Wheels and Wheel Bearings

K

kneeslider

New member
Hi there all,

I managed to get my RGS through it's MOT test last week, so the day after, I set out on my first long ride, however after only about 50 miles, the handlebars began to shake about, and all of the symptoms of a puncture were apparent.  Looking down, the front tyre seemed to be inflated to the correct pressure, so something else would have to be the cause.

Anyway, I rode slowly home about 15 miles, anything over 35mph produced wobbling, so it took a while.  I discovered on stripping the front down that the speedo drive side bearing had collapsed almost completely!!

I bought some new bearings, and installed them today, after first measuring everything to ensure that the middle spacer wasn't too short or long, then tried fitting the spindle through the middle.  It turns out that the spindle is very tight, and it appears that the new bearings haven't aligned properly in the holes!!

I have fitted lots of bearings in the past, but none has ever done this!

The shims under the bearings were re installed, but I suspect something amiss here.  The bearings seemed to be quite a loose fit in the bores, and tapped home with a satisfying sounding clonk when the bearing hit the bottom of the bore.

Perhaps I should have ordered some new shims to fit under the bearings?

I sense a battle coming up to get the old ones out now I put them in with a smear of Locktite.

Has anyone encountered this issue?

Any advice, or suggestions?
 
Hi,
On the basis that you've got the correct bearings (6004 2RS) then all should be fine.

Apologies for the 'obvious' questions (we've all been there....!), but have you fitted the spacer in the correct position between wheel and fork on the nearside?
Have you fitted the spindle through the loose wheel (i.e. when it's not in the forks)? If so, what happens then? Is it still 'tight'?

Hopefully step by step deduction will see a "doh" answer and you'll be a Happy Hector with a red face! Keep us posted tho', or provide further details of the problem.

- and good luck!
Alan  ;)
 
Is the spindle straight???

The shims position the inner spacer, if you haven't damaged them upon disassembly, they can be re-used.  If the bearings just dropped into the wheels, the bores for the bearings might be worn allowing the bearings to settle mis-aligned.  Assuming the spindle is straight and true, carefully remove the bearings (lots of heat to loosen the Loctite, or use new ones....again), clean out the bores and replace, again with Loctite but push the spindle through both bearings to align them.

A bent spindle could well be the cause for the collapsed bearing in the first place!

Depending on how worn the wheel is, I'd suggest you keep an eye open for a replacement!

piet
 
Ill go with Alan on this one, double check again its something really simple,take wheel of will the spindle pass through?if not it must be the spacer, oh and dont forget that very thin washer on the speedo side
 
Ok, an update!

After stripping everything down, it turns out that I had re fitted the shims behind the bearings, tapping them flat to repair the dings where they had suffered when I pulled the bearings out last time.  Turns out that this was the wrong course of action, as it meant that they now fouled the axle spacer in the middle of the wheel, causing it to be misaligned.

A new pair of bearing shims was procured, and it turns out that they should be anything but flat, but are sort of flange shaped, allowing the middles to support the axle spacer.  A caveat here is that the new bearing shims didn't quite have a large enough hole in them to slip over the axle spacer, so a little remedial work was needed. 

I also took extra care to make up a bearing puller arrangement, which ensured that the bearings located first time concentrically with the axle spacer etc.  Everything now appears to work, but it seems like a lot of palaver compared to the simple methods I have always used to fit bearings to any other motorcycle wheel!
 
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