Article [13] ST1300 - Rear Flange Bearing Replacement

This took some thought to figure out.

Thanks to help from John aka BakerBoy, I googled what that bearing looks like inside. These parts are/were the cage that holds the balls in place.

The history is, ~8k miles ago I took my bike to Ferrous Horse who told me that the bearings disintegrated because the last person to install (local honda dealer replaced my rear tire before that) put them in backwards. The bearing were damaged severely.

I am now reasoning that:
A) These were the original bearings that simply went bad--since this is a known issue with some STs. And
B) Ferrous Horse didn't clean the spline or gear set thoroughly and therefore left these pieces.

There were 4 uniquely shaped pieces which didn't make sense to me. That even number was like a red herring. So, if F.H. only cleaned out what they saw leaving the remaining debris, then all this makes sense. This stuff was pushed back to the innermost part of the final gear set still buried in grease. From this, I'm further guessing that they didn't replace the moly, and either left it as is, or added a little more.

I feel a lot better now as my bearings look just like Joe's photos.
 
Good to hear you figured out the issue. FYI, there is no 'backwards' for these bearings load-wise or rotation-wise, other than the single seal ending up on the wrong side of the bearing (F.H. was apparently just 'grabbing at straws' as to an explanation).

Edit: ... the Honda OEM bearings use a nylon seal. The pictures you provided show a metallic seal ... there had to be another bearing change somewhere along the line.
 
Excellent post Joe!

Discovered that mine were shot when changing my tire last weekend.

Took a couple days for the Honda shop to get new bearings and Major_Tom came over today to give me a hand. He had to change his last year.

Went very smoothly having read this post during the week.

90,420 KM in 2.5 years - hopefully the new set will last as long.

Bruce
 
Al Gully said:
I personally bought a sleeve of 10 of them from China, removed all the crappy grease they put in them and repacked them with a synthetic Mobil grease.
8,000 miles on them so far and no abnormal noises. Will check them on my next tire change.
Click to expand...

Did the same thing... but def needed a repack of good grease. ( bought them as emerg stock and carry a couple on the bike )
I put two in from this pack over 20k ago... I was going to swap them out with quality ones ( which I have ) but fiq to see what happens. Just checked when I did brakes and feels good as new.
 
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I figured it was time to replace the flange bearings. I had just done the rear wheel bearings last fall. The wheel bearings could have kept going but the flange bearings were
shot. Nothing done on the bearings prior to this, 120,000 mi. I bought it with about 850 mi. New bearings, new tire, ready to ride. Thanks for the info Joe, everything went easy as can be.
 
OldGuy said:
I figured it was time to replace the flange bearings. I had just done the rear wheel bearings last fall. The wheel bearings could have kept going but the flange bearings were
shot. Nothing done on the bearings prior to this, 120,000 mi. I bought it with about 850 mi. New bearings, new tire, ready to ride. Thanks for the info Joe, everything went easy as can be.
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Glad to hear it.
 
I have about a dozen of these bearings in my tool drawer, these are easy and cheap to replace, so I do it about every other rear tire change (16,000miles)
 
Ok.... After reading 14 pages, here are my $64k questions: Could these bearings be one reason why some of us experience a tilt to the right on the bike when you let go of the handle bars? And, could this cause problems with the rear caliper that may cause any issues? Changing the tires yesterday, I noticed a somewhat burnt rotor and pads that were thin as paper. I knew they wearing but not that bad. Pots/pistons were a little dirty but did not want to push in well at all. One person told me to crack the bleed screw because of ABS but the fronts pushed in great. Just might be another issue. I'll check the guides again. But pumping the pads back out on the rear caused them to stiffn up to the point of too tight. IMO Partzilla.com has the best prices on OEM. Bike Bandit looks high as heck.
 
EA6BMECH said:
Ok.... After reading 14 pages, here are my $64k questions: Could these bearings be one reason why some of us experience a tilt to the right on the bike when you let go of the handle bars? And, could this cause problems with the rear caliper that may cause any issues? Changing the tires yesterday, I noticed a somewhat burnt rotor and pads that were thin as paper. I knew they wearing but not that bad. Pots/pistons were a little dirty but did not want to push in well at all. One person told me to crack the bleed screw because of ABS but the fronts pushed in great. Just might be another issue. I'll check the guides again. But pumping the pads back out on the rear caused them to stiffn up to the point of too tight. IMO Partzilla.com has the best prices on OEM. Bike Bandit looks high as heck.
Click to expand...

No, many have fixed THAT issue here:
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?40003-ST1300-Pulls-to-the-Right
 
Thanks Joe for a helpful article. Question, my ring isn't budging with pliers, does it mean it's seized or there's a trick to it? Should I be pushing pliers inward or outward after I have aligned it in ring holes?

Thanks for the help :)
 
maverickfhs said:
Thanks Joe for a helpful article. Question, my ring isn't budging with pliers, does it mean it's seized or there's a trick to it? Should I be pushing pliers inward or outward after I have aligned it in ring holes?

Thanks for the help :)
Click to expand...
Squeeze the ends of the circlip together to remove it.
 
dduelin said:
Squeeze the ends of the circlip together to remove it.
Click to expand...


So I have removed it and grease seems to be dry on the bearing, can I use axle grease or has to be specific grease, like moly lithium or sil glyde(rubber safe)?
 

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maverickfhs said:
So I have removed it and grease seems to be dry on the bearing, can I use axle grease or has to be specific grease, like moly lithium or sil glyde(rubber safe)?
Click to expand...

I use a light film of axle grease on the axle itself and the outside face of that bearing. Don't forget to look up inside the driven flange that butts up against that bearing. Tap the collar out to check the condition of the two sistered bearings that support the splined hub. The two small bearings, R6905RS Honda #91052-KZ4-J21 , if original have a history of going bad in as little as 25,000 miles.
 
dduelin said:
I use a light film of axle grease on the axle itself and the outside face of that bearing. Don't forget to look up inside the driven flange that butts up against that bearing. Tap the collar out to check the condition of the two sistered bearings that support the splined hub. The two small bearings, R6905RS Honda #91052-KZ4-J21 , if original have a history of going bad in as little as 25,000 miles.
Click to expand...
As usual thank you dduelin :)

Curious, if there's any other check/way I can test sistered bearings inside the flange before I pull them out? Also, should I clean and repack them with fresh grease too?
 
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maverickfhs said:
As usual thank you dduelin :)

Curious, if there's any other check/way I can test sistered bearings inside the flange before I pull them out? Also, should I clean and repack them with fresh grease too?
Click to expand...
Well, note the collar is a press fit inside the two bearings.

You should be able to easily press or tap the collar out from the outboard side and the bearings will remain pressed into the splines hub. You can check both bearings together with the collar in place or separately with the collar out. With a finger inside the collar lightly rotate the collar/bearing assembly. You will feel any roughness attributed to one of those bearings. If all is smooth then put it all back together and call it good.
 
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dduelin said:
Well, note the collar is a press fit inside the two bearings. With a finger inside the collar lightly rotate the collar/bearing assembly. You will feel any roughness attributed to one of those bearings. If all is smooth then put it all back together and call it good.
Click to expand...


Yes, it spins very smoothly in both directions and don't feel any obstruction or roughness. Thanks again Dave...
 
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