In all radial bearing assemblies, final dimensions / tolerances and clean seating surfaces are more important than pure torque. Once the wheel is installed no additional effort to rotate should be felt between snug and torqued conditions.

 

I don't know where you get that impression from! You must also bear in mind that any subject that appears on websites like this are often way off the mark. In other words the fact that bearings have had a bad press does not mean that every TC in the World is sitting on the hard shoulder waiting to be recovered! Most owners are happily riding around unaware they should be worried.

I'm planning a 6 week 6k miles trip from the UK to Turkey and back, through foreign countries where there are no Harley dealers. I will not be taking spare wheel bearings! SD is hardly off the edge of the planet......

I bought a new Buell in 08, which needed new bearings with its first new tyres, at less than 5k miles. I think that was during the real low point of HD wheel bearings. If you are concerned about your bearings and have a decent mileage on them, then for peace of mind replace them before your holiday. And have a great trip.

But we now know there is indeed an upgraded or different version!

 

Absolutely, however proper seating AND proper torqing of the axle nuts are important for a correct install. Bearing race tolerances may be damaged by applying too much pressure regardless of how the pressure is applied (when seating the bearing initially or when over-tightening the axle components that transfer pressure to the bearing). So as usual, we have many ways to screw the pooch!

 

It would be of benefit when the old 9276 was pulled and what years it was on and when the new "A" model was introduced too.

 

Both bearing races are machined precisely at a given thickness; the spacer tube we compress between both bearings while tightening the axle has the dimension of the solid material (wall) between both outer races. When this assembly is perfectly dimensioned you apply no lateral pressure on the races, you don't produce heat and you can rely on the bearings.
You can accept a 0.03mm play in this assembly if the spacer tube is longer but not the contrary. This way the bearings have a bit of lateral freedom that you can't feel.
Put your finger in the bore of the bearing; if you feel a vibration while turning it, you have a potential problem.

 

So I'm pretty sure my bearings were toasted at around 10K miles and not any better at 17K....Just makes hands-free a bitch cuz i like to facebook and play farmville and **** when Im on long boring rides. My girl gots wobbley knees now.

Seriously, I'm a handy guy and have good tools. I'm no master mech, but prefer to do most of my own work with the help of the forums and my shop manual. You all have me second guessing installing my own ABS bearings. Problem is, I dont have faith the shop is going to do much better than me with my own time and love for my scoot. Give a guy a confident pep talk here....I need some words of encouragement to start my wheel project.

 

This is an easy job but take precautions the first time:
- Remove both bearings and clean their housings + spacer tube.
- Lay the wheel on a flat surface.
- Carefully install the first bearing then flip the wheel to bring the second bearing housing to the top.
- Insert the spacer tube and measure the eventual step between the surface of the spacer and the bottom of the empty housing. You can use the axle to position the spacer using the bore of the bottom bearing as a guide.

If you have no measuring tool you can use the edge of a (new) spatula to visualize the gap by lighting it from behind. Just make sure its blade is wide enough to rest on both sides of the housing; you don't need to be at the center to do this.
If the spacer tube is lower than the height (of both sides) of the bearing seat and you are certain the first bearing was well seated, you have a problem and should use thin shims which are a PITA because they tend to slide out of alignment/position when you bounce the wheel without the axle in place.

Just remember this: a gap seen over the spacer tube will reduce the life of your bearings.

 

thats more like it! Thanks

 

The Harley service manual says to put the primary bearing first. That's the one the disc is on in the rear, left one in the front. Make sure they are seated fully. Otherwise you will not be able to get the spacers back on the wheel right when reassembling them. Dont ask me how I know this !!!

 

So on the rear the primary bearing (on an abs bike is the abs bearing) gets seated all the way. Flip it over, put in the spacer and install the pulley side bearing until the spacer doesn't have side to side slop.

For the front the proceedure is the same starting on the left side.

Do I have it right????