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C650GT Rear Wheel Bearing Life

steve l

steve l

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Feb 12, 2017
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The rear wheel bearings on my bike last around 12,000 miles, which I presumed was due to it regularly carrying two heavy people plus luggage.

Recent facebook group posts have shown this not to be an isolated event, does anyone have any knowledge of the typical wheel bearing life or experienced failure.
 
On my 2016 Sport, I was told to replace the seals/bearing at my 6k service, and did so.

At my 18k service (at a different dealership), the tech noted the same issue, and suggested seal replacement, but the owner of the dealership recommended I not bother repairing the seals, since this was a common recurring thing.

For my upcoming 30k service, I'm going to yet another dealer, and I'll be curious to hear their input on the subject.
 
On my 650 Burgmen (I had two of these, at different times), I formulated a policy of having the dealer change the wheel bearings at every other tire change. This was the upshot of having the rear bearings fail on my first Burgman, when I was c. 500 miles from home, on a multi-day trip; I wound up staying overnight in a motel, while a dealer sourced the bearings, and vowed not to have that happen again (and actually carried a full set of All Balls in the underseat storage after that).

I'll probably continue this policy with my new C 400 GT, at least the part about my local dealer's doing the pro-active replacements.
 
Noillek said:
How do I detect that the bearings need replacement?
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The usual advice is to check if there's any side-to-side or front-to-back play when the tire's off the ground. And, if the rim is removed, if there's any notchiness when rotating a bearing around by finger.

Being only -- at best -- a "shade tree" mechanic, I'm not sure that I would notice any problem like that. And I don't change my own tires, so I certainly don't get to play with bearings when a rim's off. Hence, more than a decade ago, I just instituted a policy of having new bearings installed every other, or maybe every third, tire change. They're cheap enough, and certainly cheaper than two nights in a motel (oh, and having the bike get squiggly at speed on I-81 was a little scary).

Here's a pretty short article on this. And I certainly never did any wheelies on that Burgman, or rode through streams, etc.:

www.rideapart.com

What You Need to Know About Wheel Bearings

What You Need to Know About Wheel Bearings - Changing, Maintaining, Inspecting and replacing them.
www.rideapart.com www.rideapart.com
 
steve l said:
The rear wheel bearings on my bike last around 1
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I do my own service and have 91000km om my 2013 and the bearings have just failed last week. I was getting a good vibration at 75-80 kmh. I was out buying a bearing puller today and will buy the balance of parts next week.
Maybe I might change the chain and sprocket
Over the years I have done the belt 3 times and I am now on chain adjuster #4.
 
2017 BMW C650GT MK2 Rear Hub
40 x 62 x 23mm Sealed Needle Roller Bearing (marked NA4908ARS 2RS)
40 x 68 x 15mm Sealed Ball Bearing (marked FAG 6008 2RSR)
50 x 62 x 7mm Driveshaft Oil Seal Double Lipped
40 x 1.5mm Sprocket O Ring
34 x 48 x 8mm Chaincase Cover Oil Seal Double Lipped
 

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Hi Members, I have a Question again; over the last few month I have like a " grinding" noise on my 2013 /50000km 650 GT.( specially when cold) After reading in the Forum that the rear bearings can sometimes give trouble. When it is on the centre stand, everything seems ok. The tyre/rim have around 2>3 mm play. The noise gets quite when warm. I had the variator / clutch out greased the needle bearing and all looks good there.....I guess the bearing noise gets transferred into the middle area of the scooter ?. If I decide to take the rear hub out and have a closer look; do I need any special BMW tools? I have a press and several pullers. Will the chain and sprocket come off easy ? The 2017 picture ( MK2 Hub) and bearing sizes are the same on the 2013? There is a MK1 and a MK2..?. A lot of questions from me again. Thanks everyone, Norman
 
Hi Norman,

As far as I know the Mk1 and Mk2 bearings are the same but the crush drive/rear sprocket is different, the Mk2 does not have the rubbers. The last time my rear wheel bearings failed, the symptom was vibration from the seat and footboards at 50mph. The notchy bearing had caused the chain to become stiff and this also had to be replaced. A fairly straightforward job, your pullers will be useful but not essential depending on the drifts you have. No special BMW tools are required.
 

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steve l said:
Hi Norman,

As far as I know the Mk1 and Mk2 bearings are the same but the crush drive/rear sprocket is different, the Mk2 does not have the rubbers. The last time my rear wheel bearings failed, the symptom was vibration from the seat and footboards at 50mph. The notchy bearing had caused the chain to become stiff and this also had to be replaced. A fairly straightforward job, your pullers will be useful but not essential depending on the drifts you have. No special BMW tools are required.
Click to expand...
steve l said:
Hi Norman,

As far as I know the Mk1 and Mk2 bearings are the same but the crush drive/rear sprocket is different, the Mk2 does not have the rubbers. The last time my rear wheel bearings failed, the symptom was vibration from the seat and footboards at 50mph. The notchy bearing had caused the chain to become stiff and this also had to be replaced. A fairly straightforward job, your pullers will be useful but not essential depending on the drifts you have. No special BMW tools are required.
Click to expand...

steve l said:
The rear wheel bearings on my bike last around 12,000 miles, which I presumed was due to it regularly carrying two heavy people plus luggage.

Recent facebook group posts have shown this not to be an isolated event, does anyone have any knowledge of the typical wheel bearing life or experienced failure.
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve, yes I took it apart and it was the bearing 6008. The hardest was to get the " bush" in front of the bearing off. It was/ is part of the needle bearing . Finally we got it off with heat applied. Running beautifully now. Thanks again Norman.
 
This has been fascinating to read now, as the timing is perfect. I think I am in need of the same repair for the second time in 44k miles, last being done at the dealer. I am searching high and low for the needle bearing in the US, but seem to have no luck finding a bearing with the "ARS" designation. Do you know where I can purchase one? Also, I see these are sealed on two sides. I assume they are pre-lubed, correct? The other bearing seems readily available. Appreciate any information anyone has.

Thanks,
Patrick
 
The bearings are pre-lubed. Some info on the "ARS" bearing suffix is below and a photo of my spares.
 

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I decided to, for the first time on my 2016 Sport with about 12K miles, check the rear wheel play yesterday. There is only in one specific spot a tiny amount of play side to side, I estimate about a half millimeter or maybe less, at the outside of the wheel. The rest of the circumference has 0 play.
I wanted to check because on my last highway run on Tuesday, while accellerating at high speed (80 mph or so) it felt as if a vibration suddenly started in the drivetrain. But I could not tell if it was the bike or if maybe the road surface changed which can feel similar. Slowing back down to 70 the vibration disappeared. Will need to go back out and check again at high speed soon, but at this stage I don't think it would be the rear wheel bearing. More likely, if it is indeed something in the bike, the vibration damper that may have failed:
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Then again, there has been some roughness in the drive over 80 mph before, same with a R1200RT I briefly owned earlier this year, that I was a bit disappointed by for such an autobahn cruiser, between 70 and 80 mph.
Don't mean to take this thread off-track but thought this may be relevant to some.
 
Ceesie76 - This is exactly what I am feeling and at the same speeds. I did not find any play in the rear wheel as I turned the wheel and shook, looking for unusual play in the wheel. As you say, it doesn't seem like it is the rear bearing. At speed, it becomes rhythmic, like play in the final drive chain. Your analysis makes sense in that light, as I changed the guide to the next higher though the new chain only has about 1,000 miles on it and found only slight relief. Looking at the fiche available, I can't tell how difficult that dampener is to replace. Ideally, I should be spending little time at those elevated speeds and it should not be an issue. However...
 
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