Front wheel bearings?

[2wheels]

The front wheel bearings on my '11 R1200R are beginning to go at 13,000mls - no play but mechanic says the are rumbling.

Should I replace them? Surely they should have lasted longer? Anybody else had them go so soon?

Also I wonder how easy to replace...

[Bob Ain't Stoppin']

I've never done it, but should be pretty easy. The bearings are inexpensive, so no real reason to avoid this work. Also, a real bearing failure could damage other expensive bits.

[Martyn]

If wheel bearings go that quickly it often, not always but often, is because a pressure wash has been used indiscriminately to wash the bike.

[deilenberger]

I'd have to agree - something caused the bearings to go that soon. Whatever it was - don't do it on the new ones. I haven't done the R12R bearings, but I have done K bike bearings, and it's not that easy a job, you need a special puller to remove the old ones (a rather costly puller) that expands inside the inner race to provide the pulling force necessary. If your mechanic can do it - and you've never done it - have him do it.

I would expect the bearings to easily go 100k miles - unless someone did something to damage them. As an example of using a pressure washer on a bike - a friend here in NJ was looking for an R12R. I found him one (from an ex member here) for a quite reasonable price with lowish miles on it (around 20,000). The bike had some cosmetic issues (it lived outside for quite a while) but I test rode it, and it seemed mechanically fine. Just required some elbow grease to make a nice bike of it.

He bought it and decided to clean it up - using his pressure washer. Within about a week of washing it down - the now nice and clean and shiny bike - had loose handlebars. The bearing that the top triple-tree pivots on was almost completely gone. You could move the ends of the bars up/down close to 2". He's taking it to a local mechanic to get that fixed, I suggested to the mechanic several other places worth checking for water damage (the driveshaft/universal joints, the front wheel bearings, the forks, rust under the filler cap) while he has it in his shop. I expect that the cost of repairs due to power washing it might be rather costly.

The rule is - don't do that. The only other possibilities I can think of for premature bearing damage is a large impact to the wheel (and to damage the bearing - it would probably have to be large enough to bend the rim), or a badly imbalanced wheel.

[2wheels]

Many thanks all.

Never use power washer for very reasons you mention. Especially on bikes with their nooks and crannies.

I read up in Haynes manual about changing bearings and they suggest heating housing to 100 degrees centigrade - how do you do that without distorting the wheel! When I was younger I would have tackled it but not any more...

So dealer can fix it and extended warranty will cover part of cost.

[Mollygrubber]

I've been doing some research on this lately as there are several cases of F800GS bikes with less than stellar wheel bearing longevity. Not to mention the head race bearings.

Several people have documented a rather disturbing lack of grease (in at least one case - almost none!) in the sealed bearings after removal and inspection- these are the OEM bearings from the factory I'm talking about.

It's possible to pull the seals, properly fill them with grease, and re-install the seals but the common consensus is to remove and replace with high quality bearings rather than the BMW part #'s.

FWIW R12's may not suffer from this but it's something to consider at least.

[deilenberger]

Many thanks all.

Never use power washer for very reasons you mention. Especially on bikes with their nooks and crannies.

I read up in Haynes manual about changing bearings and they suggest heating housing to 100 degrees centigrade - how do you do that without distorting the wheel! When I was younger I would have tackled it but not any more...

So dealer can fix it and extended warranty will cover part of cost.

Heating the rim can be done with an industrial heat gun, or a very carefully used propane torch. Used correctly you won't damage the pain. Used incorrectly - well - don't do that.

I haven't looked to see if any special pullers are needed for the bearings, but it wouldn't surprise me. Just looked at my spare rim (bent slightly) - and it appears to be a similar design to the early K bike rims, which require an internal expanding puller (Kukko brand) - these are over $100 and come in several ranges of size.. so you have to get the right one.



IMHO - this is a case where taking the rim to a dealer and getting the bearings (and seals) replaced would be advisable and cheaper than DIY when the tool cost is taken into account.

[David R]

I have my own way of removing the bearings.

Store the new bearings in the freezer.

Yank out the inner race with a slide hammer. Weld a bead around the inside of the outer race that is stuck in the wheel.

When the race that was welded cools, it will shrink and FALL out. The hub is now preheated to be receptive to the new bearing which is "shrunk" in the freezer. Install the new bearing only tapping on the outside edge. If necessary , use the old race that fell out as a driver. Safety glasses are a must.

I am a welder by trade. All that is needed is a 110 mig and some skill.

I did this the first time on my /6 rear wheel bearings. I did not know the hub needed to be preheated to install the new bearing, it was because of my removal of the old one. Got lucky there. That was in 1990. Still riding that bike too. No problems with rear wheel bearings.

David

[Steve H.]

David R,+1
Steve H.

[2wheels]

Had the bearings replaced yesterday and much to my delight there was no charge as a goodwill gesture from BMW. If you don't ask...