Remove rear wheel bearings questions

lancruza · Apr 2, 2024

Hey Barrett(John) or Cooter, or anyone else,

I'm thinking of doing my wheel bearings. My XB9SX is an 09 so I'm pretty sure it's just the two bearing design. The bike has 11k miles and the original bearings.

For some odd reason I've been seeing many posts lately about the rear bearings going bad, mid ride. I do NOT want to experience this type of excitement, so I'm attempting to be pro-active.

Any tips, tricks, recommendations, for getting these out.

ALSO... Recommendations for bearings. I've heard All Balls are good. I've also read about ceramic, but they seem pricey. Decisions, decisions...

Thankful for the knowledge available in this group!

Cooter · Apr 2, 2024

Hey Buddy! 11k isn't a lot of miles at all, even considering their age. You can inspect them close and if you don't see any grease leaking from the seals, I would be OK waiting until at least the next set of tires. You can also pull the wheel off and they should spin by hand with just a little effort and feel smooth.

Or heck, have an afternoon project and do it anyway

I use All Balls bearings a lot and have never had an issue with them but I'd leave ceramic options for the racetrack.

A long round chisel with the edges of the end VERY sharp can be used to walk the bearing out evenly from the opposite side, but I usually just go for the blind bearing tool kit. Get a nice one, the Amazon ones only work 1-2 times before they lose their edge. Tap the new ones in evenly using the old bearings and do the disk side first, don't forget the spacer!! If the spacer is ground down or mushroomed at ALL, I would replace it.

I've had ok luck with this cheap one. Buells like the puller style as recommended in the SM. The slide hammer can work too, it's good to have options

https://www.amazon.com/LainKeen-Mot...574&sprefix=blind+bearing+kit,aps,241&sr=8-11

Barrett · Apr 3, 2024

Hi Levan: Take a look at the provided link below as it's a good read and should answer all your wheel bearing questions.
Shaughn correct on All Balls being very good bearings. Their front wheel bearing kit comes with 1 or 2 dust seals because the kit crosses over to several Kawasaki and Suzuki models. Discard same as not used on XB wheels.
Your 2009 CityX rear wheel is two bearing design....front obviously is as well.

YOUR BEARING CHOICE INFO:

BUELL OEM BEARING PART NUMBER CAN BE USED FOR CROSS-REFERENCES
FRONT BEARING PART #---E0004.02A8B
REAR """""""""""""""""""---E0005.02A8B

NTN BEARINGS ARE EXCELLENT--DON'T HAVE PART NUMBERS HANDY
FAG """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SKF MOST POPULAR FOR XB'S AND EXCELLENT CHOICE
SKF FRONT NUMBER---6005-2RSH
SKF REAR NUMBER---6006-2RS-1-C3
ON THE SKF NUMBERS....C4 WOULD INDICATE A TIGHTER TOLERANCE FIT....HT SUFFIX WOULD INDICATE HIGH TEMP GREASE INSTALLED FROM FACTORY

CERAMIC BEARINGS COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY FOR STREET BIKES.

https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?57754-New-Tires-New-Bearings

c3powil · Apr 8, 2024

Do what I did and go to Autozone and rent their loaner tool. It's not called a bearing puller, but it functions like a slide hammer with expandable end pieces that fit inside the bearings. It worked for me much better than anything else I tried, and its free once you return it and get your loan refund.

All Balls bearing were a good fit, shipped fast, and not too expensive. If the bearings don't spin by hand fairly easily, then I'd replace them. The All Balls that I swapped in on mine were much easier to spin by hand than the 20 year old OEM bearings.

lancruza · Apr 13, 2024

Thanks Shaughn, John, and C3powil. As always, great help.

Remove rear wheel bearings questions

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