How much Maintenance can I do myself?

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When the brake pads are out you can rub them across a piece of emery paper or sandpaper laid on a very flat surface to rough up the pads and remove any glaze on the pad face that might contribute to noises, then you have to reseat or break-in the pads a little after that, the noise should at least change if not go away or the noise might not be related to the brake pad.
 
Baggsy said:
One thing that I've successfully used on a bike with a buttload of different sized fairing bolts, was a piece of cardboard with a rough drawing of the fairing shape on it. I poked a hole out in the approx. position of the bolt on the drawing and then pushed it into the cardboard. Once it was time for reassembly, it made it much easier to figure out which bolt went where.
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I do the same sort of thing only with an egg carton and a sharpie.
 
I use those boxes old people use to organize their medication and use it for hardware instead, works great
I also label everything with sticky notes and take pictures for reference
 
I'm even older then that, I throw it all into one box, it only goes together one way :|
 
Tip:
If you guys need to remove wheel bearings, get yourself a length of 3/8" threaded rod and a couple of nuts and various washers to go on it, get a huge wrench socket that is bigger then the bearing you are removing and a small socket that is just slightly larger then your axle, you can quickly rig up a very effective tool that will remove wheel bearings in seconds with no hammer required :geek:
 
Trials said:
Tip:
If you guys need to remove wheel bearings, get yourself a length of 3/8" threaded rod and a couple of nuts and various washers to go on it, get a huge wrench socket that is bigger then the bearing you are removing and a small socket that is just slightly larger then your axle, you can quickly rig up a very effective tool that will remove wheel bearings in seconds with no hammer required :geek:
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How would that work if the bearings are flush with the wheel and a spacer between bearings, there is no space to insert the washer to "pull" it with the threaded rod. :unsure:
 
sburns said:
How would that work if the bearings are flush with the wheel and a spacer between bearings, there is no space to insert the washer to "pull" it with the threaded rod. :unsure:
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Bearings are flush with the hub and the spacer between them is what I was pushing with the smaller socket. Worked really slick.
The big socket is really big 1-3/4" 3/4 inch drive.
 
(y) Bearings are installed, definitely one of the easiest service items on the bike and wow what a difference.
 
Trials said:
Bearings are flush with the hub and the spacer between them is what I was pushing with the smaller socket. Worked really slick.
The big socket is really big 1-3/4" 3/4 inch drive.
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Curious have any pictures?

Also saw other post, what symptons did you notice before changing them. I might have to do mine not sure yet.
 
sburns said:
Curious have any pictures?

Also saw other post, what symptons did you notice before changing them. I might have to do mine not sure yet.
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Normally you can hear/feel the rumble. Get the wheel in the air and spin it. You might hear the brakes dragging but it should be otherwise smooth and silent.
 
Didn't take any pictures but I probably could, I have 2 near identical bikes so when one has an extra wiggle in it I really notice fast.

When the bike was sitting up on a bucket I could grab the wheel at the top and bottom, when I wiggled it there was detectable side play in the sprocket side bearing, on dismantle I could see rust, the only steel in that hub is the bearing.

To install the bearings I just cleaned it all up nice and used the bikes axle with a custom spacer added to press them into place, took longer to find a spacer the right size then it did to do the job :/ maybe all of 4 minutes to install.

How old are your wheel bearings? The only lubricant in them is what was put in there originally and once there is any water inside them they are on their way to being scrap.
 
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magic wheel bearing puller ;)
bearingremover-jpg.44621
 

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(y) for really big nuts

By the way the bearing guy asked if I wanted the cheap bearings or the expensive bearings, I went with the SKF that are a premium price, no idea if that was a wise investment or not. Almost 19 bucks each for 6004 sealed bearings is up there, guessing everything is going to get expensive going forward.
 
Trials said:
How old are your wheel bearings? The only lubricant in them is what was put in there originally and once there is any water inside them they are on their way to being scrap.
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No idea, they might be the original bearings. Bike was bough used. I've had the rear wheel off and inspected them based off the service manual they seem ok. I sprayed them with WD40 while having the wheel horzontail and it didn't seep into the bearing.

Reason I am looking into it, because I have been dealing with a squeek/shimming noise at the back end. Right now it points to possibly the ABS sensor or this brake caliper holder. Anyhow the other reason I am looking into bearing because my wheels make a whobbley sound and the pitch changes when cornering. Could be just badly balanced wheels though or rubber gone bad.
 
sburns said:
No idea, they might be the original bearings. Bike was bough used. I've had the rear wheel off and inspected them based off the service manual they seem ok. I sprayed them with WD40 while having the wheel horzontail and it didn't seep into the bearing.

Reason I am looking into it, because I have been dealing with a squeek/shimming noise at the back end. Right now it points to possibly the ABS sensor or this brake caliper holder. Anyhow the other reason I am looking into bearing because my wheels make a whobbley sound and the pitch changes when cornering. Could be just badly balanced wheels though or rubber gone bad.
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Sounds like bearings. I would replace over the winter so you dont miss out on riding season next year.
 
Absolutely change them, it can cause all kinds of wear problems in addition to ill handling.
 
If your wheel bearings have any play in them your brakes are twisting the wheel one way and the chain is pulling it the other way, it's a disaster for your brake pads to deal with, brakes can't tolerate that kind of misalignment.

If it gets bad enough you could be destroying ABS sensors pretty quick if so equipped too, I would imagine there can't be a lot of clearance on those ABS sensor parts.

Front bearings are a little easier to check because you can grab the fork and the wheel and see if you can move those closer or further apart from each other, should be off the ground to inspect. Any side wiggle at all is too much.

When the rear wheel is off you should be inspecting your swingarm for play in the bearings or bushings there too. That's a slightly bigger service job, but an even more critical bearing point, keep those tight or your bike will handle like a turd.
 
Trials said:
magic wheel bearing puller ;)
bearingremover-jpg.44621
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Interesting, so are you "pulling" the entire stack out of the wheel, bearing, spacer, bearing. Still confused how this can work.
My though would be to pull each bearing separately.

@Trials & @GreyGhost Thanks for the input on my tire wobble, will be looking into getting the bearings replaced.
 
Your wheel bearings have inserts in them do they not?
the insert is an interference fit inside the bearing, the hole through the spacer is smaller it is an interference fit to the axle. You are pulling one bearing at a time using the spacer. Then turn the rig around and pull the other one out the opposite direction.
... the smaller wrench socket, is smaller then the hole through the 6004 bearing but larger then the axle.
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