Last of the last wheel bearings

[TallBob]

Please put me down for one. Just PM me and I can do PayPal when they come in. Thank you

[ESJr1642]

James,

Received the bearings today, thank you!

And, hope you had a great birthday!

Ernie

[James England]

James,

Received the bearings today, thank you!

And, hope you had a great birthday!

Ernie

Brilliant, Ernie and yes, I had a nice birthday, thank you

[James England]

Please put me down for one. Just PM me and I can do PayPal when they come in. Thank you

Will do.....

[XJkid]

How many miles do the original bearings last? I've only got 20K on mine. I presume they are permanently sealed.

[jwhughes3]

Mine has 70,000 and has not failed.

John

[CLTBLUESMAN]

Jeez

These sound like something I might need some day! Am I too late?

[James England]

How many miles do the original bearings last? I've only got 20K on mine. I presume they are permanently sealed.

It very much depends on how they have been maintained. Large mileages are easily possible if the bearing is regularly cleaned and new grease applied. But, therein lies the problem....people don't do it. Often, the bearing is running on dried up 30 year old grease that looks like candle fat. Then they finally give up.

[James England]

Arrival of small cache

Hi XSives.

I received 17 bearings this morning I've PMd everyone who contacted me or posted in this thread, asking me to get in touch.

It seems the best way to do this on a first come first served arrangement, don't you think? Because of a recent increase in the postage rates here in the UK, the total cost has gone up slightly. The post office increased the international airmail small packet rate by 50% in one go. No wonder people use private couriers. Anyway, one bearing will cost $41.80 delivered. Two will cost $76.80. Three will cost $115. That's all at cost.


So, there it is, folks. If for some reason they don't all go, I'll put the others on eBay but I would prefer it if members of our excellent forum get first option.

[James England]

These sound like something I might need some day! Am I too late?

10 left now. Do you still want one?

[XJkid]

It very much depends on how they have been maintained. Large mileages are easily possible if the bearing is regularly cleaned and new grease applied. But, therein lies the problem....people don't do it. Often, the bearing is running on dried up 30 year old grease that looks like candle fat. Then they finally give up.

I looked at my XJ OEM service manual in the lube and maintenance section and it does not mention greasing them, just replacing them. It mentions repacking the steering head bearings, though.

[James England]

I looked at my XJ OEM service manual in the lube and maintenance section and it does not mention greasing them, just replacing them. It mentions repacking the steering head bearings, though.

You can't trust the manual, I'm afraid. So, it says nothing about regreasing them, so people don't do it, so the bearing fails and people find their bikes off the road.......

The OEM manuals are pretty useless. After-market manuals are a great help but by no means infallible. The Clymer manual especially has some serious errors in it.....

Definitely check, clean and re grease that bearing. Or you'll end up having to buy a new one...like it says in the OEM manual!

[MPittma100]

Got Mine

Hi James,

Got mine a day or so ago. Thanks again for looking after your fellow XSives.

This bearing was OK on the last bike that I took the rear wheel off of. But the other side single bearing was not good. Crossed it with an SKF bearing dealer and all was good. So the single bearing is quite obtainable as compared to the double one. A bearing dealer online for this bearing is much cheaper than from Yamaha. About a third of the Yamaha dealer price.

Mike

[James England]

Hi James,

Got mine a day or so ago. Thanks again for looking after your fellow XSives.

This bearing was OK on the last bike that I took the rear wheel off of. But the other side single bearing was not good. Crossed it with an SKF bearing dealer and all was good. So the single bearing is quite obtainable as compared to the double one. A bearing dealer online for this bearing is much cheaper than from Yamaha. About a third of the Yamaha dealer price.

Mike

excellent that it arrived OK. Yes, the right side bearing is readily available from any bearing supplier as its a standard size and design. The tricky one is the left side, although I know that many XSives have squirrelled away quite a supply of them.... It's odd that it was the rights side that had failed on your bike...usually it's the left side or both. Possibly the left had already been changed?

[3Phase]

excellent that it arrived OK. Yes, the right side bearing is readily available from any bearing supplier as its a standard size and design. The tricky one is the left side, although I know that many XSives have squirrelled away quite a supply of them.... It's odd that it was the rights side that had failed on your bike...usually it's the left side or both. Possibly the left had already been changed?

James,

The left-hand bearing handles the radial torque load from the Final Drive and supports the weight on the left side of the rear wheel. It does not carry any axial load at all because the axle will just slide, erm, axially through the needles in the bearing. Needle bearings are not tolerant of off-axis loads.

The right-hand bearing supports some of the radial load from the Final Drive and the weight on the right side of the wheel along with all of the axial loads and most of the off-axis loads.

If you look at the bearing layout geometry there is a triangle formed with the needle bearing and the ball bearing with the ball bearing forming the Base and the two sides meeting at an Apex on the left-hand end of the axle just past the outer end of the needle bearing.

Triangles are only strong when their vertices and their sides do not move. If the vertices and sides of a triangle can move they assume some form of dynamic but much less robust geometry that will put even more off-axis loads on the bearings. The axial and off-axis loads on the rear wheel eventually start to wear out the ball bearing and it will start to get sloppy. You probably won't be able to see or feel the wear but the slop will allow the axle to begin to move off-axis and put more off-axis loads on the needle bearing. Imagine a Chav wobbling a gigantic power drill in a precision hole to enlarge the hole.

The ball bearing doesn't do as well with axial or off-axis loads as it does with radial loads but the needle bearing will begin to overheat and cook off its lubrication. When the lubrication is cooked so is the bearing. The needle bearing can be destroyed but the ball bearing may appear to be serviceable. Take care of the right-hand ball bearing. Grease it every time you change the rear tire and replace it if it begins to show any wear.

I'm changing the right-hand bearing in Columbo just because it's been five years and sixty-thousand miles even though it doesn't appear to have any wear at all, yet, and neither does the needle bearing. I want to keep it that way, too!


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