Too Tight / Squeaky!

[Sin_Tiger]

Sometimes frugal purchasing can back fire on you, that's a hard thing for a Jock to admit to.

On a recent run out with a friend, also on a Steamer, I noticed my Chilli Steamer was keener to corner than go straight. It had been great on the previous 600 mile trip but during the later part of the day I sensed something was not quite right and perhaps getting worse quite quickly. In my mind I had ruled out all the parts that I'd replaced / rebuilt, that'll be just about everything then  and was blaming the front tyre, headstock bearings and struggling to think of anything else.

We stopped a couple of times and eventually swapped bikes in case I'd finally lost it  Nope consensus was that she wanted to turn one way or the other but not so happy in a straight line. Tyre pressures were fine, no loose or broken spokes, no looseness at the front end and no binding brakes. Eventually we took advantage of the hugely stronger side stand and got the back wheel up (no main stand) and gave it a few good yanks in as many different directions as possible, then I found a slight wobble at the back wheel and, though difficult to see for sure, indication at the right side of the spindle that the seal area looked a bit dark. Another short ride applying moderate acceleration and rear brake only application restored directional stability, confirming that there was a wheel bearing playing up.

I nursed it along the back roads about 8 miles home with the flanker watching my back, thankfully almost zero traffic and got her on a stand, definitely a failed wheel bearing  they were all brand new from SimplyBearings whom I'd used many times, I remember I'd ordered two sets and checked my receipts, sure enough I'd ticked the "Budget Brand" box. Nothing for it, new premium brand set ordered.

When I got the wheel off, what greeted me was not what I'd expected. As you can see, the spindle seal was well worn and the bearing integral seal had popped revealing debris that had been the ball cage. No signs of seal leakage, a reasonable amount of factory grease still in the races, all the balls still in there (if not quite evenly spaced), no water or other debris, no broken balls and absolutely no signs of heat build up   

In my working life I must have changed 1000's of 6000 series deep groove bearings, monitored them with vibrational analysis and shock pulse meters in service and have seen my fair share of failures but always with an underlying cause, over loading, local structural vibration casing Brinelling while static, water ingress, mechanical damage to the seals, old hardened grease and even over greasing in the case of open or shielded bearings but never what appears to be failure of the ball cage, I can only guess that it's been a manufacturing fault. It appears to be a two part steel cage, which are usually spot welded together or riveted in very early vintages, these days they are more often a one piece plastic or nylon cage and in some high temperature or specialist applications, multi part bronze / steel cages.

For the record, the bearing was pressed in and not hammered in with a socket and had covered less than 1200 miles. I'm not blaming the supplier (I've yet to send it back to them) but I certainly won't skimp to save a couple of quid again, the others have been consigned to Non Vehicle stock and a Sporran enlightening lesson learned 

[Lee337]

Looks like you were lucky to get back without the bearing collapsing completely.

I never considered bearing quality, Since having the Tiger, all by bearings have come from Sprint Manufacturing. Not sure what make they are.

[London_Phil]

Nasty.. Reminds me of Ssevy, who had his output shaft bearing go... Sometimes things fail, usually when very new, or very old....

[93TigerBill-2016]

.. Sometimes things fail, usually when very new, or very old....

Hmm... Are you talking about bikes, or bodies?!

[London_Phil]

Hmm... Are you talking about bikes, or bodies?!

Yep......

[Sin_Tiger]

   Take your pick 

[ssevy]

Nasty.. Reminds me of Ssevy, who had his output shaft bearing go... Sometimes things fail, usually when very new, or very old....

Yeah, but my output shaft bearing problem was self-inlicted
It's amazing how quickly a little tapping with a tiny screwdriver can ruin your day (and your trip)!
Sin's experience here is a good example of how familiar we get with our own bike's little quirks, and how good our built-in diagnostic feel is after so many miles on board. Lesson here is trust your gut! If something feels off, stop and give it a good thorough looking over; if I had done that on my cross country ride, I wouldn't have fried my rear brakes.
Glad you caught it before it disintegrated!

[Madruss]

Sometimes frugal purchasing can back fire on you, that's a hard thing for a Jock to admit to.

On a recent run out with a friend, also on a Steamer, I noticed my Chilli Steamer was keener to corner than go straight. It had been great on the previous 600 mile trip but during the later part of the day I sensed something was not quite right and perhaps getting worse quite quickly. In my mind I had ruled out all the parts that I'd replaced / rebuilt, that'll be just about everything then  and was blaming the front tyre, headstock bearings and struggling to think of anything else.

We stopped a couple of times and eventually swapped bikes in case I'd finally lost it  Nope consensus was that she wanted to turn one way or the other but not so happy in a straight line. Tyre pressures were fine, no loose or broken spokes, no looseness at the front end and no binding brakes. Eventually we took advantage of the hugely stronger side stand and got the back wheel up (no main stand) and gave it a few good yanks in as many different directions as possible, then I found a slight wobble at the back wheel and, though difficult to see for sure, indication at the right side of the spindle that the seal area looked a bit dark. Another short ride applying moderate acceleration and rear brake only application restored directional stability, confirming that there was a wheel bearing playing up.

I nursed it along the back roads about 8 miles home with the flanker watching my back, thankfully almost zero traffic and got her on a stand, definitely a failed wheel bearing  they were all brand new from SimplyBearings whom I'd used many times, I remember I'd ordered two sets and checked my receipts, sure enough I'd ticked the "Budget Brand" box. Nothing for it, new premium brand set ordered.

When I got the wheel off, what greeted me was not what I'd expected. As you can see, the spindle seal was well worn and the bearing integral seal had popped revealing debris that had been the ball cage. No signs of seal leakage, a reasonable amount of factory grease still in the races, all the balls still in there (if not quite evenly spaced), no water or other debris, no broken balls and absolutely no signs of heat build up   

In my working life I must have changed 1000's of 6000 series deep groove bearings, monitored them with vibrational analysis and shock pulse meters in service and have seen my fair share of failures but always with an underlying cause, over loading, local structural vibration casing Brinelling while static, water ingress, mechanical damage to the seals, old hardened grease and even over greasing in the case of open or shielded bearings but never what appears to be failure of the ball cage, I can only guess that it's been a manufacturing fault. It appears to be a two part steel cage, which are usually spot welded together or riveted in very early vintages, these days they are more often a one piece plastic or nylon cage and in some high temperature or specialist applications, multi part bronze / steel cages.

For the record, the bearing was pressed in and not hammered in with a socket and had covered less than 1200 miles. I'm not blaming the supplier (I've yet to send it back to them) but I certainly won't skimp to save a couple of quid again, the others have been consigned to Non Vehicle stock and a Sporran enlightening lesson learned 

Wow, something to check before I put the black tiger back on the road