• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

New wheel bearings

  • Thread starter Thread starter ikantbreave
  • Start date Start date
Darin Jordan said:
Interesting... Curious as to why my front ones are showing play at only 23,000 then... Should I be looking for something else that may be an issue??
Click to expand...

There are many factors besides just mileage. Weathering, seal quality, installation practices, etc. Bearings MAY last that long but I don't think it's typical in a 30-year old bike to have original bearings. They're something that should be checked every time you have your wheels off; many people just replace them every so often as a matter of course (every or every other tire change for example). Make sure you have the proper spacers in place.
 
Just a note.
When replacing sealed wheel bearings, you can remove the external seals and re-pack them with the synthetic grease of your choice. ;)
The seals snap right back in.

Daniel
 
Very few people service wheel bearings but doing so will extend their life. I suspect most bearing failures relate to either water entry or the grease drying out.

I put All Balls bearings in one bike and they seemed fine. I don't think they are of equal quality to the Japanese bearings originally used by Suzuki, but good enough.
 
Last edited:
Great thread, and it answered the question I had.

I found VXB Bearings who sell the 6302-2RS and 6303-2RS for my GS1000G for $3 and $4 each respectively, and shipping is $7. One All Balls kit with two bearings is like $10. They also sell Nachi Japan bearings for a higher price, 6302-2NSE for $7 each and 6303-2NSE for $8 each. I used an All Balls set on my red 1000G, but think I will try the Japan bearings on the blue one.
 
So McMaster-Carr has double sealed 6302's that evidently don't dissipate heat as well as the open bearings or shielded bearings but are great for preventing contamination. In our application would the double sealed ones be fine as far as heat dissipation? I got some 6302's from them that turned out to be totally open with no shield on either side (my own error) and I'm thinking they may not really be the best idea.
 
I've used the double sealed wheel bearings for years on my bike, with the exception of the large open bearing in the rear. Never had a problem with them. The open bearings, I've had a couple fail on me, mostly the front bearings. Caught them before anything happened thank god.
 
The OEM wheel bearings use a seal on the outside but they are either open or just shielded in the inside.

All Balls bearings use a rubber seal on both sides.

Either way I don't think durability is a factor. Main thing is to keep water out so as long as you have a seal on at least one side you will be okay.
 
Thanks Ed. I'm just wondering what keeps the grease from oozing out the inside if there is no shield there. Seem like I read here somewhere that the action of the bearing spinning tends to actually pull grease in rather than allow it to flow out. The bearings I took out had no seal on the inside.
 
I stick with Koyo when available. For what All Balls is charging I can get Koyo, Timken, SKF from my local agri-parts supplier, who has an immense selection of bearings on his shelf.
Relatedly, I've never had a Koyo bearing fail, but after 100K, a couple of them started to feel a bit ragged, so got replaced. When these bikes were in regular daily long-distance use, they rarely consumed wheel bearings at all (except the shake-out of previously-fitted PO cheap ones and OEM factory bearings that had failed seals), but more general private and personal use seems to revert the situation back to less of a bearing lifespan, more in keeping with that experienced by other owners. Even at that, Koyo seem to last a Looooooooong Time.
Really, decent bearings are so cheap, it's not worth cheaping out with cheap crap - your neck depends on them.
 
The only reason there's only one seal on some OEM bearings is that it saved Suzuki something like 0.2 yen per bike.

Again, remember that these bearings are standard industrial bearings engineered for much, much higher loads, speeds, and temperatures than they ever see on a motorcycle.

Only two things kill motorcycle wheel bearings: installation errors and contamination. I've never seen one wear out, but I've seen lots that were damaged when the bearing or the wheel was installed (most often leaving out spacers).

I've also seen lots of wheel bearings that were damaged by water entry. For example, if you rescue a GS, you'll often find that the right side front wheel bearing has water in it from sitting on the kickstand in the rain. Quite often there's water and corrosion in the wheel hub and the left bearing as well.
 
bwringer said:
I've also seen lots of wheel bearings that were damaged by water entry. For example, if you rescue a GS, you'll often find that the right side front wheel bearing has water in it from sitting on the kickstand in the rain. Quite often there's water and corrosion in the wheel hub and the left bearing as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed with all of that, and especially the last point. The ones I had that failed early were the single-sealed OEMs and they had signs of water ingress, likely from what you describe, but also, once the seal goes the bikes that are used for year-round general commuting purposes in the UK have a short bearing lifespan left, as the road salt gets in and wreaks havoc.

Not every bearing maker is the same - I had stuck with Koyo long before I worked for a bearing maker. One of our customers was Koyo. We had to bust a gut to meet their stringent requirements and tolerances.
That impressed the crap outa me, I can tell you. I already knew they were good - it was then that I realised how good.
We also made balls for various other brands - you would be surprised just how slack and cheap was acceptable enough for some of them.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top