LC4 rear wheel bearings

[bmwktmbill]

Regreasing.
Propane torch heat will not hurt the bearings, they are tool steel.
You can pop off the grease seals on the bearings with a knife and regrease them after washing them out in kerosene, then reinstall the seals.
The metal seal cover on the cush bearing can be made straight with a flat punch.
My cush bearing was a little rough at 16K miles, I washed it out and regreased it and it was very close to smooth...almost.
I reinstalled and am at 32K miles, so it went from Wisconsin to Europe via Mongolia. all my wheel bearings are original(sometimes I worried).

For the front wheel carefully use a grease needle to do them or reach in with a knife, pop the seals off the bearings and regrease them reaching in with a flat bladed screw driver or somesuch, snap the seals back in place.
You have to work around the outer wheel seals so be nice and delicate in your work. You can't wash them, just add some fresh grease.

Now you are ready for the rest of the bearings, steering head, swing arm, shock pivot.
I would put some grease under the dust seals on the forks too.
Grease battery terminals, pull and oil all electrical connections with silicone based oil.
Tighten the fuse holders and oil.
Lube the clutch cable ends.
Now you are done.
b.

[KayaKTM]

just being neighborly, was most of the reason i responded.

now i'm up to speed. the dust seals aren't that expensive i'd just replace it (fun cycles will gladly order them for you or one of the on-line surpliers).

if the bearings feel good i wouldn't throw money at them but that's just me. pulling the bearing out in 6 more months (if it was that soon) doesn't sound a like a big deal to me.

the stenhouse link is a good thing though the bearings are cheaper there than i've seen them anywhere else.

good luck!

Originally Posted by BobCWNC

What I'd like to do is get the bushing out of the bearing so I can replace the dust seal (#29), since I hammered it flat. The whole bearing assy came out of the hub pretty easy and the bushing loosened up and I was able to figure out that it was the seal rubbing, not the bearing itself.

So my goal is to keep the old bearing if heat and pounding won't destroy it, put a new seal in between it and the bushing and reseat the old bearing.

Thanks

edit: waynesville eh? Howdy neighbor

[bmwktmbill]

There are Chinese bearings, Japanese bearings and Euro bearings...not all the same quality.
Sometimes you get what you pay for in bearings.
In the early Beemer singles they used Bulgarian bearings in the steering head which were my personal low.
b.

[BobCWNC]

The continuing saga of As the Bearing Turns.

I got the bushing out of the bearing, added grease and it seemed to spin very nicely. So it figured I might as well reinstall it and see how it goes. Froze the bearing heated the cush drive, carefully banged it in. Now when it turns, there's appreciable crunchiness again. You'd think thatthe compression of an AL carrier on a hardened steel race would not make much difference, butit does.

Out came the bearing, and to experiment, I put the bearing in a vise and when I had just a wee bit of force on the race, the bearing went from smooth to crunchy again.

I did some research and the OEM bearing is a double row #3205-b-2rsr.
I have a local source possibly that may have it but I've seen prices for it all over the map.

The 5205 2rs (from crazybrits post I linked to above) I believe has the same dimensions and is made by many mfrs, so If I can't get a good quality on locally, I'll give Loaded a call.

That's perplexing why a bearing would be smooth until a slight amount of compression is on it .

[bmwktmbill]

Bob,
Thanks for that post, I didn't think to try that squeezing trick but it explains my experience.
I left the bearing in mine and it ran as I posted above.
That bearing must be pretty tough or maybe a little grit gets in that you just don't come out by washing.
Unless you are headed to Outer Slombokia I bet you can run it.
Easy to check every 4-5K when the tire is changed.
You can always order a spare.
b.

[BobCWNC]

Originally Posted by bmwktmbill

Bob,
Thanks for that post, I didn't think to try that squeezing trick but it explains my experience.
I left the bearing in mine and it ran as I posted above.
That bearing must be pretty tough or maybe a little grit gets in that you just don't come out by washing.
Unless you are headed to Outer Slombokia I bet you can run it.
Easy to check every 4-5K when the tire is changed.
You can always order a spare.
b.

Hey Bill

I would run it, but me and wheel bearings have a sordid history. I almost crashed my 635CSI when the idiot dealer didn't torque one correctly. Even after replacement, it failed a couple of years later causing big money to R&R it. I've seen bad bearings screw hubs, brakes and suspension parts up before. My MC philosphy is to try and keep my bikes in good running shape hopefully eliminating the a potential cause of being stranded or crashing. If it ran smooth, I'd consider keeping it in, but it's too crunchy now for my comfort.

Since it's winter and I've got to wait on that frikiin frackin fruckin seal and a sprocket and brake pads anyway, I'm going to see what I can find in a new bearing too.

Oh and thanks for the tips, I did regrease them before I reinstalled like you outlined, I'll probably go through your checklist- not a bad list at all.

[BobCWNC]

Update,
Ordered Loaded's bearings.
There is a source on ebay for the 5205 bearing for 13 bucks. But the quality and mfgr origin is unknown. I called a couple of places locally and got prices from 48 - 90+ bucks and none in stock.

Crappy bearings skeer me and apparently the bearings can be made with different loading tolerances.

I guess the awesome torquiness of the KTM needs good bearings.

[potatoho]

I just replaced a rear wheel bearing on my EXC. It was a Chinese KML sold through All Balls. What a piece of crap. I check the wheel play before every ride, and this thing went from good to bad in one ride. I thought maybe I hadn't repacked them in the install, since this set is only a few months old. I pulled the seal from the opposite bearing and it still had my green marine grease in and looked clean and fresh like new, whereas the bad bearing was stuffed with grit and even the race had a popped rivet.

On the bright side I got to use my pitposse bearing removal tool. Thumbs up! I still had to go medieval on it but at least I was using a single toolset instead of an entire drawer of drifts.

[Hipster]

You can buy high quality bearing from your local bearing shop. I replaced my wheel bearings with SKF brand, a high quality made in USA bearings for about $12 each, the dust seals about $2.75 each.

[BobCWNC]

Originally Posted by Hipster

You can buy high quality bearing from your local bearing shop. I replaced my wheel bearings with SKF brand, a high quality made in USA bearings for about $12 each, the dust seals about $2.75 each.

I suspect that'd be correct for the single row wheel bearings, but the double row bearings were expensive for any kind of quality, at least at the 2 local bearing shops I called.

[BobCWNC]

Originally Posted by potatoho

I just replaced a rear wheel bearing on my EXC. It was a Chinese KML sold through All Balls. What a piece of crap. I check the wheel play before every ride, and this thing went from good to bad in one ride. I thought maybe I hadn't repacked them in the install, since this set is only a few months old. I pulled the seal from the opposite bearing and it still had my green marine grease in and looked clean and fresh like new, whereas the bad bearing was stuffed with grit and even the race had a popped rivet.

On the bright side I got to use my pitposse bearing removal tool. Thumbs up! I still had to go medieval on it but at least I was using a single toolset instead of an entire drawer of drifts.

That looks like a helluva tool.

[GodSilla]

Anytime I have to remove a wheel bearing I just replace it. The bashing involved in removing them renders them dodgy at best, and rooted usually.
And I only have to remove them when they start to get "crunchy" (nice word). Trying to remove, clean and reinstall a sealed bearing is asking for trouble. A failed bearing can take the hub with it. Or worse still, throw you down the road. Why spend big dollars on a good bike and then skimp on maintenance?
Well that's my 2c worth.

[Loadedagain]

Originally Posted by bmwktmbill

There are Chinese bearings, Japanese bearings and Euro bearings...not all the same quality.
Sometimes you get what you pay for in bearings.
In the early Beemer singles they used Bulgarian bearings in the steering head which were my personal low.
b.

you're correct about bearing qualitiy bill... the new bearing sent to bob is a german made nsk. i've had great experience with them in the past.

[Loadedagain]

Originally Posted by Hipster

You can buy high quality bearing from your local bearing shop. I replaced my wheel bearings with SKF brand, a high quality made in USA bearings for about $12 each, the dust seals about $2.75 each.

"high quality bearing" and "made in usa" don't usually* go together. skf bearings stamped made in usa are usually assembled in usa with asian (chinese and taiwanese) components. skf quality (from my experience) has been a little dodgy the past few years with smaller bearings. as mentioned i've had better luck with nsk, ina, and fag.

* i've found aurora plain bearings made in usa to be of outstanding quality!

[sailah]

I've been rebuilding some serious woodowrking equipment in the past few years and replaced way more than my share of bearings in many 3 phase motors and drive shafts. The best place I found which ALWAYS has my bearnings in stock from obscure original equipement 100 year old bearings to new cheapo bearings for my router is EB Atmus in Springfield, MA. Good prices and they can get you ANYTHING.

That said I replaced my bearings for my 525 with something from MSR cause I needed it done fast. I fully expect to replace then again but that's the price for being in a rush.