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Inner primary bearing failure

J

jmesawitz

Member
After reading here I determined the inner primary bearing had gone bad.
Growling noise in neutral that went away when put into gear.

My bike is an '08 Roadking with about 25,000 miles.

I decided to fix it myself and i'm having great success. Got the bearing and race out. The race is definitely compromised and the bearing has too much play... Just waiting on replacement part to deliver.

Here is the thing. There is no evidence of old grease on the race or the bearing. I cannot believe that to be caused by wear. I would expect to at least find some dried crusty evidence.

Thanks for letting me share.
 

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No grease on that bearing as it is lubricated with primary lubricant. The inner primary bearings have history of going south; you just drew the short straw. The S&S tapered IPB race is the solution but I don't believe one is offered for the '07 and later models. You might consider the All Balls "raceless" IPB and seal; I think one is offered for the later models but not sure. Or just go back with the OEM setup and see how lucky you get.:bigsmiley25:
 
I am glad that you are able to correct concern your self. I just went through this with my 2008 EG with 24,800 miles. Again no rhythm or reason and was told no fault of mine. Bearing surface deteriorated. After complaining about it to both to Harley and dealer, the dealer agreed to discount bill $90.00. So with tax just under $500.00. Of course that noise is gone but there is a very faint bearing noise from something else...:(
 
I also had to replace my inner primary bearing on my 09 FLHTCU when it had around 28K on it. I have 38K on it now hope I don't have to do it again in another 10K.
 
bc45 said:
I also had to replace my inner primary bearing on my 09 FLHTCU when it had around 28K on it. I have 38K on it now hope I don't have to do it again in another 10K.
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The point of my argument was that a bearing of this size and placement is not something I believe should have to be replaced as a maintenance item.
When talking to Harley they act like they never have heard such a thing. Even when the example of I believe the 2006 Dyna's, the customer had to sign off on a paper that states the consumer will bring bike every 15,000 miles to have bearing replaced at N/C to purchaser of bike. So dealer had showed me on my receipt that the inferior bearing removed is the same part number reinstalled. So how much faith do I have exceeding another 25,000 mile on this bearing. I just hope that I get fore warning next time also and not have catastrophic failure while riding. My finally point with Harley was I guess someone has to be seriously injured or killed before the manufacture is inclined to look into it. :(
 
dbmg said:
The point of my argument was that a bearing of this size and placement is not something I believe should have to be replaced as a maintenance item.
When talking to Harley they act like they never have heard such a thing. Even when the example of I believe the 2006 Dyna's, the customer had to sign off on a paper that states the consumer will bring bike every 15,000 miles to have bearing replaced at N/C to purchaser of bike. So dealer had showed me on my receipt that the inferior bearing removed is the same part number reinstalled. So how much faith do I have exceeding another 25,000 mile on this bearing. I just hope that I get fore warning next time also and not have catastrophic failure while riding. My finally point with Harley was I guess someone has to be seriously injured or killed before the manufacture is inclined to look into it. :(
Click to expand...



I agree with what you are saying, As you the bearing I got to replace the one I removed was the same part #, hopefully they changed the hardening composition. There does seem to be a high # of the OE bearings failing at early mileage.
 
Perhaps I failed to express just how "dry" the bearing and race was upon initial inspection. Definitely no grease and little to no feel of oil. I would, if I were to guess the failure occurred due to lack of lubrication NOT inferior parts/materials. And through no fault of my own.

This part sits fairly high up in the primary case compared to where the oil level is... 3-4-5 inches. So, the part's lubrication it is fully dependent on splash up. Also, there is an oil passage hole (3/16") on the top side of the bearing seat housing to direct fluid down to the outer (transmission side) part of the race/bearing but since that was the side of the race with the most wear I'd say its not effective.

Right or wrong, I have countersunk the inlet side of that oil passage to make it more efficient. Not very deep but fairly wide (1/2") so its more like a funnel. Also I intend to apply general purpose grease on the new bearings during installation. Even if it all washes away from flow of primary oil to the area over time, I will feel more confidant that they wont be starting out unprotected.

Thanks again for letting me share.
Jay
 
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