R65 Rear Wheel Bearings

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:45 pm

The bearings should be pretty standard. I think you want to stay clear of Chinese, etc., bearings and look for something made by Timken, FAG, and the like. Most any good bearing supply place should be able to look at the bearings and provide replacements.

From the fiche for a 1980 R65, the part number is 07 11 9 985 005. The fiche says 40x17x14...those must be mm measurements but I'm not sure what they refer to.

You could check with people like Vech in Mississippi, Ed Korn, Boxerworks...there's a mechanic that I've heard about in the San Francisco area named Ted Porter. I think his website is http://www.beemershop.com. People speak highly of him and parts service he provides.

You can also read about the bearings at http://www.airheads.org/content/view/220/98/ or check Snowbum's site...he wrote the article at the Airheads site.

And most parts people are really just taking up space. Sometimes you have to be more prepared then them or hook yourself up with a quality person.

Kurt in S.A.

khill · Post by **khill** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:14 pm

Hey Kurt I hope you are right and I'm pretty sure you are. If standard
parts can be used for the rear bearings and the front wheel bearings it
will be a big help. I guess there are the steering fork bearings and the
swing arm bearings. hopefully they can all be purchased as a standard
item. Right now I am trying to find a really good independent mechanic
that really knows the airhead bikes. I am starting to make some progress
but I would like to find closer to where I live. With the right person I will
be able to make some progress on this old bike. I'm noticing that the dealers don't always know. By the way is there a easy way to post small
jpgs on this site? I would be happy to put a pic on of this R65.

Thanks Kirk

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:49 pm

Posting pictures should be easy. I haven't done it here, but if I don't get this right, then Darryl can step in.

The first thing is you must have the picture out on the web somewhere, preferably in a free viewing site. Then you just type the URL in your post and that will give us a link to click on to view the picture.

The other method to have the picture display right in the post involves using the "Img" tag shown above. Again the picture must be out on the web somewhere. I moused over the "Img" tag and it looks like you would type:

[img]http://www.%20yada.%20yada[/img]

You just replace everything between the

with the proper URL.

Give it a try...

As for mechanics, I ran across this website...you might already know about the motorcycle shops in New Mexico.

http://www.sanfransysco.com/pub/experience.html

If I run across some more recent experience, I'll pass it on.

Kurt in S.A.

khill · Post by **khill** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 8:30 am

Thanks Kurt for all the links to some pretty incredible web pages. I can
now see why the dealers don't always carry the wheel bearings. They
are a very standard item (#30203) and any good bearing company.
I will make some calls today and check around. Now to learn the proper
way to install them or hopefully find someone who already knows how
to help me. It appears that the front bearings are the same as well
and I think they mentioned the rear swing arm bearings are also the same. It that is the case their is little excuse not to have good bearings
in my bike. Now on to learning about the preload process.

Thanks again,

Kirk

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:04 am

Kirk -

I posted a question on the Airheads list regarding experiences with mechanics in New Mexico. So far, one guy emailed me back...he uses Iron Horse in Tuscon for his work and he had no experience with ALBQ or Santa Fe. Actually, my Dad had work done at Santa Fe BMW on his K1200LT when the rear drive failed. They treated him fine.

The responder from the Airheads list said he lived in Las Cruces and there were a few other Airheads in town who had tools and were available to turn a wrench or two. That's certainly closer to you than other places. If you'd like, I can send you some contact info.

Kurt in S.A.

khill · Post by **khill** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:17 am

Thanks again Kurt. Yes I live 75 miles from Las Cruces and that is considered close out here. I have been trying to reach one guy that
does some airhead work but he's not home. If any of these guys can
come up with a name or two I would love it. I found out that the 30203
bearings can be purchased at almost any auto parts store. Even here
in the little town I live in they are available. Hopefully they are not the
Chinese type. I think autozone said theirs were Timken which should
be fine. They are out now but should have some tomorrow. I think Santa
Fe and Albuquerque should be fine but I called and talked to some parts
guy and he didn't even know what a R65 was. Time to find somebody
else. I know there must be somebody in Cruces that knows the correct
way to change the wheel bearings. I think getting them out would be
the tricky part for me. The preload part will take a little getting used
to as well. The airhead sites you sent links to are great.

Thanks again

Kirk

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:05 pm

Kirk -

I sent you a private message with contact information for a guy in Las Cruces. HTH...

Kurt in S.A.

khill · Post by **khill** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:22 am

I got the private message regarding the LC area and I already sent a email to him. No answer yet but I'm sure with time he will chime in.
Thanks for the LC lead. Anything to make the learning curve easier.
After reading many or most of the highly technical web pages regarding
airheads I am coming to the conclusion that many people who change
their own wheel bearings are leaving the outer race in place (if in good
condition) and just replacing the rest of the new bearing. This way they
don't have to heat the wheel to loosen the old outer race. Also if done
correctly the outer race has to be frozen or cooled to replace it into
the wheel. This does sound like a job for someone with lots of experience.
Then there comes the Preloading part of the equation. I'm sure after one
has done it Correctly several times it doesn't seem like a very big deal
but it is pretty techy for this day and age of simplicity. I keep wondering
if sealed bearings can be put in but maybe it does not really simplify the
whole process. Plus ther are all the spacers. Seeems like it could have
been designed to be much simpler but maybe not.

Kirk

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:11 am

If I were changing bearings, I'd want to replace the races as well. I'm under the impression the bearings and races are a matched set. Later bikes have sealed bearings (I could be wrong) but I don't think they can be adapted for your bike. When properly cared for, these bearings will be still good when the rest of the bike has crumbled around it.

The process is a bit daunting and I'm glad I had help when my /7 bearings were pulled and greased. Maybe you can find this help in Las Cruces. As for the preload, mine were set up according to the way Snowbum describes things. I had the bearings out (races and all) and everything was bolted up onto the axle. There was a large diameter space on the axle to be used for the "pull test". We hooked up the string to a fish scale and pulled to see how much tension in the string when the bearings were rotated around the axle. Kind of scientific I guess.

Duane Ausherman describes another method called "shake the wheel" method. Basically, you put the entire stack up back into the hub and install the axle and begin to tighten the axle nut. As you tighten, you grab the spokes and pull the wheel back and forth and feel the amount of play. The goal is to have that play disappear just as you reach the torque value for the axle nut. If the play doesn't go away, then the internal spacer has to be trimmed. If the play goes away too soon, then a the spacer has to be lengthened.

Generally, there's a wedding band spacer already in the stack up. If you've assembled the stack up properly, you can pull this spacer and substitue another one or even go so far as to carefully sand the spacer down to the right thickness. It doesn't take much sanding to make a big change in the preload. Duane sells these small shims which are great in this situation, especially if there is too much preload. The shim kit usually contains about 10 shims ranging from like 0.002 to 0.005 inches thick. You slip one or more into the stack up and retest by shaking the wheel. I used these on my /2 hubs and everything went fine.

But having someone around who knows what they're doing the first time is nice.

Kurt in S.A.

khill · Post by **khill** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:53 pm

I know I have read quite a lot about the preload but I'm not real sure
I totally understand it yet. I did get the new bearings installed today
in the rear wheel. Unfortunately I didn't want to ride the bike down to
Las Cruces so I took the wheel off and just took it. One bearing was
bad and the other one looked pretty good. We replaced both and the
guy that did it was pretty well set up to do the job. Now for the possible
bug in the ointment. I reinstalled the wheel/tire myself. He told me it
was supposed to be torqued to 34 to 35 ft pounds but I didn't have a
22mm socket for my torque wrench so he said to use the tool kit wrench
and get it pretty tight but do not over do it. So I did that and it seems
to be fine but maybe I squeezed all the packed greese out of the new
bearings. Well time will tell and at least I will know how it works if I have
to do it again.

Kirk