axel bearings

[wscotthougland]

I need to replace my axle bearings and have a few questions. First how often does this have to be done?
Should I buy Honda bearings or after-market ones? Honda's are $33 each and I have seen them on e-bay for around $25-30 for both and the seals? Has anyone bought them off e-bay?
Is there any tricks or things I should do when changing them?
What have you used to get the lock nuts on the axle loose, the Honda tool is like $60.

Thanks for your help, Scott

[Scott]

On the bearings, I haven't bought the ones from e-bay, so I can't say anything about them.

As for tips to make the swap easier, get a good pair of snap ring pliers, they will help you out.
For the axle nuts, I had one of the wrenches that fit (seems like it was 1-1/16", or 1-3/16") and for the other I used a 24" crescent wrench. If you haven't done this before, keep in mind that the axle nuts are left handed threads.

[hangman]

I don't know what to tell you about the bearings. I haven't changed the axle bearings in my 400ex yet but I just put them in my son's trx125. When I bought the bearings, Honda dealer said the same company made the bearings so I got the aftermarket ones. $8 cheaper each. In general, I try to buy Honda parts for my ex, but if it's the same part in a different box, why give the extra cash? I used a pipe wrench to get the lock nuts off. When you put them back on, they say to use a non-permanent thread locker.

What happen to Dave Mustaine?

[crookedeyemoto-x]

yeah, what happened to Mustaine?

[Scott]

The news only said "He was involved in an accident in January" but not what had happened. End result it that one of his hands were "damaged" and he can no longer play guitar. The remaining members announced about a week ago that they were breaking up instead of trying to go on with a bad using the name, but without Mustaine.