Replacing tires on 07 Ultra and found that the bearing on the IDS hub is bad. It is a double ball bearing assembly. Has anyone crossed this bearing over to an aftermarket bearing yet? Seems to me I should get more than 14K miles out of this bearing. Doesn't look like the bearing had enough grease in it because there is a lot of metal transfer in it caused by heat.

 

Just wondering if there was any indication of a problem before the tire change? Noise, vibration, etc.

 

I'd like to know that myself. I'm trying to track down a whine related to speed (i.e., not RPM's or gear selection), and the IDS bearing is a minor suspect.

 

Didn"t have any indication at all. Was replacing tires when I found it. I'm going to a bearing distributor and see if they can match the bearing up. There has been too many failures of this bearing to be anything but defective bearings. Something else I noticed was the belt is wearing the pulley more than I would have guessed.

 

Did you buy it through your dealership and did they install it?

 

Bought it at the dealership and installed myself. Went to bearing distributor and found that HD is having this bearing made for them because it has a 1" bore diameter. So what this means is this bearing will only fit 2007 bikes. In 2008 when they went to ABS they changed the axle diameter to 25mm. I have about figured it out that every rear tire I put on the bike I will need to replace this bearing. Good thing it's only $22.00.

 

Did you freeze the bearing to get it in? You think it's the axle diameter that's causing a possible problem?

 

I pressed the bearing in with a press. To be honest I believe the bearing was bad when I installed it. I remember it had a slight rough spot in it. I will know if this is a ongoing problem when I put another rear tire on. I hope this is the case.

 

Just a reminder to torque the bolts to 80 ftlbs. Any less may put undue side stress against the race. I have 15000 on mine with out further problems.