On the way back from the Tassie HOG rally last week I had the worst scare of my life. I lost control and almost lost my heritage on the Dawson Hwy near Taroom. When I slowed below 115ks the back wheel wobbled like crazy,  when I accelerated it stopped. To cut a long story short it took 25ks to finally safely slow and stop the bike.

After a lot of fiddling we found the left rear wheel bearing had come out of the hub and had caused the wheel to tilt and the brakes pads to come out of the calipers.

Question 1:   Has anyone else ever had this experience with a 2 year old bike with only 70ks.?

Question 2:  Should I try to replace the bearings etc. myself or should I go to the rip-off shops for it?

Question 3: Is it likely to have caused any other problem that I can't see?

MuzzHOG

i've heard of a few rear wheel bearings failing lately but as the above guys have said, the bearing shouldn't come right out, it would normally get really loose or seize up

hi, iv'e have a friend that  is a m/cycle mechanic  &  work's at a major dealer it happened to his 07 model & says it was very odd what happened to it & could not explained how it happened , harley   aust is looking after it ,

you should contact them & get it fix for free ? , as it's  dangerous , it's all been the back wheel only they should look after there product, it could be very dangerous if it happens to the front wheel ,, i would give them a call see what comes of it  , it's not the 1st time this has happened to a late model,     cheers   

Have seen a few different articals and forum threads with bearing failures ... considering the catstorphic consequences of a high speed failure I though there would be more concern from HD rather than just a fob off, read a recent column in Heavy Duty where the OZ manager claims there is nothing wrong with them ??????

I'd be up the dealer for warranty mate, 2year old under 70k and major bearing failure .... not good IMO ... will probably need to get ya brake rotor checked for warping to aye.

I'll be keeping a close eye on mine, don't fancy any high speed get offs thankyou very much. I also encourage all others to let their dealers know rather than just replacing themselves and not saying anything ... If we don't tell them theres a problem they won't fix it or help us.

I think it's up to the owner to check there bikes, take you wheels off check everything b4 run's. tyres don't last 70k the wheel must have been off at least 7 times, you need to learn to check bike out not just say this should not happen. i don't think anyone buy's a harley thinking it's trouble free. that would be borring.

 

Scotty,

            As I have previously raised this issue it seems to be more and more on the rise.  i noticed in the last issue of HD (Heavy Duty) that this problem was raised and what the response was.  I have sent an email to Doc at HD to see if there is an issue and if the company is going to take the matter seriously.  As you have said before this does not seem to be a problem in the states, so are they using a different set up (hub / bearing configuration) for the international models?

Two reason's why they might not have problems in the State's,

Number one, they buy aftermarket wheels, as lots of wheels to choose from and cheap over there.

Number Two, road's smoother, these new Harleys even the basic SuperGlide are heavy so lot more stress on bearings especially if bumpy roads.

 

i've only been through half the  states in America the back roads in some states like here but even here state to state its different, what about aftermarket, most i know there have aftermarket. my mates over there ride all year and on ice  ( something i have not done, also before you knock em mate i meet a guy from the states back in the 70's he shipped his 65 panhead out here road to perth and back you could not experience that these days as the road is a lot better. got a pic of your failed bearings? that might be a good idea so others can see. i still have original bearings in my 01 but only race it these days it has 85,000k noth that many. i did 1 million k on my kick start shovel but went through a lot of bearings they use to get water in them go rusty, went through a lot of bottom ends and top ends and pistons & gear box's too. but back then we did not get warranty and we did not cry or go to dealers for service. but thats then times have changed.

 

Just sell it and buy a vrod muzza have no probs then