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Front Wheel Bearing Gone

I took my 09 Ultra in for the 10k service and when I picked it up my dealership told me they replaced the front tire due to cupping and also replaced the wheel bearing. “No charge…it’s under warranty”
 
Had a similar experience at 26,000 miles on my 09. Over the course of a week I was hearing a "rushing" or "swooshing" sound from the front end. Suspected the brake pads. Put the bike on a lift, removed the front calipers and spun the front wheel. There it was! Without any weight on the front axle it actually was making a grinding noise. Checked for any side to side and or up and down movement on the wheel, and there was none. Just bad bearings. This bike has never had a high pressure washing or even a garden hose turned on it. Just bucket washes. Anyway, for once I was in luck as the bike had 3 days of warranty left on it. Took it in and they replaced with the same cheap bearings they come with. There are far too many bearings being replaced in these new bikes. Just sayin.
 
flhrrider said:
I replaced the fronts on my '08 road king. The package was clearly marked " Made in Korea, South."
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Did your bearings come in actual HD packaging. The bearing(s) I purchased came in HD packaging and had no place of origin on them. The bearing seal had HD's own internal house part number on it instead of the universal 6205 bearing number.

On items like bearings, it would not surprise me that the dealership buys them from a wholesaler and pushes them off as HD at full HD MSRP since they are not a propitiatory size or dimension.
 
Jack Klarich said:
Be careful washing your wheels, keep high pressure away from the bearings
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I have never washed my bike. The only time it gets wet is when I get caught in the rain. A lot of Pledge and constant wiping and polishing every nook and cranny keeps it quite nice!
 
Had a bearing go bad on my 98 Fatboy (the front one) (not a sealed bearing) in the middle of nowhere. Now I repack every tire and replace every other tire. They are cheap and if they go bad at speed you can have a REALLY bad day. On the sealed (my 06 Streetglide) I am replacing every 10k. Pretty cheap insurance....Your life your money.
 
Has anyone noticed this? During a post ride cleaning found oil spot (grease) on the right side of the front wheel, where oil would fall with the bike on the jiffy stand. Suspected the wheel bearing, I watched it the rest of the summer never noticed it again. I think that high ambient temperatures, high speeds, melts the grease which flies clear at highway speeds going mostly detected until bearing failure occurs. Haven't changed mine, but will check them for sure....
 
Hoople said:
I can only speak for my bike. Both Front & Rear are 6205 (special seal) Caged Ball bearings. The easiest way to test them which will give you an early warning heads up is to ride the bike in a Very quiet area with the engine off. Get up to 40 miles per hour,, pull in the clutch & KILL the engine. Now in dead silence,, sweep the bars left to right and bias the bearing from a left sweep to upright to a right sweep turn. Do this as you slowly loose speed. With the engine Off in a quiet area, you will know if your bearings are going bad.

I have had Ball bearings sound and feel "Pretty Good" while the bearing was in my hand, but sounded absolutely terrible while under pressure with a heavy load. The Race is a channel so the Balls will support a load while the bike is 90* vertical and also when the bike is leaning. Load the bearing in all plane and listen. Any imperfection in the bearing will travel up the front fork legs. Small imperfections get amplified especially in the Front wheel. The Rear will be a little harder to notice.

You can also jack up the bike and push the brake pads back into the calipers. Since the front wheel has no belt drag, it should be DEAD silent with no small "cracking" noise while turning by hand. A Good Bearing will be DEAD SILENT.
The rear wheel is more of a challenge because of the belt.

When you ride the bike you will hear bad bearings WAY before they are falling apart.
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Thanks Hoople!!! got to try that very good advice. nice to know
 
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