Wheel Bearings

[Dogsled]

I bought new front wheel bearings andwas reading the service manual. It says to grease them before installing because (and I read this somewhere else) that the bearing grease is very light from the factory). So the bearings are sealed on both side, how do you get grease into the bearings without camaging the dust seals?

[cbx4evr]

You won't. There is sufficient grease in them. Just install them the way they are.

I'm a Millwright by trade. I have seen more bearing failures from too much grease than from not enough.

[bustedwing]

If you take out the seals you risk not getting them back in without damage. No, it is sealed for a reason.Have plenty of grease. If you pack more in with heat the seal will expand and blow out any extra you put in plus damage the seal. Better off left alone.

[Dogsled]

OK thanks, I just found it odd in the service manual they wrote that. Maybe the original factory bearings weren't sealed. I appreciate the reply and was going to install tham as is. Just thought that was an odd statement with no 'how to'.

[cbx4evr]

OK thanks, I just found it odd in the service manual they wrote that. Maybe the original factory bearings weren't sealed. I appreciate the reply and was going to install tham as is. Just thought that was an odd statement with no 'how to'.

Bearings come in all different configurations so I suppose there may be a case where they could be greased before installation.

For example you can get the same wheel bearing with seals both sides, seal on one side or no seals at all. Bearings without seals usually do not come greased.

[Dogsled]

I got the old ones out, seals and bearings. We have a big bearing distributor near me so I'll go there, i'd rather give a local business the money.
I did run into one problem in the past. I got the number from the parts book for the shifter seal and they crossed it over, it leaked. I don't know what the issue was but a new one from Honda worked perfectly. I'll take the old bearings with me so they can mic them, along with my numbers.

[WingAdmin]

You don't mention what year or model Goldwing you're working with (your profile just says "Goldwing"). However, I can speak to the 1100 wheel bearings, having changed them before. The OEM wheel bearings on the 1100 are sealed on one side only (the side that faces out), and if you replace them with the same bearing, they should be packed before installation. Common replacement bearings are sealed on both sides (I replaced mine with Timkens, and they were sealed this way). In this case, no grease packing can or should be done.

Front wheel GL1100 bearings - showing each bearing, one side sealed, one side open:

[cbx4evr]

A common wheel bearing is a 6302. After that number will be a 2RS which indicates two seals. If it is a 6302-RS it would have one seal.

[cbx4evr]

I got the old ones out, seals and bearings. We have a big bearing distributor near me so I'll go there, i'd rather give a local business the money.
I did run into one problem in the past. I got the number from the parts book for the shifter seal and they crossed it over, it leaked. I don't know what the issue was but a new one from Honda worked perfectly. I'll take the old bearings with me so they can mic them, along with my numbers.

Your local bearing distributor will be a lot cheaper than buying from Honda. Bearings and seals should have the numbers printed right on them. Whether you buy a 6302-2RS made by SKF, ****, Timken, NSK or whomever else, the bearing should be exactly the same.

Crossing over numbers from parts books isn't always a good idea. If you can't read the numbers on the bearing or seal best to measure. That's likely why you had a leak with the shifter seal.

[Dogsled]

CBX,
That's what happened with the seal, I bought it before I took the old one out and just used the book numbers. Sitting around Sunday waiting to go for parts sucks.

Sorry about the profile, my bikes a 97 SE