Wheel bearing question

[corndog]

Need a little help. I tried a search but still am confused.

I pulled my wheels for new tires. The rear bearings feel good. Front wheel bearings feel tight and inner races will not turn independently. I need to stick a finger tightly in each inner race to get them to turn and it feels like both inner races and spacer are turning as a unit. No real gritty feel just tight. No signs of axle spinning inside inner races of either wheel bearing. No rust, very little dirt.

Bike is a 2015 with 18,000 miles on it. I am a road rider and bike has not been in rain much at all. Seals look perfect, but I did not remove them. I was going to get my buddy at Yamaha to change my tires and am thinking now I may need front wheel bearings.

I already got part numbers from a post here.

Thoughts from the collective?

 

[Don in Lodi]

I just went through this very thing on my last tire change. I'd been concerned about the stiffness of the bearing on the last couple tire changes. Once the bearing was free of the hub and the tension from the spacer it spun just as freely and smoothly as the new ones. I'm saving the old ones for spares.

 

[BWC]

Need a little help. I tried a search but still am confused.

I pulled my wheels for new tires. The rear bearings feel good. Front wheel bearings feel tight and inner races will not turn independently. I need to stick a finger tightly in each inner race to get them to turn and it feels like both inner races and spacer are turning as a unit. No real gritty feel just tight. No signs of axle spinning inside inner races of either wheel bearing. No rust, very little dirt.

I also noticed the the front wheel bearings on my 12 felt as you described them. At each tire change I would check the F&R bearings and the fronts always showed a fair bit of resistance before they would turn. They always felt smooth mind you and they moved on with the bike to its new owner at 130,000km without any problems.

 

[corndog]

Thank you both for responding, I am off to get tires. I will let you know what my service manager buddy thinks later.

 

[scott123007]

Thank you both for responding, I am off to get tires. I will let you know what my service manager buddy thinks later.

If your service manager is truly a buddy, he will be honest with you and tell you that they are 100 percent normal. If he tells you differently, he is not your buddy, LOL.

 

[scott123007]

I just went through this very thing on my last tire change. I'd been concerned about the stiffness of the bearing on the last couple tire changes. Once the bearing was free of the hub and the tension from the spacer it spun just as freely and smoothly as the new ones. I'm saving the old ones for spares.

Don, saving those bearings for a "dire emergency" may be justifiable, but you never should re-use a bearing which has been removed by its inner race, which is virtually the only way to remove wheel bearings.

 

[corndog]

Well, I got the tires on. My SM buddy and I have known each other for years. He has done a few Tenere wheels now and thinks the bearings are a little tighter than normal and ever so slightly "knotchy". I think they are smooth, just tight. His advice and my gut feeling is they are fine for another tire change easy. I am headed to a rally next week that I have really been looking forward to and waiting on parts would mess me up. No bearing house in town had the 60/22.

My buddy is going to submit a warranty claim against my YES for the bearings and seals/labor since it is only at 18,000 miles. I am going to wear out another Anakee 3 and he is going to replace the bearings next trip in so we can see them out of the wheels.

This is interesting though and I had the same thought he had last night, which he voiced to me today. We both believe the Tenere wheel is machined with the bearing bore too deep or the collar maybe too long. So, when the bearings are driven into the wheel they are putting side load on the inner races and trapping the collar, pushing the balls against the outer race. Today when he agreed with me, I pondered that maybe the tension from the axle being torqued down may be enough compression to give the inner races some inward movement.....We both kinda shrugged.

Again I thank everybody who took their time to chime in. I helps give me "peace of mind" riding it...... ::021::