Bearing problems!

[JCWevs]

Alright here is my problem. I own a '92 Honda 250X. I have completely reworked the motor, big bore kit, stage 3 trail cam, port/polish, full FMF pipe, jet kit, filter, new valves, valves springs, retainers, rev box, so on and so forth. My problem is not with my motor though, it is with the axle bearings! I have replaced them 3 times since I got the bike, in May. I contacted Lone Star, because I have a Lonestar bearing carrier and bearings. They have left me out in the cold. My mechanic has no more answers for me. the axle is straight, the carrier is in excellent shape, and the bearings are brand new! However, with all of the torque that my motor now puts to the ground I have slightly, and I mean slightly twisted the splines on the axle. Could this be my problem? The first set of bearings only lasted me about half an hour and the next two sets have only survived about an hour. The bearings were greased and set properly and the spacer was also replaced. I have no more ideas, besides the twisted splines, however they do not cause the axle to wobble or be out of round. I have had it on a lathe w/ a micrometer and it shows the axle to be straight! Is there too much torque on such a small area? Could it be a traction and bite problem? Could I have a bad carrier or swingarm? The swingarm is not tweaked or twisted. Any help from anyone would be appreciated! thanks Email me at wevs939@hotmail.com if you have any answers!

[stocktires]

Do you mean you slightly twisted the splines? If so, which one?

Dang, I bet those 3 sets of bearings weren't cheap! :eek:

Few questions for you.

What brand bearings? What numbers?

Can you post pics of the "bad" bearings? (this would help a whole lot) The bearings tell a story about what is wrong by how they failed.

be good idea to post the pics on the twist in the splines too, and wouldnt hurt to see the carrier

[JCWevs]

The splines that rest inside the bearing carrier and they aren't twisted to the point of rounding them off, however the middle of the splines are now unaligned w/ the sides of the splines, and no the damn bearings weren't cheap at 75 dollars a set, which would be $225 bucks so far!:huh

[JCWevs]

The bearigs are Lonestar tapered bearings, the numbers I am unsure of, cuz I don't have any of the packaging anymore. As far as the bearings being bad I mean that after over an hour of riding the rear end wobbles horribly. After disassembling the whole assembly the bearings are mangled! The balls are floating around in the grease. I hope I can get some pics up soon, but I haven't taken the rear end apart yet. The carrier is almost brand new and was installed by the local Hona shop, it shows no signs of wear or anything like that. Approximately half of the splines are twisted, almost as if the axle was spinning and suddenly caught and skipped and caught again., but I am not sure.

[Bean]

i think if you overtighten tapereds, they mess up, could that be it?

also, try to get ahold of a stock axel or order a new extended one, and run it for a while to see if it is the splines, are you sure you are getting all the destroyed bearing out of the carrier and off the axel?

no the damn bearings weren't cheap at 75 dollars a set, which would be $225 bucks so far

That seems like a lot of $$$ for a couple sets of tapers, you may want to find some part numbers off the bearings cause I think you can save a bunch of $$$ based on what your saying.


after over an hour of riding the rear end wobbles horribly. After disassembling the whole assembly the bearings are mangled! The balls are floating around in the grease.
Sounds like you have some big problems in this set up. It could be several things from overtightnening (good call Bean) or under tightening to something as simple as too much grease.

Those pics would help a lot and get some close ups of the rollers and races and be sure that they are clean. it wouldnt hurt to see the places where the bearing mounts to the shaft and inside the housing cause it is possible the bearings and mounting locations are not properly sized up.

BTW dont feel too bad since I have seen mechanics completely destroy thousand dollar bearing sets used in CNC spindles etc. Many people just dont realize how much of a precision part a bearing can be and if not handled and installed properly they can be trash before the first rotation.

so lets see what you got and go from there.

[Bean]

do you have a stock axel nut, if you do, are you tightening the skinny nut against the brakedisk? If you do this, this is defffitnly why, it puts tremendous pressusre on the bearings, thisis a NO-NO, dont do that, lol

[d-14 rider 27]

i didnt understand what you meant by the balls just floating in the grease or whatever? if you got the tapered bearings, there isnt any balls. if you mean you got the twinrow carrier, try a new spacer tube DONT TRY TO MAKE ONE maybe it got worn, and your sideloading the bearings (when tightening, you pushin the inner race in farther than the outer, and your bearings dont run true. if you got tapered bearings, those only gotta be snug, spin the axle for a few minutes and get the grease distibuted proper-like, then recheck, i bet they'll be loose. if it is tapered bearings your talkin about, i dont really have much experience with them, im just goin by my experience with my trailer but if its ball bearings your spacer tube is most likey the problem.