Rear wheel bearing

[HarvC]

So I had a rear, brake side wheel bearing failure at the weekend at 13,500 ish miles. One of the bearing balls broke into 3 parts and there was a lot of muck in there but no lube left.

 

New parts are on order from Off The Road but has anyone else had issues with the bearing or seals failing what seems like fairly early in the bike's life? Problem or bad luck?

 

Hubs have never been pressure washed and it's a 2019 bike for reference.

 

Cheers

Harv

 

[bth2]

cheap oem bearings. replace with good quality bearings. try simply bearings.

[Hibobb]

Harv,

Bummer.... This first thing that comes to mind is the pressure washer and you have ruled that out.

Hopefully it is just "one of those oddball things" that happens. 

I find it hard to fathom "Cheap OEM bearing" as Yamaha is not a new kid on the block.

We will see what others report as time goes on. Thanks for posting this....

 

Bob

[Kingsize]

1 hour ago, Hibobb said:

Harv,

Bummer.... This first thing that comes to mind is the pressure washer and you have ruled that out.

Hopefully it is just "one of those oddball things" that happens. 

I find it hard to fathom "Cheap OEM bearing" as Yamaha is not a new kid on the block.

We will see what others report as time goes on. Thanks for posting this....

 

Bob

 

100% Agree. The OEM bearings are fine. Sometimes Shet just happens. 

[Dougie]

Could’ve been something as simple as grit in mud screwing the seal or brake cleaner maybe. 
 

[S.Ga.Rider]

Sounds like bad luck. Yamaha normally uses quality bearings .

[Ray Ride4life]

Correct, just lubed up the steering stem bearings and was pleasantly surprised the OEM where conical bearings.
Shame they have quality bearings destroyed like cheap ones due to lack of grease.
This was what little grease they used and the same was with the link system.

 

 

Maybe the same with the wheel bearings?

[Landshark]

13 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Correct, just lubed up the steering stem bearings and was pleasantly surprised the OEM where conical bearings.
Shame they have quality bearings destroyed like cheap ones due to lack of grease.
This was what little grease they used and the same was with the link system.

 

 

Maybe the same with the wheel bearings?

The wheel bearings are sealed and won't need grease.  

[Ray Ride4life]

2 minutes ago, Landshark said:

The wheel bearings are sealed and won't need grease.  

Then they can at least not screw that up.

[Scottnet]

I've just noticed play in the same bearing ( rear/brake side)  at 14K miles ... Not broken up but I will need to replace 

 

Same no pressure washing etc.. Seems odd . On my 660Z only replaced at 50K miles . OEM bearings are about as good as you can get 

 

Hmm 

[Scottnet]

19 hours ago, Scottnet said:

I've just noticed play in the same bearing ( rear/brake side)  at 14K miles ... Not broken up but I will need to replace 

 

Same no pressure washing etc.. Seems odd . On my 660Z only replaced at 50K miles . OEM bearings are about as good as you can get 

 

Hmm 

On further investigation seems rust was the culprit for damaged bearing. I have replaced that bearing. 

I am careful with washing etc but has been through some deep water, mud etc. I suspect the seal is not that brilliant and the spacer corrodes so possibly some better spacers may help.  Seems this is not uncommon very useful vid 

 

[DT675]

I'm around 8800 miles and just found my rear wheel bearings failed due to rust.  The cush drive bearing is ok but the other 2 hub bearings are bad.  I was surprised to not find a "tech-tip" how to on these but the vid above is pretty good. 

 

No pressure washer.

 

[jdub53]

11 hours ago, DT675 said:

I'm around 8800 miles and just found my rear wheel bearings failed due to rust.  The cush drive bearing is ok but the other 2 hub bearings are bad.  I was surprised to not find a "tech-tip" how to on these but the vid above is pretty good. 

 

No pressure washer.

 

 

That sucks, and hopefully you found it in the convenience of your garage. Good reminder to always check the condition of these when the wheel is off for any reason.

 

I had a rear wheel bearing fail on my DR650 at about 27k miles while 10 miles from home, but fortunately was able to slowly ride it home on the road shoulder. Looked like this when I finally made it into the garage:

 

 

 

 

[AZJW]

Moved from General Discussion. 

[DT675]

Thats an ugly bearing @jdub53!  I did find it in the comfort of my garage fortunately.  I was putting the back wheel on after getting my forks and shock re-valved.  This reminds me of a thread on a Triumph forum where someone had posted asking about what services they should be asking about when they bring their bike into the dealer for a tune-up so to speak.  EVERY response was for them to get a service manual and learn what and how to do the minor work themselves. Saying to treat working on your motorcycle like a love affair and it would pay dividends back for years to come.  I happen to agree with that philosophy and that's how I nearly always find small issues before they become a big problem.  It's amazing what maintenance one can find just by washing the bike sometimes! Anyway, I know you already know this it just reminded me of that thread and to take my time going over the bike when I do work on it!

[DT675]

An interesting observation I found with my rear wheel bearing replacement-  the gross looking rusty bearing I showed was indeed bad, no grease and notchy.  The cush hub side bearing “looked” fine but was also notchy. So I replaced them both. Now, on a couple YouTube vids I watched everyone’s spacer between the bearings was fairly loose, or at least able to move over easy enough to get a driver in there to pop a bearing out. Mine was tight. Couldn’t get it to move at all. (Which was why I did a little searching on YouTube in the 1st place).  When I installed the new bearings, the one on the brake side has a shoulder that the outer race sets against. The cush hub side does not. The only thing stopping it from going in too far will be the spacer, and you can press it into the spacer a little too hard without knowing it.  Until you go to turn the bearing as I did and it had some resistance to it and did not spin smooth. But the interesting thing to me was, with that small amount of resistance, the new bearing felt a little notchy!  So I’m betting my cush side bearing was not actually bad in the first place (just the rusty one).  In the end I tapped the bearing in probably just one small tap too far and had to pull it out just a teeny tiny bit to release that resistance.  The bearings then spun perfectly smooth and the notchy feeling went away.  I am still now able to move the spacer out of the way (when necessary at the next bearing change, hopefully not too early) but without any lateral movement. 
 

So IMO, my bearings were installed just slightly too tight against the spacer from the factory in the 1st place. 

 

If anyone has the exact sceintific facts on the spacer tension against the inner bearing races I'm all ears.