GS850 1979 Rear Wheel Bearings

[Guest]

I searched threads but haven't found an answer to this:

Can anyone comment on why the GS850 OEM rear wheel bearings are different on each side and have different part numbers? One seems to be rubber sealed on one side while the other seems to have a thin metal cover on one side (driven hub side).

I measured my existing bearings and they both appear to be 17mm(shaft)x47mm(dia.)x14mm(thick). I have found these dimensions confirmed online as well.

Replacements appear to be the same bearing for both sides and rubber sealed. I figure there must be some reason Suzuki didn't use the same part number...

Also, my Haynes repair manual states to "pack the hubs and bearings" with grease while the service manual doesn't appear to have any comment on this. What does everyone else do in their hubs?
- Dylan

[bwringer]

Blame some long-ago accountant. Suzuki saved about .0001 yen per bike by using the absolute bare minimum; a steel-shielded bearing on the inside, and only one rubber seal on the outside bearing.

So yeah, just plop in two regular ol' buy-em-anywhere 6303-2RS bearings (with a rubber seal on both sides) and think about something more important, like the texture of your bellybutton lint.


Some folks feel better buying high-dollar name brand bearings, but IF (big IF) they're correctly installed, no-name Chinese bearings will last just as long as the spendy stuff. These are standard metric industrial bearings made for extremely heavy loads and high speeds. The only things that can kill them when used in light duty like motorcycle wheel bearings are water intrusion and incorrect installation. If you just bash 'em in using the inner races, or keep bashing until they're side-loaded, they'll fail quickly whether they were expensive or cheap. And if you pressure wash the bearings, or leave the bike behind the barn on the kickstand for 20 years, water can get in and ruin them.

Do not add grease to new bearings; sealed bearings contain the correct amount of grease (which is a fairly small amount of grease, not crammed full) from the factory.

And no, don't pack the hubs with grease. You'll make a gawdaful mess and do zero good. Haynes is strange sometimes... like all the manuals, including the factory manual, it's shot through with weird errors and bizarre pronouncements like that, so you have to read them all with extreme caution.



It is important on a shaftie to put just a light coating of molybdenum paste on the drive spline. Regular grease, even molybdenum grease, won't do the job; you need stuff that has a much higher moly content, like Loctite LB8012.

And make sure you don't slobber on so much that it gets into the drive spline seal. Moly paste is somewhat abrasive to plastic and rubber. It's also no good for sliding or rolling moving parts. But it's just the ticket for preventing fretting wear on metal splines that don't really move relative to one another.

[Grimly]

Some folks feel better buying high-dollar name brand bearings, but IF (big IF) they're correctly installed, no-name Chinese bearings will last just as long as the spendy stuff. .

I totally disagree, and the price to buy some really good bearings - Koyo, for example, is hardly any more than the cheap rubbish.
Take my word for it, as someone who used to work in a bearing factory, where we produced balls for Koyo. Their standards of material and tolerance were far tighter than any of the other makers we supplied, and amongst them were some really big names.

[Nessism]

Cheap as dirt All Balls bearing kits are perfectly serviceable. No doubt they are Chinese made but that doesn't seem to affect their useful life any. Install some and forget about your wheel bearings for the next 10 years, if not longer.

[Grimly]

Ok, fit the rubbish if you want.
It's one of the really most penny-pinching things you can do, since decent quality bearings are not expensive.
All-Balls?
Don't make me laugh.
Utter crap.

[Nessism]

Ok, fit the rubbish if you want.
It's one of the really most penny-pinching things you can do, since decent quality bearings are not expensive.
All-Balls?
Don't make me laugh.
Utter crap.

Actually, I looked for name brand bearings when rebuilding my KZ and they were quite expensive. I don't remember the specifics but the difference was quite significant.

[bwringer]

My opinions on bearings are controversial, I'll admit, but they are founded in a fair bit of experience as a busy amateur.

I've never once had a problem with All Balls kits or with less expensive generic Chinese bearings.

But that's my experience and my opinion.

If you are of a different opinion, then please, do whatever makes you happiest.

If that's paying 10-20X the price (yes, really.. the cost difference is that crazy, at least in the US) that's perfectly fine; it's still not all that much money in the long run. $2 vs. $25 per bearing isn't going to drive anyone into bankruptcy. If you're talking about All Balls kits, then there's less of a cost difference because of their markup; you're paying for convenience, and they provide wheel seals on bikes that need them.

Quite a few folks also feel strongly that you should pre-damage your bearing seals by popping them out so you can stuff the bearing full of grease. Honestly, they're not spinning at anywhere near their rated 30,000 rpm or rated weight capacity in a motorcycle wheel, so stuffing them full of grease won't cause overheating or skating/galling by itself. But removing the seals does do some damage to the seals, and unless you remove all the original grease, you can't be certain that your added grease is compatible. Plus, the overstuffed bearing will ooze grease.

Again, do what you prefer.

[storm 64]

Dorkburger set me straight a long time ago about packing sealed wheel bearings full of grease. In our application it probably won't hurt one way or the other other than making a mess. But in a high rpm senerio it could cause over heating and premature bearing failure.

[Guest]

Thank you all for the added opinions and info.

In a somewhat remote location of Canada our buying options are limited. I expect our American and central Canadian members have a lot more options for items in-stock and don't have to fuss with outrageous delivery and customs charges when doing mail-order. I was reading posts by a Norwegian member and couldn't believe what he was dealing with.

I do have bearings on the way, but no comment on the brand! Haha. No doubt I may have to try harder if and when these ones fail

At least wish me luck!
- Dylan

[Grimly]

I wasn't trying to start a fight, honest.
In the past few decades I've always fitted Koyo when I could get them. After having been stranded with a collapsed rear wheel bearing on my Beemer, I never trusted any of the others, and who knows what POs fit to them, so you simply can't take longevity of already fitted bearings for granted. They might be cheap rubbish or they might have been abused to near death.
I can get genuine Koyo bearings here for about fifteen quid a wheel, front or rear. At that price, it's simply daft to try to save a couple of quid.
In fact, the only cheapy bearing I've bought in recent years was for the bottom of a turnable radio pole, and the only reason I bought that one was the price. A big name version of that bearing was nearly a hundred bucks. I spent about twenty, instead. Of course, if that bearing fails it's not going to risk anyone's life or safety, as it's totally encapsulated and not out on the road.