Let me start by saying that you guys and this forum are awesome. I really appreciate all of the great information, advice, stories, technical data and I am sure a few lies that get posted here daily. Last week and this week at work I have had nothing to do...yes, literally nothing to do, so I have been here and/or on other sites all day long. Ok now to the point. My bike is sitting at home with what I hope is only bad front wheel bearings waiting for me to get off work to take it for repair. I have been researching the hell out of the issue and think I may have found another issue. The buddy that helped me work on the bike yesterday and I were looking at the owners manual posted on this site (Thank you Spud) and he thinks that maybe the spacer/sleeve shown in the photo below is not in there. We didnt remove the bearings yesterday only greased everyhting well. But he thinks when he had his finger in that space that he doesnt remeber if he flt it there. This may be the reason for the bad bearings and also for the fact that the wheel gets difficult to spin the tighter you make the axle bolt. We will hopefully verify tonight. I am tempted to do the repair on the bearings myself because I am worried the dealer will want to keep the bike a day or two if I make a warranty claim. But if that spacer is missing I may be really screwed for a while since I am sure that its not a common or in stock part for them. Does anyone have any information on the specifics on the size of this part so that if needed I can have one made?? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
