Rear Wheel Bearings

[jbfla]

Since I had the rear wheel removed to change the tire, I thought I would check the rear wheel bearings.

I was concerned because of SpudRider's previous report:

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=16320

It has been a long time since I have changed wheel bearings, so I watched a few videos on YouTube.

This is one of the longer videos, but shows the "wobble" test, and how to remove the rear wheel.



My rear wheel passed the wobble test, but I wanted to check the amount of grease in the bearings.

...and I was ready if I needed to replace the bearings:

There are 5 bearings in all, two on each side of the hub, and one in the sprocket carrier:




I have the same wheel bearing remover tool as in Spud's thread, and used it very carefully because I wanted to reuse the bearing if it was OK.

In puts all the removal force on the inner race, which can easily damage the bearing.

This is one of the outer bearings.



It had plenty of grease, but I added more before replacing the bearing cover.




Here's the bearing in the sprocket carrier:




And one of the inner bearings:




IMO, all the bearings had enough grease, and since I added more, I decided to use them until the next tire change.

However, the bearings in the swing arm were another story.

They were completely dry, no grease on the sleeve bushing, or the needle bearings:






I coated the needle bearings and sleeve bushing with plenty of grease and remounted the swing arm.

The new wheel bearings will be saved until next time.

.....and it didn't occur to me to drill and tap for grease zerks until after I had everything reassembled....

I feel it was worthwhile to check the wheel and swing arm bearings.

jb

[tinman tim]

Now that I've seen your photo's showing the lack of grease on the swing arm, I'll have to add this to the list of things to do on mine.

I wasn't gonna worry to much about it, as I still have less than 2000 miles, but the total lack of grease is concerning. With the bike in the basement for the winter, it should be a relaxing job.

Thanks for posting this. It's a real eye opener. And yes, I'll do my best to remember the grease fitting.


Sidenote; grease up the treadmill too. From the non-mechanical items in the freezer, it's gonna get a workout

[fjmartin]

I recently put a new rear shock on my RX3 so while I had the linkage apart I also check mine. It had VERY little grease so I also packed it them.

We now know what JBFLA will do for a Klondike bar!

[jbfla]

Originally Posted by fjmartin

.....We now know what JBFLA will do for a Klondike bar!

Joe, the Klondike bars and cheesecake are rationed out sparingly, by the wife, as rewards for sticking to my heart-healthy "cardboard and grass" diet.

jb

[2LZ]

Excellent job jb! Thanks for the great tutorial! It's also good to see that they actually greased them. I'm not going to panic for a while. I, like you, have a full set of good bearing awaiting the tire changes on both RX3's. They'll be back stocked for a while.

Ok...on a different note, where'd you procure the awesome catch can? I need two of them. Have a link?

[jbfla]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

....., where'd you procure the awesome catch can? I need two of them. Have a link?

2LZ, I will post about the air/oil catch cans in the OCS thread.

There is no need to rush out and get them, as the stock OCS, with minor modification, does exactly the same thing.

jb

[BlackBike]

Great thread jbfla... Looks like Sam's club shopping.

About how much would all that service have cost at the shop? This stuff will last forever with this kind of pm stuff

[pyoungbl]

The swingarm bearing grease is a 1.5 hour job...really not that big a deal. You can do the shock linkage bearings at the same time. Bottom line, this is something each of us should do early on in our ownership of a RX3. Thanks for the photos of the wheel bearing project. I have been dreading that one.

Peter Y.

[jbfla]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

......About how much would all that service have cost at the shop? ........

BB, the shop labor rate at the nearest Honda/Kawa/Suzi dealer is $110. US per hour.......Plus parts and shop supplies, and tax.

Wouldn't be surprised if it would be $400-500+.

Of course, there is no local shop that will work on a Chinese bike....I have asked.

And at this point, I feel I have more bike-specific knowledge than a local mechanic who has never seen an RX3.

jb

[pete]

Originally Posted by jbfla

2LZ, I will post about the air/oil catch cans in the OCS thread.

There is no need to rush out and get them, as the stock OCS, with minor modification, does exactly the same thing.

jb

yer could do a "suzuki"...
there first 4 stroke dirt bike & possably there first real production
4 stroke motor , the SP370 in the early 70s run the engine breather
onto the chain..



...

[rojo_grande]

What would you do for a Klondike bar? Apparently the answer is change wheel bearings.

Nice video. Like Delboy's stuff on Youtube.

Rojo