Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: Tactical_Mik on June 16, 2011, 06:14:07 PM
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First, sorry I forgot to take pictures but I'm sure you frugal types have done it before.
I replaced my front and rear wheel bearings today. My fronts were notchy and really stiff. When checking them over the last couple of months I was able to discern a noticable difference in smoothness. I attempted, last week to use a punch to knock out the bearings but to no avail. They are flush mounted bearings and I was not able to move the center sleeve around allowing enough edge to use the punch. That sucked because it meant that I would either have to have a dealer do it or buy bearing pullers.
I contacted the three (relatively) local dealers and asked if they had pullers. All of them stated that they just use a screwdriver to bugger (technical term) the edge of the bearings so they can get a punch on them. I decided to just order the pullers. I already had a puller shaft from previous endeavors with other machines.
I noticed that while pulling the rear bearings that there was some rust/corrosion around the OD of the bearing on the rotor side. Might have been a little water making its way through there. It was a realitively simple process as you can imagine. At 22,000 miles I was suprised that the rear bearings were still pretty smooth.
If there are local peeps that need to replace their bearings at some point in the future, I would be happy to loan out the pullers to save you the expense of having a dealer do it. I suppose I might even give you a hand doing it. :)
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At this point (42k) on the odo, mine still appear to be smooth rolling.
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I wondered if my brake rotor warpage was allowing some lateral forces on the bearings. I was happy with 20K on the bearings though. I have had some wheel bearings on bikes go at about 12-15k and others at 40k. Luck of the draw I suppose.
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Haven't see that much anecdotal evidence of chocolate bearings on this bike. The C10 was notorious for that, especially the fronts.
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Just my opinion but the root problem you probably had was that the seals failed and allowed water into the bearings. My bike is coming up on 70K miles and I have replaced the front seals twice while the bearings are still fine. Clean, lubricated bearings should last the life of the vehicle. Most of the high- mileage bikes I have looked at have failed wheel bearing seals but the owners never even know it. The test is easy: if the seal will not hold the wheel collar (the bearing spacer) from falling out when the collar is pointed down, the seal needs to be changed.
Brian
First, sorry I forgot to take pictures but I'm sure you frugal types have done it before.
I replaced my front and rear wheel bearings today. My fronts were notchy and really stiff. When checking them over the last couple of months I was able to discern a noticable difference in smoothness. I attempted, last week to use a punch to knock out the bearings but to no avail. They are flush mounted bearings and I was not able to move the center sleeve around allowing enough edge to use the punch. That sucked because it meant that I would either have to have a dealer do it or buy bearing pullers.
I contacted the three (relatively) local dealers and asked if they had pullers. All of them stated that they just use a screwdriver to bugger (technical term) the edge of the bearings so they can get a punch on them. I decided to just order the pullers. I already had a puller shaft from previous endeavors with other machines.
I noticed that while pulling the rear bearings that there was some rust/corrosion around the OD of the bearing on the rotor side. Might have been a little water making its way through there. It was a realitively simple process as you can imagine. At 22,000 miles I was suprised that the rear bearings were still pretty smooth.
If there are local peeps that need to replace their bearings at some point in the future, I would be happy to loan out the pullers to save you the expense of having a dealer do it. I suppose I might even give you a hand doing it. :)
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I noticed that the seals were not as tight as they should have been. It was one of those things that didn't click in my head until I was replacing the bearings and seals. My front wheel collars have always just fallen out so there could have been an issue from the start with those. Maybe no light coating of grease from original assemble or something. I will keep my eyes on the seals better. Heck they are cheap and I will probably just have a set on standby in my c14 parts drawer.
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For removing front wheel bearings I use a trick showed me by a local mechanic. He uses an air hammer with a 1/2" diameter bit ground flat or even slightly concave on the end. It's important that the bit be sharp edged, so it helps to dress it on your grinder before each use. even with the spacer in the way, there is enough of the bearing inner race for the air hammer bit to get a purchase, and the bearing will walk out in a matter of seconds.
If you have an air compressor you'll find an air hammer is about the cheapest air tool you can buy. Getting the bit from Grainger or McMaster may cost more than the tool. :-)
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air hammer might be a bit excessive, but used correctly would work nicely...the trick is getting the spacer pushed sideways as was done on the original C10, to get an "edge" to grab on at the bearing...
here is how you do a C10, I don't think the c14 is any different....
the main key is the sharp 90* grind on the end of a 1/2" dia punch/pin/shaft etc...
..the tools end should look like this....
(http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/46598/2158439240015463693S600x600Q85.jpg) (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2158439240015463693quIuOS)
slide the tool down till you catch on the bearing edge, you can feel it if you use a tool like this
you can't get there with a tapered punch, it just won't happen....
the spacer side-shift movement
(http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/2627/2366812200015463693S600x600Q85.jpg) (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2366812200015463693VrvIdT)
this shoves the spacer to the side...
the final bearing slam effort.\
(http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/46732/2077890360015463693S600x600Q85.jpg) (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2077890360015463693PjGWMT)
its really silly simple easy once you do it, but getting the hang of it without seeing it done, is the tricky part, those 2 pictures tell it best, slam the punch sideways hard, a bunch of times, then hold it and slam it downwards... once you get the bearing to move a squeak, you can begin the process rotating to different points radially, just slam to the side, and then down....easy, you will see.
Toss that $15 tapered punch in the toolbox.