Mechanical SE Road King - Failed Wheel Bearing

[Shropshire_Lass]

Well, I've had a very expensive day

Have done 15k on my rear tyre and if wasn't for a friend pointing out the baldness of it, I probably would have got a few more

Anyway, off I goes to Buckley tyres to have a lovely Avon Storm ST fitted. Unfortunately, when they came to the wheel balancing, they came to the conclusion that the wheel bearings were shagged. Bless em, they tracked me down some new ones, and a very kind friend on Kawasaki 600 rice burner whizzed me across (screaming like a big jessie) over to Chester Harley to pick them up (£65 i could have done without!)

Soem more screaming later and i arrived back at the tyre place with the old bearings on display and a possibly explanation of why they have disintergrated after only 5k miles. It would seem that the spacer that sits in the wheel between the two bearings was loose. New bearings were fully seated in as far as they would go but it was still loose. This being the case, they're telling me that by doing up the axle to its proper settings is putting a horizontal sheer on the bearings because the inner races have a few mm gap before they sit against something.

Have any of you heard about this kind of thing? Does the explanation make sense?

Any help (as usual) much appreciated

Thanks all

Ruth x

[grbrown]

Ruth,

Yes it does make sense. The outer parts of the bearings are held apart by the wheel, the inner parts are in a sandwich between the swinging arm, all the visible spacers etc. with the internal spacer mentioned.

The only solution I can think of is to visit a Harley dealer or indy and get them to check it over. How old is the bike and have you had it from new? Do you have any warranty? If not, having got the bearings from Chester they might be sympathetic if you call on them.

[spinlondon]

This problem has occured on Rev Tech wheels in the past.
The layer of chrome prevents the bearings from seating fully causing the spacer to be loose.
Either remove the chrome where the bearings sit with a dremmel or simmilar, or make a new spacer.

[Phil]

5K on the bearings.

I would go & have a chat with whoever fitted them.

Were they factory bearings?

[Shropshire_Lass]

Hi

Thanks for your responses.

Rang the dealer who fitted the wheels back in May. Their mechanics are saying that the gap is normal!!! Have spoken to various peeps, some helpful, some not, but the general feeling is that the spacer should be a better fit!

They've said that they will gladly order a new fitting kit, with new spacer. But if it turns out to be exactly the same as the one in the wheel, then it will become chargeable. They also stated that it would be impossible to fit the wrong spacer, as the SERK has a unique one??? Feel like i'm getting the runaround!

What should i do?

Cheers
Ruth

[Mr B]

I did some research into RK bearings recently as I changed my back wheel for something different. As far as I recall, the SE is no different from a normal RK in this respect. The spacer is 122mm long on all models of Tourers and Softails with sealed bearings. Your problem is more likely to be that either the plateing in the bearing housing is preventing the bearing from seating properly, or the bloke who fitted them might have pressed the bearings in on the skew and a bit of aluminium swarf has got underneath and stopping the bearing from sitting fully at the bottom of its housing, or the wheel has been machined incorrectly from the start. A few simple measuring checks by someone who knows how to measure something like this will give you the answer.

A custom made spacer would sort it out made by any competent engineer.
The factory spacer is 122 long x 1" id x 1 1/4" od. this should give someone a good starting point if one has to be made.

I don't think it's your fault at all and cannot possibly be chargeable to you.

Brian

[Limey_Dave]

Can we nail down a few facts please.
The wheels were fitted in May,were these standard replacements or HD custom wheels?
If custom wheels,the P&A catalogue states "choose your wheels,then select the correct fitting kit for your model".

I don't know if the fitting kit includes a new spacer or if it's a way of charging you extra for bearings and axle nut.
The spacer should not be (visualy) shorter than the distance between the two bearings.The torque for the axle nut with "1 piece" bearings is nearly twice that for "2 piece" bearings.The force is aplied to the inner race while the outer race is retained by the hub.If there is a gap the bearings will be ruined.Common sense should tell the mechanic this as the bearing insertion tool aplies the force to the outer race.
I maybe on thin ice here as I'm only a fitter.

This is only a guess on my part but is the sort of thing that made me leave the trade as I didn't have the stomach for it.
Dealer looks at spacer and thinks oops we've messed up.
He puts on his best poker face and says they're all the same but if we order another kit and it's the same,you pay.Thingscan now go two ways:
1) You fall for it
2) He orders the right kit,throws the old one in the bin,tells you he'll deal with the paper work,and swallows the loss.

Check your paperwork and post up
Exact year and model of bike,
Part number of wheel fitted,
Part number of fitting kit used.

Do not ask the dealer for the numbers.

[Shropshire_Lass]

Went to the dealer this morning to get this sorted out.

Wasn't officially allowed in the workshop due to health and safety but did sneak in a few times to have a look.

Some facts:

The bike is a screamin eagle road king 2007
The original wheels where replaced with a new identical set due to chrome flaking about a week before the warranty ran out.
New bearing were installed, but the same spacer was used.
Spacer looks to have a narley end!
On inspection today, there is approx 2mm gap between bearings and inner spacer.
Mechanics said this can be normal on touring models! But doesn't make it right surely?
Asked them if they could remove the bearing so i could measure the spacer but didn't have the right tool to remove the bearing!
Now got to wait until they get the correct tool and new spacer before we can make a comparison and rule that out.
Showed them the old bearings and they agreed that they shagged!
Said they couldn't put it through as warranty job because bike no longer got it. Couldn't claim under a faulty part cos i've done 5000 miles?? Apparently, they're seeing a lot of bearings disintergrate at a 1000 miles. That doesn't sound like good news
Have told them i will be arguing the toss with Harley about "fit for purpose", which i'm not sure amused them.
Next thing to check would then be thickness of plating where bearing sits?

Feel like i'm swimming against the tide!

Ruth x

[Limey_Dave]

Ruth
Did you get my email?
What is the part number of the back wheel,it seems with 1 piece bearings the MoCo feel no need to supply wheels with bearings fitted.

Re my last post,did you ask the dealer what happens when you tighten the axle nut if there is a gap at the spacer?

So they are Harley Dealership that doesn't have the correct factory tools for replacing bearings and they've seen them fail at 1000 miles.Well,well.
With most brands the reason for fitting factory parts is that the parts have the same warranty as when fitted to a new vehicle,ie 12 months or "x" number of miles,4 months and 5000 miles doesn't seem like much of a deal.

[lawnmower]

what a crock of shit. A lot of wheel bearings fail at 1000 miles. I never heard so much nonsense in my life. Write to HD and explain. Esp as your on a SE RK i would expect some movement on the warranty issue particularly as the wheels were changed and that may well be where the problem started. Im not sure about the new set up but in the old scheme of things there used to be a pair of taper roller brgs and and spacer that used to be of differing lengths to take out the slack in the bearings when they wore a bit. (Which they will do over time) IMHO take the bike to a custom bike specialist that knows his stuff and ask him to do it properly. You will never have another problem. Sounds to me like the techs there dont have a clue which is also often the case in these newer HD dealers. sadly we dont get the servie we deserve in the UK (or Australia) as i am sure Phil will agree. It would be different in the US because the peeps there have a choice.

Hope you get it sorted