Wheel Bearings

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mmrabit
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Wheel Bearings

#1

Post by mmrabit »

All,
I plan to replace the wheel bearings in my 78. It has 25,000 miles and all seems fine, but figure since they are 40 yrs old...
I see prices all over the place, from what I have gathered the SKF brand is good & I see them on E Bay for 6 or 7 dollars, but also see SKF bearings for 3 or 4 times that price from other outlets.
Am I missing something here? Would hate to spend a lot more $$ than necessary.
Thanks for any advice,
Mike
I am sure this has already been asked, just haven't located it yet
Mike
Bakersfield
78 GL1000 Current Bike
2004 R1150R Sold
2000 Sportster Sold
1994 FXR Sold (should have kept)
84 1200 Aspencade Sold
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tomk1960
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#2

Post by tomk1960 »

AllBalls bearings (http://www.allballsracing.com/) are excellent quality sealed bearings and very reasonably priced. Don't go super cheap or you may regret it - these are a good choice. They offer the correct bearings for your bike BTW.

I've used their wheel and steering stem bearings on at least 7 builds and am very pleased with their quality and performance.
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Oldewing
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#3

Post by Oldewing »

+1 for "All Balls", no troubles here.
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#4

Post by robin1731 »

Oldewing wrote:+1 for "All Balls", no troubles here.


Me too. The all balls kit also comes with the needed seals.

Incase you haven't done them yet be sure to drill out the stake points on the original bearings. If not you can make life very difficult trying to remove them.

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Re: Wheel Bearings

#5

Post by Track T 2411 »

+1 on the comments above...
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#6

Post by twowings »

The main issue with E-bay sellers of "Branded" products is counterfeiting, with cheap copies sold in "look alike" boxes. Bearings are one of the most heavily counterfeited products out there. There are lots of these cheap copies in what look like genuine vendor boxes being produced in various far east countries. It's become a major problem for company purchasing agents as even good suppliers can be duped into selling copied products. One of the big bearing companies had a report posted online a while back about the problems they see as a manufacturer and how they get blamed for failures of their "product" and how counterfeit products hurt their reputation.

When it comes to bearings, if the price seems too good to be true, chances are its a copy. If you're concerned about quality, always buy through a reputable supplier.
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CYBORG
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#7

Post by CYBORG »

+1
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Mike-C
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#8

Post by Mike-C »

Gents, I agree with y'all 1200%. You get what you pay for. Personally I like SKF bearings, been using them for years. All Balls are good too, from what I have seen they are Chinese but GOOD Chinese.
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mmrabit
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#9

Post by mmrabit »

Once again all the input is appreciated!
All Balls Bearings it is.
Thank You
Mike
Bakersfield
78 GL1000 Current Bike
2004 R1150R Sold
2000 Sportster Sold
1994 FXR Sold (should have kept)
84 1200 Aspencade Sold
80 1100 Standard (should have kept)
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#10

Post by scootsx2 »

NTN bearings are also good. Try a local bearing supplier to ensure you are getting good products.
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Solina Dave
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#11

Post by Solina Dave »

Why would you opt to install All Balls or SKF or NTN bearings, and not install genuine Honda bearings? Is it a price issue, or is it a quality issue? What evidence is there that one bearing is better, or worse, than another bearing?
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#12

Post by JSBail »

Solina Dave wrote:Why would you opt to install All Balls or SKF or NTN bearings, and not install genuine Honda bearings? Is it a price issue, or is it a quality issue? What evidence is there that one bearing is better, or worse, than another bearing?
My cb750 isn't GL related but it is Honda related and when I replaced all the bearings in it's transmission I don't recall any of them being branded Honda in fact if I remember correctly I think they were NTN's and the wheel bearings in both my 750 and GL weren't branded Honda either. What ever brand they were they weren't "Honda" bearings and what ever part numbers they had (the actual number on the bearing) were the standard part numbers used by all bearing manufacturers. Good question about what evidence there is about one bearing brand being better than another. I think that has more to do with a company or it's country of origins reputation for quality control.
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tomk1960
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#13

Post by tomk1960 »

Hundreds of the parts used on our bikes when they were built in the factory weren't manufactured by Honda. Carbs are from Keihin, brake components from Nissin, and so on. They're all tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers to Honda, just like the many manufacturers that supply the automobile industry. In the case of the wheel bearings originally used on our bikes, they weren't sealed. The newer, quality-made bearings are sealed which means that the grease stays in and grunge stays out.

If someone gave me new OEM bearings for free, I'd still install sealed aftermarket bearings.
1986 VFR750F Interceptor
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mmrabit
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#14

Post by mmrabit »

The aftermarket bearings being sealed on both sides, versus only one side with OEM is the only reason I chose not to go with bearings from Honda. I am a big fan of OEM parts, but in this case not so much.
Thanks
Mike
Bakersfield
78 GL1000 Current Bike
2004 R1150R Sold
2000 Sportster Sold
1994 FXR Sold (should have kept)
84 1200 Aspencade Sold
80 1100 Standard (should have kept)
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Solina Dave
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Re: Wheel Bearings

#15

Post by Solina Dave »

mmrabit wrote:The aftermarket bearings being sealed on both sides, versus only one side with OEM is the only reason I chose not to go with bearings from Honda. I am a big fan of OEM parts, but in this case not so much.
Thanks
Good point Mike. Thanks. I too am a big fan of OEM parts. But like you say, in this case, bearings not so much.

Dave
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2nd motorcycle-1978 GL1000

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