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Wheel bearings

Hoople said:
You are absolutely correct about the spacer. The thing is I took apart my failed front wheel bearings and found out some interesting things. The bearings used by HD are just ordinary 6205 2RS electric motor bearings. Just an ordinary type lip seal which was never designed for driving wind or rain. *****

Pop the seals out on a couple of HD factory bearings, take a close look and have a laugh. ***** Even the best of the best 6205's won't take any high wind exposure, much less driving rain exposure.

I believe it starts out as a Seal failure which leads to a bearing failure.
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Hoople

Do you think anything covering the outside of the stock OR Your replacement bearing Like a CAP would Help???

I think IF something like a Thin Tin (snoose can lid) made to fit in-between modified spacer and cover the bearing??????

Would that do the trick?:coffee

Mind You I don't Chew nor am I looking at my Bike..

signed....BUBBIE
 
6205 bearings are available with metal shields if needed.
When fitting any rubber sealed bearings,I always pop the seal out the inside face and add a bit more grease.You'd be amazed how little is in there when new.More grease,less room for water.I was told this trick by a guy that rebuilt water pumps for comercial vehicles,18 wheelers to you.

Hm,can't find an edit button.:(

The SKF metal shielded bearing is 6205 2Z, should be about 5% more than the 6205 2RS.
I've always gone to factors instead of dealers for bearings and seals when I can,most of the parts I buy have no dealer anyway.Try getting bearings for a BTH magneto from a dealer.
One thing to be aware of when sourcing bearings,is the running clearance.
No matter what make you use,if the original is marked C3 (6205-2RS-C3) you must refit a C3 rated bearing.
I'm not saying the rubber seals can't lift,but I would think it unlikely.I ran a Triumph with 6204-2RS bearings for 13 years,5 of those with a sidecar,and prob only changed the bearings twice.I got through more spokes than bearings.:D
 
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Limey_Dave said:
I ran a Triumph with 6204-2RS bearings for 13 years,5 of those with a sidecar,and prob only changed the bearings twice.
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Interesting history on the Triumph 6204 bearing lasting that long. Could it be that Triumph had a 6204 made for them that used a custom designed seal? Was it really an "off the shelf" 6204 2RS C3 bearing? Was the seal side of the bearing exposed to the elements just like the current HD front wheels, with the seal being just an inch away from the outside elements of rain, wind, soap, uv etc.

If the bearing used on the Triumph was an "off the shelf" 6204 with no other form of protection (added shield or seal around bearing) from the elements, then there may be a glimmer of hope for a bearing lasting longer than the factory HD bearings. I am now using what I believe to be a very good SKF 6205 C3 bearing but I really don't believe it will last any longer than the factory bearing. The seal is very good (acrylonitrile butadiene rubber) but it is still very fragile with no spring.
Who knows. Time will tell.

I am tempted to write to Timken or SKF and ask for a 6205 bearing that can be used and exposed to the conditions we have at hand. My guess is they don't have one and will say to use a 2 piece (bearing w/ separate seal) configuration. In my opinion, that would have been the right way to do it.
 
BUBBIE said:
Hoople

Do you think anything covering the outside of the stock OR Your replacement bearing Like a CAP would Help???

I think IF something like a Thin Tin (snoose can lid) made to fit in-between modified spacer and cover the bearing??????
Click to expand...

Bubbie, I would think anything to protect the seal would help. Those seals need a pre-seal of some sort.

No matter how good the bearing is, once you get a grain of sand or water inside the ball cage, it's over. The scar just keeps getting xfered over and over again. There is no stopping it. Water breaks down the grease and once just a spec of rust forms on any 1 ball, it's over.

No reasonable person should ever make or come to a conclusion based on just 2 samples. But when I can shake the water OUT of two double sided sealed ball bearings, and see as much rust as I did, my conclusion is,,, "Houston we have a problem". :)
 
The older sealed bearings were the same as ac delco alternator bearings They were never meant to be exposed to water and had a tin shield for a seal, poor set up for an axle IMO
 
This bearing susceptibility to water, dust, rust is a big problem - outside of the engine, there's probably few parts seeing as much movement as the bearings and they're out there for the elements to have a pop at. YET they seem to have all the durability of toilet paper!

Is this a problem with most brands of motorbike? I've seen some reference to Triumph and BMW problems but presumably for enough $ there's a bearing solution out there to be able to survive the freakish challenges of wet and dry conditions (talk about a rock and a hard place)???
 
cedarbrook63 said:
This bearing susceptibility to water, dust, rust is a big problem - outside of the engine, there's probably few parts seeing as much movement as the bearings and they're out there for the elements to have a pop at. YET they seem to have all the durability of toilet paper!

Is this a problem with most brands of motorbike? I've seen some reference to Triumph and BMW problems but presumably for enough $ there's a bearing solution out there to be able to survive the freakish challenges of wet and dry conditions (talk about a rock and a hard place)???
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They had it right on the evo bikes with tapered bearings

Brian
 
fin_676 said:
They had it right on the evo bikes with tapered bearings

Brian
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Yep, but they went cheap to speed up the build with the sealed bearings so they would not have to check end play, big mistake IMO and they claimed less down time with the new bearings Imagine that, Brian you are 100 here:s
 
ballpeen said:
... .. .. ... ... .. this is not just a Harley problem.. BMW, Valkerie, Honda, they are all complaining of bearing failures with very low mileage, so it does not make our situation any better but for some reason most of these bearings are coming from Argentina, and China, the BMW boys are talking about bad steel being used in the manufacturing process, and their just as concerned as the rest of us. .. .. . . . . .
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Really makes us miss the days when all the steel mills were still here in America don't it.
 
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