drz 400 wheel bearing question

[Summitx]

2008 drz 400 12,000 km Replacing a rear tire and checked the wheel bearings. They are really tight. I always add a bit of grease to the inside of the seal when I have the wheel off to provide some extra protection for the bearings. Both sides are very tight. I removed the seals and removed the bearing seal. Both bearings still have what appears to be clean grease in them. I packed some belray water proof grease in them and put it back together. Just shocked by how tight they are. I can rotate them and they feel smooth but they are hard to rotate. No sign of excessive heat going on. Any one experienced this? Do I need to be worried? Heading out for a week with the bike and live in a remote location so getting bearings is a long process.

[Shuswap]

I didn't notice anything unusual when I did mine last year. But, if they are smooth, in both directions and under finger-applied pressure, with no sign of rust and the grease doesn't appear to have been displaced when you took them apart then they should be fine. They did fine for 12k, right?

Does the wheel turn smoothly and with little effort once you have it hanging/spinning on the axle?

I always balance mine, somewhat crudely, by supporting the ends of the axle and spinning the wheel slowly by hand. It should turn pretty freely...no binding

[Summitx]

Thanks Shuswap. The wheel feels the way it always has when back in the swing arm but I did not spin it without the chain in place which adds a fair amount of drag. I've felt quite a number of bearings over the years but none tight like this. Has me a bit spooked but the wheel feels the same as always has. Been trying to do some searching on the topic. It sounds like the bearings don't sit on a flange in the hub but are separated by a spacer?? Just wondering if they are pressing too tightly on the spacer? Have you had your bearings out?

[Shuswap]

No, bearings have not been removed completely on mine.
For reference, I can spin my rear wheel very quickly by hand with the chain on if I get it off the ground. It'll spin for quite awhile after I leave it alone

I often do this shortly after applying lube, to sort it(distribute) before parking the bike overnight. Avoids lube puddles on the floor.

Yours is sounding a little odd, alright. I certainly noticed nothing unusual when I did re-lube (forced more lube into it would be more accurate) mine.

[Summitx]

Think I'll take a chance on it and maybe take them apart again when I get back. Certainly more than once I've been given fair warning of a problem like this, chose to ignore it and been bitten in the ass. You'd think I'd learn. Think I'll get some bearings on order. For the price seems like a good thing to have in the shop for next time.
Thanks again, good riding to ya.

[skidmark43]

You have 'sealed' bearings. Adding grease along the axle bore or around the outer seals won't accomplish what you're after...
Remove the dust / axle seal, and then delicately remove the actual bearing seal with a dental-type pick. Inspect & repack with quality grease.
Bearing failures can happen quickly and turn a good day bad. Carry spares or be confident of their condition.
My 2 cents; YMMV

[hurricane harry]

2008 drz 400 12,000 km Replacing a rear tire and checked the wheel bearings. They are really tight. I always add a bit of grease to the inside of the seal when I have the wheel off to provide some extra protection for the bearings. Both sides are very tight. I removed the seals and removed the bearing seal. Both bearings still have what appears to be clean grease in them. I packed some belray water proof grease in them and put it back together. Just shocked by how tight they are. I can rotate them and they feel smooth but they are hard to rotate. No sign of excessive heat going on. Any one experienced this? Do I need to be worried? Heading out for a week with the bike and live in a remote location so getting bearings is a long process.

there are actually 3 bearings in your rear hub, 2 on the drive side

[Summitx]

Thanks skidmark I did removed the outer seals and removed the actual bearing seal to inspect the outer bearings. Did not know there was 3 bearing in there (thanks hurricane). The thing that got me worried was the two bearings that I had access to were very tight. Difficult to rotate by hand. Impossible with a bit of grease on the my hands. Had to clean things off real good and press very hard on the inner race to rotate them. Both outer bearings acted the same. When I was able to rotate them they were smooth just difficult to rotate. I've had a few bikes and felt a few wheel bearings but haven't experienced something like this. Again when the bearing seals were removed they looked good, better than I expected for 12,000 km.

[scottbc]

This sounds completely normal to me. Those inner and outer bearing seals cause alot of drag. I find that I always need to jamb two fingers tightly into the bearing to get it to turn. The main thing is that it was smooth without any roughness, if you get roughness at any point in the rotation the bearing will fail soon. Sounds to me like your bearings are in new condition. 12k isn't much unless you have been in water and mud alot.

I recently replaced rear wheel bearings in my 2009 KTM 450. One out of two bearings was bad, this was strictly because the seal had failed and the bearing got water into it causing rust. My bike sees almost entirly off road use and this was at 8500Km.

As far as the spacer/bearing flange goes, if you take a close look as the whole axle, spacer, bearing, spacer,bearing, Spacer and nut assy you will see that it is a big sandwich. When you tighten the axle nut everything compresses and aligns. The inner bearing races dont rotate on the bearing, the outer race rotates aound the inner. The outer race stays fixed in the hub. If the inner or outer races move you have much bigger problems.

Go out ride your bike with confidence and have fun. If it breakes adventure will begin......

Scott

[Shuswap]

Summit....I'm going to second everything that Scott said. I think you are good to go. I know I would anyway. My bike only has 12k as well, all hard off-road and my bearings are fine. Bearings just don't fail all that often, not for me anyway. And...both of yours felt identical, right?

Go ride!

This sounds completely normal to me. Those inner and outer bearing seals cause alot of drag. I find that I always need to jamb two fingers tightly into the bearing to get it to turn. The main thing is that it was smooth without any roughness, if you get roughness at any point in the rotation the bearing will fail soon. Sounds to me like your bearings are in new condition. 12k isn't much unless you have been in water and mud alot.

I recently replaced rear wheel bearings in my 2009 KTM 450. One out of two bearings was bad, this was strictly because the seal had failed and the bearing got water into it causing rust. My bike sees almost entirly off road use and this was at 8500Km.

As far as the spacer/bearing flange goes, if you take a close look as the whole axle, spacer, bearing, spacer,bearing, Spacer and nut assy you will see that it is a big sandwich. When you tighten the axle nut everything compresses and aligns. The inner bearing races dont rotate on the bearing, the outer race rotates aound the inner. The outer race stays fixed in the hub. If the inner or outer races move you have much bigger problems.

Go out ride your bike with confidence and have fun. If it breakes adventure will begin......

Scott

[Summitx]

Thanks scottbc and shuswap Put a couple of hundred km on last week of fairly hard off road and all feels good. Thanks for the help, nice to get a second opinion on stuff that does not feel right or is unfamiliar. Ride on