isn't always going to be a long time. It can happen in the course of a ride.

Hence, jc's caution is a good one.

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Post by jc7622 »

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canyncarvr wrote:CBR is the name of a bearing company. Google 'CBR bearing' and you find 'em.

From 'shot' TO the wheel falling off isn't always going to be a long time. It can happen in the course of a ride.

Hence, jc's caution is a good one.
One race was all it took to go from no sign (not visible on the outside anyway) to the bearing completely gone with only shrapnel-like pieces of the cage sticking out. The wheel then wobbled around so bad that it chewed up the inside of the hub. It will never hold bearings properly again so it is pretty much useless. All of this happened in only a 30 minute race. Luckily we had an extra rear wheel. Now that it is too hot to ride we are replacing all the bearings on our bikes.
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Post by canyncarvr »

I recall a KTM hobbling into a checkpoint on a harescramble...the axle running through a hole the size of your fist in what used to be a hub.

It, too, was 'good' when he started.

Evidently, not good enough.

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Post by gtoron »

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canyncarvr wrote:I recall a KTM hobbling into a checkpoint on a harescramble...the axle running through a hole the size of your fist in what used to be a hub.

It, too, was 'good' when he started.

Evidently, not good enough.


The bike only has 25 miles on it.....so I figure should be no problem for a while will check on them during routine maintenance. How long do you usually get on factory bearings?
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Post by KarlP »

A couple of years.

Next time you have the back wheel off to fix a flat or something you can check them out.
With the axle out of the hub, I stick my thumb in the bearing and turn it. It ought to move easily and smoothly. If it feels notchy or grindy or like it is full of sand.... it probably is. Time for new ones.
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Post by lemmy »

I installed new OEM bearings in the front wheel this weekend. I was surprised that they were only sealed on the outside. The ones that came out were sealed on both sides. The new ones had very little grease in them. I packed them full of bel-ray grease.
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Post by canyncarvr »

They are 6202 bearings. Information I've found on that bearing says the 6202 comes with both sides sealed..contact rubber or non-contact metallic seals.

Obviously, a -2RS bearing can be easily turned into a '-1RS' bearing...or no seals at all if you wish.

There is a fable in the dirtbiking world that says you remove the inner seal on a -2RS bearing. That supposedly allows water that seeps INto the bearing past the outside bearing seal AND the hub oil seal to drain out of the bearing.

I tried that at least once, found the bearing to wear out sooner than a -2RS bearing did. Not a scientific method of testing...but enough for me to use -2RS bearings.

They are $2.51/ea here.

..$1.50/ea here...in quantities of ten.



No recommendation expressed or implied... I wouldn't buy either one or 'em.

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Post by lemmy »

So did Kawasaki send me the wrong bearing (and charge me too much while doing so)?
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Post by canyncarvr »

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lemmy wrote:So did Kawasaki send me the wrong bearing (and charge me too much while doing so)?
???

You mean...because it has a seal on only one side?

It's aftermarket 6202s that I was referring to coming with both sides (now) sealed.

If the OEM bearing has one seal..then that's the way they come, I suppose.

I haven't ever used OEM wheel bearings, I think. ..although..that statement covers a whole lot of time.

I doubt it's a big deal, really. There isn't going to be a whole lot of contaminants getting into the hub..unless it's under water a good bit of the time.

You could argue that MaKaw engineers surely have a reason for specifying an inside-unsealed bearing. Maybe the same kind of thinking that gets the buyer no grease anywhere when they purchase one of their 'engineered' bikes...and of course, there's the famous engineering of the 220 piston....

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Post by lemmy »

:) all good points! there must have been a memo handed down years ago from Mr. Kawasaki to cut grease costs. I could barely see any grease in this new bearing.
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Post by canyncarvr »

If you check what it takes to spin that bearing out of the box...and then check it AFTER you pack it full of grease, you will find that all that grease puts a tremendous drag on the spin of that bearing.

I'm tellin' 'ya...grease all your bearings AND use a ringed chain on your final drive..you will be lucky if you ever get the KDX running fast enough to be able to keep your feet on the pegs........

:shock:

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