changing front wheel bearing?
 

i ordered some all balls bearings and theyre finally in. ive been getting some drag on my front wheel plus the bike has like 57000km on it so im gonna do them to be safe. i searched here and even the service manual and didnt come up with the help i needed. tried to google the answer off another bike and didnt come up with much.

for those who have done front wheel bearings, do you have a helpful link and perhaps some pictures for me? are they pressed in? do i need to use a BFH to get them out? :)

Yes they are pressed in. I don't have a link but if you. Search you can find good descriptions on google. You need to under stand there is a distance collar- just a long tube the axle slides through - that separates the to bearings and the race rides on that. There is room inside the hub for that collar to move just a little bit from side to side. And it usually is held in place on one end so only moves on the opposite end. If you reach inside you can try to push it from each end and understand which side moves. That movement will give you just a tiny bit of lip in the inner race to feel. Than you need a long drift- napa carries an assortment of them - I got one and heated it up so I could put a bend in the end of it to get some angle on it. You can try to mess around with a bent screw driver but you will just frustrater yourself and waste time. Then from the opposite end you could slide the distance collar over you put the drift inside the hub and slowly hammer out the bearing. Keep moving the distance collar away around the circle so you can gradually hammer all around the perimeter gradually. Eventually the bearing will be out. Then the distance collar will fall out. Turn wheel over and do damns to other side. Heating the hub a bit can help but not necessary. For install freeze the bearings over night and warm the hub. Get something the right diameter to run on the outer race to hammer than in. Don't use the old bearing to do that. The balls will touch and ruin the new ones.
Pick up a copy of 101 sportbike projects at the bookstore. I remember it has great pictures and a million other good tips on these kids of projects. Good luck.

Get a punch long approximately 12". If you don't have the correct punch, go to Princess Auto and you can get a set of varying sizes for next to nothing.
Put the rim on the bench or floor and using the punch, displace the spacer sideways at the lower bearing exposing the bearing inner race. Using the same punch, drive the inner bearing race slightly out on one side. The spacer will loosen and you will be able to move the spacer sideways on the opposite side and punch the opposite side of the inner bearing race. Continue working the bearing out. Once the bearing it is out, the spacer will simply fall out. Flip the wheel and remove the opposite bearing.
Press in a new bearing on one side. You can use a socket of the correct diameter that will be slightly smaller that the outer race or use a piece of metal or plastic pipe of the correct diameter. Just make sure the bearing is going in straight at the start. Press the new bearing enough to just seat against the stop. Flip the wheel and insert the spacer and proceed to press in the bearing ensuring you don't over press the bearing otherwise the bearings will be difficult to turn. I know by experience. You may have to insert the wheel bolt to center the spacer with the bearing inner race.
To make it easier to press in the bearings, you can freeze the bearing to shrink the steel. This isn't absolutely necessary. You can also use a hydraulic press if you have access to one. This is easier and alignment isn't an issue. I've done it both ways.
The whole job takes just 15 minutes. Now sit back and have a cold one.

There is a much simpler way of pressing bearings in though once you have taken them out using a punch...

A piece of threaded rod, a bunch of sturdy washers and a couple of nut's and a socket the same size as the outer race... Align things using the socket to push the bearing, and then just thread the nut down until you have pressed the bearing in... The washers are used on the other side of the wheel, to hold the rod and should be large enough to contact the metal lip on the wheel, not crush the bearing... Then you simply start with the bearings in correct order, and pop the spacer in there between...

excellent thanks for the help and descriptive write ups guys. im gonna go and pick up my stuff today and get them done before my next ride. thanks again

Getting them in doesn't require a press of any type. Freeze them !! The metal will contract and drop right in. My head bearings went in this way too. :cool:

Fish

On a very good day, when all the starts align... Well, yes, that could happen... Note "could"...

But on a normal day, the days that I usually manage to alot for swapping bearings, it's not normally that easy, and when the bearings go halway down and then start to bind, you better have that press ready, because once the bearing is up to temperature, and you start to fiddle with it, you have already damaged either the bearing, or the material holding it...

So then you either need to know what you are doing, tapping the bearing very evenly down into place, without putting pressure in any wrong place, or a bit simpler, having a very crude, homemade press at hand that is a bit less likely to put pressure the wrong way because it is more or less self centering, if you crank down a bit, loosen and wiggle and then go again...

Then, if it's a good day, you never need the press... On a normal day, you do... And the day that you need it, and doesn't have it ready when the bearings stick... That's a bad day... ;)

damnit tweety youre such a pessimist at times, lol. ill just bring the wheel to my buddy who manages a shop and get him to press the fuckers in for me :)

Bah... You are lazy... ;)

I prefer to see my self as a realist... "I plan to fail, instead of failing to plan..." Usually then, the failures are correctable... ;)

haha very true. ive got a spare set of wheels so if i mess one up i have an extra to use. lol. would i be safe to throw a little lube on the outside of the bearing to help it go in?

No lube. And if its your first time it wont be a 15 minute job. Just take your time. Its satisfying once done. I like tweetys suggestion and will try it next time.
Tweety: I am used to listening for the change in sound to know they are fully seated. Do you just stop when you hit an increase in resistance?

I'd use lube. A spray of WD40 in the bearing bore or a wipe of a moly grease. I've worked with bearing removal and installation daily for 24 years.

good to know thanks guys. ill get it done next week. we'll see how it goes :)

Yeah c'mon uchi, where is the pride in running to your big friend and yelling help? Its your bike, you need to know and understand it & this is only one step. Dont neglect her.

Yeah, you can quite easily feel the bearing make solid contact if you do it slow and smooth... The key to making it easy, is to seat the bearing straight first, and then at intervalls loosen and wiggle... If you do that, you never end up pulling it crooked because the rod or washers have moved a little our of place...

I can do it in the same time than I can "tap" a bearing down, and I'm confident I'm not going to sideload the bearing, or hit it or the lip/rim/whatever in a bad way... Both work, but I like this way better...

I'm all for preventive maintenance but what makes you think the front wheel bearings are bad? Can you detect any play? Does the inner race rotate smoothly? If there's no play and the bearing rotates smoothly, changing the bearing may make you feel better but won't be an improvement.
As far as I know, the things that destroy wheel bearings are grit, water and lack of lubrication. Assuming the seals are good and you didn't install the wheel under water or in a sandstorm, I'd expect the wheel bearings to be OK.

hes got a press at his place in case things go bad and has the proper punches to get them out. plus he does them all the time. chances are ill end up doing it for my own benefit and ill get him to jump in and help if i hit a snag. im all for doing things on my own but its nice to have someone atleast watch over me whos done it a thousand times incase i have an issue :)
comedo, im getting some resistance when i spin the front wheel and i can hear it making a bit of noise aswell. so with the bike having over 50000km on it its just preventative maintenance if nothing else.