Best wheel bearings ??

[Tiger-G]

Hi All  ,

Tiger recently went for it's MOT and I got an advisory for a rear wheel bearing. I thought this a bit suspicious, as I'd only replaced them a couple of years ago, and they've only got 5,700 miles on them ?? Checked them myself and there is some play 

So I looked back through the records I keep for everything that I do / put on to Tiger and find that the time I replaced them before that was four years ago with 4,800 miles on them. The ones before that were OEM and did 42,500 miles in 8 years.

Sooooo......getting to the point.......all my replacement bearings have come from "Squaredeals" in the UK and are aftermarket. And to be honest.......they are obviously absolute shite !! (I couldn't find an emogi for absolutely bouncing feckin' mad !!). Bearings should be lasting more than 5,000 miles, considering I'm a fair weather rider and Tiger never goes out in the rain.

Can anyone recommend some decent bearings ?? A Google search of "which are the best motorcycle wheel bearings" comes up all sorts about bearings being fake and made in China. Doesn't instill any confidence in me 

If I can't get a definitive answer I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and get some Triumph OEM's and hope they are not crap quality 

[HockleyBoy]

https://www.mandp.co.uk/motorcycle-spares/spares/bearings-seals/25-1557-rear-wheel-bearing-kit.html (https://www.mandp.co.uk/motorcycle-spares/spares/bearings-seals/25-1557-rear-wheel-bearing-kit.html)

Pretty sure I used these last time I did mine and that must have been over 40k miles ago.

Do you clean your bike a lot? Mukoff and stuff like it do play havoc with bearings.

[PaulScar]

Be very careful using a pressure washer around bearings, the seals will not stop high pressure water getting in and pushing grease out. Just don't play the jet around wheel bearings, chains and etc especially square on. It really does shorten their life, even more so if you use a detergent.

[Tiger-G]

The bike is kept clean, I don't use a pressure washer and I don't ride when it's wet, unless I get caught out unintentionally.

When I took the rear wheel off though, the circlip holding the bearing in was rusted which suggests the aftermarket dust seals have let water in and possibly kept it in affecting the bearing ??

If I don't get a definitive answer as to what the best bearings are, I'll just have to go with the Triumph OEM ones from World of Triumph......and just hope they aren't sh!te made in China !! 

[Lee337]

Try Wemoto, I've recently replaced my head bearings from these & before that the front wheel bearings on a Blackbird with no issues. I too had an advisory for rear wheel bearings but have yet to replace mine.

Just an idea

https://www.wemoto.com/search?q=triumph+tiger+955i

[mark4]

I often use a wheel bearing supplier like bearingboys or simplybearings where you know you are getting genuine bearings and decent quality by choosing a brand like SKF or FAG. You have to know the size you are looking for but it's a more sure bet than ebay which can be questionable sometimes.

You can also buy dust seals from them too.

[Tiger-G]

I often use a wheel bearing supplier like bearingboys or simplybearings where you know you are getting genuine bearings and decent quality by choosing a brand like SKF or FAG. You have to know the size you are looking for but it's a more sure bet than ebay which can be questionable sometimes.

You can also buy dust seals from them too.

Good advice there Mark, that's exactly what I've done !  :icon_wink:

I found the bearing sizes and got in touch with SimplyBearings, they were more than happy to chat about quality, etc. They recommended NSK or Koyo as top quality manufacturers. My old OEM bearing s were NSK and they did 42,000 miles, but thought I'd give the Koyo ones a try so I've got a comparison.

As for the prices, I couldn't believe it !! £5 each 

World of Triumph and Fowlers were wanting £24 for the two smaller ones and £9 for the larger !! 

Got a couple of dust seals for cheap as chips too.

Thanks for the advice everyone