Hi all, just a bit of a warning. Got my tires changed and to my surprise both bearings gone in rear wheel (cheap Chinese bearings btw). One fully rusted and very rough (no grease in dust covers), the other one on the way out. They would have collapsed before too long.... Please keep an eye on them
Cheapskate B**ards. I've just changed the rear bearings in one of my '94 SS wheels because of their age and that the bike had stood for some time before I got it. They were SKF, none of your cheap chinese stuff, they are clearly cutting costs these days.
Just changed my front bearings as they were getting a little rough when turning the inner race by hand, felt fine when on the bike and spinning the wheel, the originals were SKF and had done 38,000 miles. By the way, a lot of SKF bearings are made in China, they have a large facility out there.
Should be. I had my local bike shop fit them, while fitting tires and spotted the fail. Will visit dealer soon to claim back, shouldn't be an issue. I was hardly going to wait for an epic fail while the wheel was out.....
Not a Ducati only thing. Rear bearing on a BMW 1150 gone after 60K km. Feels like riding with a flat rear tyre. Replaced it myself total cost around 130 euro's for the bearing and the HUGE oilseal. BUT... So let's replace the small needle bearings as well while I am at it... ... 2 tiny needle roller bearings on the pivot point of the swingarm.. BMW only @ 60 euro's a piece, standard sizes around 5 euro's a piece from SKF , searched the whole internet for this specific dimension until I found some "imitations " @ 25 euro each. SICK.
Spent most of my working life around bearings, main causes of failure. Poor fitting Contamination Poor or wrong lubrication Bearings not fit for purpose (speed / load rating) Preferred bearings Ball Or roller SKF or FAG Taper Timken Needle roller INA No way should a wheel bearing fail in 6100km.
Graeme Obree broke the cyclist broke the World one hour distance record On a home built bicycle using bearings from a Hotpoint washing machine
Not a bearing that I would have fitted by choice. I worked in the paper industry mechanical engineer. I stuck with the best quality parts we could buy, the savings of buying cheap, disappeared when there was a failure. Re Koyo bearings, we had equipment supplied with them fitted and run ok, but was not a standard we would have used by choice. I would have used on non critical plant if nothing else available. However look at the reliability of Japanese cars and bikes, this should answer your question. As important as the quality of the bearing is, so is the fitting, cleanliness, lubrication and the quality of the sealing system. You would be surprised the amount of times I saw bearing placed on the floor prior to fitting. Bearings must be keep in their packaging right up to the point of fitting and kept scrupulously clean. This also means clean hands.
V.true and one of the reasons I plumped for Koyo when replacing wheel bearings. Tell me about it - the reason I've had to replace both front & rear wheel bearings a couple of times (in 70k odd miles) is because I ride in all weathers and although the bearings themselves are rubber sealed they live a real tough life on wheel axles, and with no decent water/dirt proof additional covers grit ends up rubbing against & finally splitting the seals.
Additional covers can have the effect of trapping dust and debris against the seal face. Also it cannot be accessed to be washed off, regular cleaning and inspections should help, if you see a seal looking damaged change it out. If available in the bearing size you require go for a bearing with a RS suffix, this has an additional seal fitted on one side. Fit this with the seal on the outside. A 2RS suffix means it is a sealed for life / death bearing. If your bearing is a 6206, you will need a 6206RS, the last 2 number denote the shaft size 06mm x 5 = 30mm The first 2 numbers denote type and series.
2012 Multistrada with 17k miles which has had new oil and filter every 3k miles. Main bearing failed. According to the various forums, this was also due to cheap Chinese alternatives. We pay a premium to purchase a Ducati (which I love BTW) but disappointed with their response and attitude when tackled about the issue.
Terrible what you report. What were the symptoms which alerted you to failure? A warning, even for good bearings, about laying up: I think whilst laid up, god knows for how long - a few years?, one ball in each mains bearing had rested in bad oil, resulting in initial chemical attack. I recently split my 900ss cases and found badly deformed mains bearings. Beforehand, testing with only barells off, crank in bearings and cases, did not reveal their roughness, but only with the crank removed. These are original RHP mains bearings. This is an older engine (with about 30K miles on it), but that is not the reason for deterioration. The bike had been laid up for a long while at some period. What appears to have happened is that just one ball on each bearing had gone, with advanced surface deformation based upon initial spalling. Some very slight initial spalling could be seen in one place only the tracks. The bearings were very rough when turning the inner by hand, with crank removed, as a result. I'm sure the motor would have gone on for quite some time, but then at some point, even with good lubrication, mains bearings would have began to rapidly fail - possibly 1000 miles from home. I hope my new order for mains gets me the original RHP, or I'll be most unhappy.
It was fairly difficult to hear the difference but as I am the one that rides it ….. I knew something wasn’t quite right. A local engine specialist initially told me to let it develop as they couldn’t confirm anything by how it sounded. I obviously didn’t want it to develop further and do more damage. I drained the oil to find lots of small pieces of chromium. I then removed the stator cover to find the clip that holds the three wires in place was broken which was odd. I made a new clip and put it back together but the whiting noise was still there. I then bought a stethoscope and decided to buy a new timing belt roller to see if that cured it to no avail. I then spoke with Neil at Cornerspeed (Ducati God) and sent him a video. He drove a good 65 miles to hear it in person and confirmed my suspicion re the mains. He suggested that the clip may have broken due to the movement in the crankshaft. He took it away, repaired it and it is now back to being awesome. I can’t recommend him enough. Just a shame that Ducati weren’t prepared to contribute as a gesture of good will. They said that if it had been serviced by an authorised Ducati dealer, they would have considered it. The fact that their oil and filter intervals are ridiculous didn’t come into it.
You did well to nab that developing fault. I suppose then that it was Neil at Cornerspeed that told you about what bearings had been fitted. I would like to know what name was on those mains bearings. I cannot believe the bearing had no name on it. The mains offered as spares by Ducati are by RHP,and they come at a price. They only people who make such bearings, with correct angles as well as quality. They are a unique spec. To fit mains bearings with no name is a drastic error. I consider this: bearing manufacture was developed with great care and attention, and a manufacturer earned its name. Any new manufacturer that sets up would need to earn a name, and that's not easy, takes a long while and probably national government support these days. SO many stages of high quality specs with attention to each process with quality control and technique. 'Generic' and cheap also exist. Generic cannot approach such quality, and of course if cheap has a name, they are for wheelbarrows etc.
