Rear wheel wobbling side to side!!!

[young scooter]

Under load it makes a bad noise. The whole bike was shaking. The rear wheel is dancing and wobbling. I pulled over into the nearest park and called a tow truck. It was terrifying. I am not sure what it is, insticts tell me a wheel bearing is blown but what do you guys think?

 

[young scooter]

I can depress the belt and the wheel will twist. Belt is looser than usual. If you grab the rear sprocket with your hand you can twist the rear axle

 

[outthere]

twist the axle? Sounds like it sheared in half. These need to be torqued with the proper tool or you will have a disaster on your hands. Bearings will be easy. An axle that's now 2 piece, not so easy.

 

[34nineteen]

My money is on a roached wheel bearing. Probably the same side as the belt.

 

[young scooter]

Wheel bearing is basically destroyed. I dont think the axle is cooked. I can see the bearing is destroyed. This is scary. I couldve crashed from that if i didnt pull over so quickly. Ive heard of people locking the wheel up and getting run over

 

[Cooter]

Glad you are ok from that scary situation! Even if the bearing freezes up completely, I highly doubt the slight press fit of the bearing would have the strength to lock up a wheel, but glad you're ok:up:

I know it's a little too late but swapping in new bearings when you change tires is $40 insurance that this won't ever happen again.

Now that they are that bad, replace ALL of them and if you are re-using your axle, check it carefully for wear grooves. Also make sure the wheel still has a nice easy press fit, but not so easy the bearing just drops in.

The procedure is easy and spelled out in the service manual, along with the maintenance schedule. You can get the manual for free at Buellmods.com or Buelltooth.com.

 

[Endopotential]

Since this is a bearing related post, thought I'd ask.

In Jan, I was riding on Nic's 2000 mile '04 XB12R. At the tail end of a problem-free 70 mile ride, I took off from a red light. Just normal responsible acceleration, no wheely or burnout, going in a straight line. Just as I crossed the intersection, it felt like a hand just pushed my tail end sideways to the right and the bike slid out under me. Thankfully not too much damage to the bike or myself.

I walked back to check the road, and no water nor oil. Perhaps sand as it's Hwy 1 in Pacifica, but couldn't even see that.

On rear stand, the rear wheel rolls smoothly and I can't seem to find any noise nor play in the bearings. Tires OK, no bald spot so I don't think the rear locked in any one spot. Belt also is properly tensioned. Haven't gone to the trouble of removing the rear wheel to inspect the bearings more closely. I've taken it out since for short test rides and no more issues.

So anything mechanical that may have contributed to this? Blame it on the road? Just freaks me out that I can't explain it.

 

[34nineteen]

Since this is a bearing related post, thought I'd ask.

In Jan, I was riding on Nic's 2000 mile '04 XB12R. At the tail end of a problem-free 70 mile ride, I took off from a red light. Just normal responsible acceleration, no wheely or burnout, going in a straight line. Just as I crossed the intersection, it felt like a hand just pushed my tail end sideways to the right and the bike slid out under me. Thankfully not too much damage to the bike or myself.

I walked back to check the road, and no water nor oil. Perhaps sand as it's Hwy 1 in Pacifica, but couldn't even see that.

On rear stand, the rear wheel rolls smoothly and I can't seem to find any noise nor play in the bearings. Tires OK, no bald spot so I don't think the rear locked in any one spot. Belt also is properly tensioned. Haven't gone to the trouble of removing the rear wheel to inspect the bearings more closely. I've taken it out since for short test rides and no more issues.

So anything mechanical that may have contributed to this? Blame it on the road? Just freaks me out that I can't explain it.

I’d pull the wheel and thoroughly inspect the bearings.

Scooter- glad you are ok!!!!!

 

[young scooter]

Glad you are ok from that scary situation! Even if the bearing freezes up completely, I highly doubt the slight press fit of the bearing would have the strength to lock up a wheel, but glad you're ok:up:

I know it's a little too late but swapping in new bearings when you change tires is $40 insurance that this won't ever happen again.

Now that they are that bad, replace ALL of them and if you are re-using your axle, check it carefully for wear grooves. Also make sure the wheel still has a nice easy press fit, but not so easy the bearing just drops in.

The procedure is easy and spelled out in the service manual, along with the maintenance schedule. You can get the manual for free at Buellmods.com or Buelltooth.com.

I replaced the rears last year with a rear tire change. Basically one year and 6000 miles ago according to my receipts. Any idea why the bearing would fail so fast? I ordered it from St Paul Harley Davidson, the full bearing kit. Is it something I did? Is it something my mechanic could've done? Would washing the bike a lot affect this?

 

[njloco]

You don't mention if there were any tar snakes or the weather conditions.

 

[young scooter]

The day it failed? Picture perfect weather. 75 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. Tar snakes? I'm not sure why this would affect anything. But I don't think so.

 

[chief_of_smoke]

One thing I have learned about bearings that Harley has is that they are Chinese crap. That's what the service tech told me when he had to replace all the bearings in a brand new v rod with 400 miles on it. sometimes new things are bad right out of the box.

 

[Cooter]

Thats a scary thought, only getting 6k out of a set of bearings:concern:

It sure sounds like a bad bearing though. You can look and see form outside the bike, take a pic? Because otherwise it's swing arm bushings or something.

 

[outthere]

If you didn't use a torque wrench and done it up tight enough to crush the sleeve you were bound to have issues. With new bearing installation your suppose torque 50 ft lbs, back off and re torque to 40.

 

[Cooter]

You are totally right about over-torquing the sleeve. Good point outthere:up: Even doing that one time and squishing the sleeve, will side load the new ball bearings even (at the proper torque) and they'll die in short order until you replace that sleeve.

Its actually 25ft/lbs, back off two turns, and torque to 50ft/lbs for the rear... and 20, jounce, 40 for the front (page 2-21)
http://buellmods.com/content/downloads/manuals/xbrfirebolt/2007_firebolt_manual.pdf

 

[outthere]

:angel:

 

[34nineteen]

If you didn't use a torque wrench and done it up tight enough to crush the sleeve

Yes ^^^^^^^^

The sleeve is aluminum and relatively inexpensive. I usually replace them when replacing bearings.