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Front wheel bearing
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:07 pm
by mogu83
Has anyone used other than the OEM bearing in the front wheel. OEM is around $25 but a 6205 bearing usually goes for less than $10.
Eagle6
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 1:20 am
by Eagle6
In my many years in the motor/bike trade I've never used an OEM bearing unless it was the only available option.
Just buy a bearing from a decent brand and you should have no problems.
I know a guy with an F800GS that has covered over 120,000 miles and has the usual problem with headstock bearings that the model sufferers from. He will only use BMW OEM bearings and has to change them every 10-15,000 miles. Me, I'd be fitting some branded tapers but he sticks to the OEM.
Re: Front wheel bearing
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:07 am
by GTS29640
I've haven't had to replace the bearings yet but wouldn't hesitate to use something other than OEM with a couple of cautions:
1. Buy one from a bearing distributor and not from one of the internet sites. Counterfeit bearings are not uncommon. Someone makes a poor quality bearing and marks it with a popular brand name. They even copy the box and sell them thru the internet.
2. Make sure you get one with seals and not shields. At first glance they may look the same but will certainly not perform the same.
3. Make sure the bearing you buy has the same clearance class. This would be indicated with a suffix like C0, C1, etc. If there's no suffix it's probably a normal clearance bearing. The same bearing can be purchased with different amounts of free state internal clearance to account for varying press fits.
Re: Front wheel bearing
Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 3:26 pm
by winkeldc
mogu83 wrote:Has anyone used other than the OEM bearing in the front wheel. OEM is around $25 but a 6205 bearing usually goes for less than $10.
Just out of curiosity, what did you end up with?
Re: Front wheel bearing
Posted: Mon May 27, 2019 6:31 am
by mogu83
went to a local business that deals only with bearings - asked for best he had and ended up with SKF bearings.
After replacing both bearings (that seemed OK when I took them out) the noise was still there.
Started thing about what was new on the bike and the answer was the Michelin Road 5 tires. I when to the NYC bike show and asked the Michelin guy if people were getting noise from the new tire and he said I was the third guy that asked.