[bsmith00]

Ok i went to the shop today where I was getting my fork seals changed, new tires and a new chain put on.. and i had the mechanic show me what all was he was doing and he said that the wheel bearing was about to go sometime.. what is that and what are the dangers to leaving it too long (until i can get some more cash to have it BACK in the shop, and how much will this put me back?
thanks !

 

[Hagios]

A bearing is a mechanism to allow two surfaces to rotate over each other smoothly. They are also designed to take some amount of force, be it paralell or perpendicular to the rotating surface, or both. They work on the premise that things roll over each other with less wasted energy than they slide. They generally take the form of balls or rods between two round housings.

If your wheel bearings go, worst case is that your wheel becomes very difficult to turn. Worst case is that it locks, binds, and you leave the bike the unpleasant way. I'd reccomend you get them changed ASAP. They shouldn't be too much to do, if they're already doing the wheels.

 

[ZXLNT]

The wheel bearing can also become very sloppy letting your wheel move around. That will affect the handling and could become dangerous. In case the cost of crashing would far outweigh the cost of new wheel bearing..

 

[chaos14]

thanks for the dooms day outlook

they are not going to just lock up on, yes it is possible but for that to happen they would have to be so far gone you would know the bike was unsafe for along time, most likely you will just get a slightly wobbly tire and some noise, it will come on gradually and not all of a sudden, this said if you can aford to have it done while everthing is all apart you should as most of the cost is labor and not hardware

 

[ZXRon]

I just replaced all the wheel bearings on my ZX a couple months ago ... two in front and three in the rear ... and all told it was about $75 for parts w/shipping. Did the work myself so no labor costs ... so you'll have to figure an hour or two labor into the mix.

I agree the chances are slim a bearing will just go POP and fall apart ... you will usually feel/hear it going out long before a total failure ... and letting it get to the failure point is a really bad thing.

 

[Hagios]

chaos14, with the amount of lateral force applied to the bearings, they're pretty likely to bind before you necessarily notice something "wrong" with them. If they're already in bad shape, the chance of one of the bearings ceasing to roll, causing the three surfaces (inner race, roller, outer race) to slide over one another instead of rolling is pretty high. Factor in friction caused when the wheel is rotating at > 100rpms, and it's not so "dooms day" to concieve of the bearing freezing.

 

[aero3685]

What are common signs of them going out?

When I am riding, I can pull in the clutch, and get a consistant bumpy feeling. Like as if there are small pebbles or something. My wheels dont have any play. Just wondering though, since when I priced them out, they are like 20 for a set for the front and rear, so no point in not getting them.

 

[chaos14]

i have to disagree with you hagios
especially at high speeds its going to be hard to get it to just freeze up think how much force it would take to stop a wheel dead at that speed, more likely in a catastrophic failure it would be like you were breaking, or downshifting, you would definatly know something was wrong but unless you are hard into a corner you should be just fine

 

[Hagios]

I appologize; I wasn't clear. Yes, at high speeds it's more likely for the bearing to continue sliding if the bearing stops rolling. This increases friction, and once it gets to a speed where the momentum of the wheel doesn't overwhelm the bearing and cause it to slide, the bearing locks the wheel up.

My point stands; it's something that's quite important and shouldn't be delayed in being changed.