The past couple rides I have noticed a new slight buzzing through my bars and a kind of "Whirring" sound coming from somewhere in the front end. Last night on my way home I decided to crank it up a bit on the expressway. Well over 80 the front end really started dancing around to the point it actually made me nervous.

Opinions? Does this sound like it's adding up to needing new front wheel bearings? I pushed on the front tire when I got home and everything feels tight. But the driveway diagnosis isnt as effective as the "I'm gonn sh*t my pants" if this gets any worse diagnosis.

 

Could be a wheel bearing. Is there any grease coming out at the axle? Could be front or rear, so inspect both. Then get the wheel up in the air and try wiggling it. Is the front tire OK?

 

No grease at the axle and the front tire is in great shape. Neck bearing crossed my mind but wouldnt explain the "whirring" noise I have picked up. I'll jack her up tonight and may just do the wheel bearing for the heck of it.

It's hard to explain but its almost like I can "feel" friction being transmitted through the bars.

 

Bertha's left front wheel bearing went out on me on the highway two years ago. It started making horrible grinding noises at 80 MPH. Scared me half to death!

I limped her home, sounding as if she was eating herself alive. Took the front wheel off, popped the bearing seal, and the bearing came out in 20 different pieces. The cage had completely disintegrated in there, and everything looked all gritty. They can get dry, too, which is probably what chewed up that bearing. Had new ones put on the front, and had the rear ones checked and repacked, and all is well again.

I'm just lucky the damn wheel didn't lock up and throw me off... on a crowded Atlanta interstate highway at 5:00 PM on a weekday... don't even want to THINK about that... never told my wife how it happened, and never will... just told her that the front wheel bearing needed to be replaced. Still gives me chills!

 

Since your tire looks good, that is probably not the problem. However, I had a rear tire that was getting worn, but not down to the wear bars yet, and it made a yum yum siren sound between 60 and 65. Wasn't sure that was what the noise was, but after changing the tire, the noise went away. I did repack the brgs when I changed the tire, but they looked good. The tire looked OK, but it was a Dunlop D404 which is not recomended for Harleys. Replaced it with a HD Dunlop.

 

I didnt get a chance to jack it up last night as some major storms blew through and I was on yard cleanup duty.

However I'm thinking they could be dry as well. I have recently gotten caught riding in some torrential downpours for extended amounts of time. Wondering if that could have affected the grease in the bearings. Either way I will tear apart the front end and report back for the groups "Greater Good" sometime this wknd.

 

Yeah - you wouldn't think a little water could wash away that heavy axle grease, but I guess the grease gets used up over time. You are supposed to check the bearings every 10,000 miles and repack them - but I'll bet most riders don't do it that often...

When I pulled apart that disintegrated left bearing, the first thing that came to my mind was that it had gotten dry of grease, then had been wet - because what was left of the cage was heavily corroded and just felt apart in my hands!

If they have been running dry of grease - and since you have been caught in downpours recently - they have probably started to corrode, and your safest bet would be to replace both of them so you don't have to worry about them later. I'd also check the rear bearings, and repack or replace if needed. My rear bearings were fine when my front one went, tough.

If you replace the bearings, you will need to have the bearing races removed and the new races that come with the new bearings installed. This requires a special tool that I didn't have, and a strong arm to bang out the old ones and install the new ones. I had my indy do that part, and I watched him bang really hard on the tool for about 10 minutes to get those old races out! I think I paid about $100 including parts for that, but I really don't remember because I also had them put on a new Metzeler ME880 Marathon while it was there - so the labor included that, too.

Be sure to use new grease seals, too! They only cost about $2-$3 each.

Keep us posted...

 

Mileage?
Year of bike?
Model?

 

'95 RK, 64k and some change.

 

Make sure you use a good bearing. Theres a lot of made in China bearings out there. I try to use Timkens. A parts store guy cross referenced them for me.