Looks like new bearings again....

[Mellow]

I had to have my bearings replaced last year before WeSTOC, at the time I also put on a Metzler 880 rear tire..

I was going to change the tire for my up coming Big Bend trip.

It looks like the Metzler could have gone another 500-1000 miles.

The bearings are toast, metal shavings and falling apart...

I'm thinking, I must have a bad wheel or something... Or, Metzler should start making bearings...

[Mellow]

I don't think it's the wheel. Check the condition of the Rubber Dampers, Part Number 06410-MCS-G00. I think this is going to be a continual problem. If there is any play in the Driven Flange it is going to eat bearings. Seeing that the Driven Flange is rubber mounted there is going to be play.
I keep a set of Dampers, $ 17.62 Service Honda, and a set of bearings on hand at all times. Bearing Number 6905RS, Honda Number 91052-KZ4-J21.

Paul

The bike has 27k miles on it... first set of bearings at 19k.. Dampers going out after 19k miles? That seems unusual...

[jeff4912]

Is this a problem alot of ST's are having or is it like the coolant leak and only a few unfortunate ones have it ?

That sucks though, not something you want to have to worry about all the time. :mad:

[Mellow]

Very few have had this problem, just check them between tire changes and you should be fine.

[basco]

I think its his "stopies"

[dond]

Damn Joe..

I noticed something. The bearings in the driven flange were rough feeling after only 11,000 miles following replacement by Honda (47K). I decided to replace them again myself. After I removed the old bearings they were smooth as a baby's butt. They muST have been inSTalled either not seated all the way or cockeyed..or both. There was also a thick layer of greese put there by Honda that COULD have prevented the drive and driven from coming together properly, causing a side load on the bearings. That being said, that was 6K miles ago and I have not looked at them since.. I took great pains to make sure the self replaced bearings were seated fully and were smooth after inSTall and there was NO grease at the NO GREASE REQUIRED spot. My rear tire is at about 50% so it will be a while before I remove the wheel again.
Let's keep an eye on this and make sure we report it to Honda (FWIW). I did tell a Torrance rep that was looking at my wire rub about this issue and he (believe it or not) sounded intereSTed and asked more Q's.

[Mellow]

Looks like my wheel is ready... The dealer wants me to bring the bike in after I have the wheel mounted so they can check everything else.

I'm thinking I want to wait 'til after my Big Bend trip. But, that's my heart talking, my mind says "don't be a fool, take it in", so I'm sure I will.

The more I remember about the last bearing replacement at a different dealer the more I'm thinking they weren't seated properly. I'll get the wheel on my way home from work and if the center sleeve appears to have some play, as it did with the last replacement, I'll ask about it. I sure wasn't expecting it to be done today, I'm happy about that.

It's 72 degrees now but a massive cold front is moving in and it might get down to the low to mid 40's... burrrrrrrrrr until it gets back into the 70's for the weekend (just a little jab for our northern friends.... :a13: )

[Killtimer]

It's 72 degrees now but a massive cold front is moving in and it might get down to the low to mid 40's... burrrrrrrrrr until it gets back into the 70's for the weekend (just a little jab for our northern friends.... :a13: )

That I took right on the point of my for winter warmth beard covered chin. :rolleyes:

Hope the wheel's fixed for good this time.

Steve

[George Radominski]

I wander if the rear wheel bearings failure could be associated with improper torqueing sequence of the final gear case to the swingarm and the rear axle. Shop manual states (16-13/2004) to torque the rear axle first then to torque the gear case. I believe that someone else has mentioned importance of this sequence. If the gear case is misaligned it could place an excessive load on the bearings. Just a thought.
George.

[Mike]

Nah, I have never torqued my axle nuts, I just go by feel, I figure that after over thirty years of wrenching I have earned that right and I don't carry a torque wrench with me on the road. I have no bearing issues on my ST and think some of you are on the right track with cockeyed installation of the bearing.

[Mellow]

I put the wheel back on earlier and once I got the wheel lined up, the axle just slid right through, I seem to recall, no pun intended, that I had to force it more last time.

I wonder if loosening the gear case bolts then re-torqueing them will relieve any possible misalignment...

[Mellow]

Yeah, I'll take it into the dealer and have them do whatever inspection they do then ask them what it is that they look for.

[dond]

I wander if the rear wheel bearings failure could be associated with improper torqueing sequence of the final gear case to the swingarm and the rear axle. Shop manual states (16-13/2004) to torque the rear axle first then to torque the gear case. I believe that someone else has mentioned importance of this sequence. If the gear case is misaligned it could place an excessive load on the bearings. Just a thought.
George.
Geo, the wheel bearings are NOT failing. In Mellow's case it is the final driven flange bearings. Same bearings for me but mine were juST rough and did not fail. In any case, it never hurts to align the final drive case now and then again whenever it is removed or loosened.
LeST anyone panic that is a grand total of ONE failure.

[SporTnTR]

I want to be able to get notified of future posts on this thread. There must be a better way than to just do a post like this?

[Mellow]

I want to be able to get notified of future posts on this thread. There must be a better way than to just do a post like this?

If you go to the top of the thread, there's a drop down that says Thread Tools, click that and then click the Subscribe to this Thread link, it will take you to the subscription section of your UserCP and you can click the 'Add Subscription' buttion and you can get an instant update via email everytime someone posts to this thread.

Hope that helps.

[Mellow]

Geo, the wheel bearings are NOT failing. In Mellow's case it is the final driven flange bearings. Same bearings for me but mine were juST rough and did not fail. In any case, it never hurts to align the final drive case now and then again whenever it is removed or loosened.
LeST anyone panic that is a grand total of ONE failure.

Don,

In my first case it was just the flange bearings but in this case it was the flange and the inner drive side bearings (if they explained it to me correctly). They replaced them all as the flange ones were disinegrated.

Maybe once the flange bearings went it caused undo pressure on the others causing another failure?

I rode into work this morning, 21 miles, and the axle isn't even warm so it appears like everything is okay. I'll report back once I have a chance to take it to the dealer and have them check out the rest.

[dond]

Mlellow:
I had NO idea the w/b were involved. I muSTa missed it. Remember the early Valk r/w/b failures?..The overtorquing of the axle was a major player there. The spacer was getting deformed and loading the bearings. Even LaMont...In a moment of incredible humility (rare) admitted to that.

[crazykz]

Ok I just had to put my axle nut back on from the cruise install and I have to put new tires on soon also.

I don't have a torque wrench so do I now have to worry about over torquing the rear axle nut?

Curt

[Mellow]

Mlellow:
I had NO idea the w/b were involved. I muSTa missed it. Remember the early Valk r/w/b failures?..The overtorquing of the axle was a major player there. The spacer was getting deformed and loading the bearings. Even LaMont...In a moment of incredible humility (rare) admitted to that.

I remember the valk bearing issues, I never had one issue in 44k miles.

Because of that I carefully torque my axle bolt to the specified 80 ft lbs.

Curt, the configuration of the rear end of the ST and a Valk are very different but I would think with any wishbone rear frame setup, you'd want to ensure your axle bolts are properly torqued, anything involving bearings should be strictly kept within the specs of the manual.

I don't know if over torqueing the rear axle would cause the flange bearing failure I had, I'm just not that knowledgable...

[SporTnTR]

Thanks Mellow, found it.

Interesting thread here. I never would have thought about a spacer getting deformed little by little but it makes sense to me now. I'm going to get a torsional armed torque wrench to replace my click type. I don't trust the click type anymore and there just aren't that many times that visibility is a problem. I'm also going to get a low torque ranged one, one that measures 0 to 25 lbft or so. I've found that a 10 to 150 ftlb one isn't even close to be trusted with torques in that lower range. I have a feeling far too many oil drain bolts are being torqued with too big a T wrench and consequently crush washers are getting deformed faster than they need to. I don't replace the washer each time, generally i get 2 to 3 oil changes out of a crush washer without it looking too squashed down. The trick is in only torqueing it a minute amount beyond it's last torque. It is very much a 'feel' thing. Of course if i remember to have some extras on hand then that is best. I'm not advocating to re-use a crush washer btw.

Anybody have some suggestions for a good name in a torsional T wrench? Price? Does it have to be Snap On to ensure accuracy?

[dond]

I replaced my plugged (and leaking) ME880 today and after 9000 miles, my driven flange bearings..-->InSTalled by ME<--- were juST fine. Smooth and tight. I know damned well that the shop put 'em in cockeyed and used way too much grease in the area where juST a bit will do.

Good news I'd say.

The numbers for my bike are:

1ST rough bearings noticed and replaced under warranty by Honda at 47k miles.
2nd rough bearings noticed and replaced by owner 11k miles later.
Bearings inspected and are OK at 67k miles.