Wheel Spacer issues (again)

Hi again chaps,

So after I was still having vibration issues with the new bearings I'd fitted, I figured maybe the rubbishy tin feeling spacer that was slightly bent had something to do with it. One trip down the road to Robinson's Foundry later and I had a GSXR750 K3 front wheel spacer. It felt solid in my hands, like I was holding a little piece of safety.

So I got some more bearings and fitted them and the new spacer. However, with both bearings up against the lip on the front wheel, there's still about 5 mm play with the spacer- a fact that is painfully obvious by the constant rattling of said spacer when I ride. It feels perfect now though, the vibration issue is all but gone (forks might need new oil though, feeling a bit tired). Now I know the spacer can have some play but as it is it's not doing anything useful.

Can I:

a - take the bugger out and have done with it, safe in the knowledge that my bearings will last about half as long but without an incessant noise
b - measure the distance between the bearings and get a spacer that is an exact fit - the old one was a bit rubbishy but clearly did the job for long enough with one bearing on the lip and the other pressed against the spacer, maybe I put the right one flush and the left one against the spacer, exacerbating the problem.

Either way, it's a bit annoying. It's a 2000 SV650s with a K3 GSXR front end - although presumably the wheel is different. Is there any way of identifying the wheel?

Also - when I talk about the wheel spacer, I mean the bit between the bearings inside the wheel. Cheers!

[NedSVS]

I'd strongly recomend you stop riding your bike NOW! When you tighten your wheel spindle you are putting a lot of axial thrust on bearings that are meant to take mainly radial loads. In the extreme the innner races could be forced out of the outer.

definitely get a spacer of the proper size to fit between the bearings. when you torque up the spindle to the correct level without a spacer it will be loading the bearing in a way it is not designed to cope with and you could have an unexpected failure, not just the accelerated wear that you already expect.

Hmm - in that case, is there any way to identify what wheel I have? Cheers in advance!

[yorkie_chris]

+1 you're going to have SERIOUS problems when those bearings collapse, which won't take long. Plus a load of extra friction.

When bearings fail they don't fail nicely either, the balls jump straight out of the races or indeed just smash to bits. We had this on wheelchair wheels at work that the slopes had fitted with spacers c1.5mm too short. And they were only in use at walking pace.
You really want your wheel to suddenly move 15-20degrees to the side?

Pics and measurements? Wheel will have MT17x3.5" cast into it along with some other numbers, what are they?

Get some verniers, measure total hub width, measure depth of bearing holes, subtract. This should tell you length of spacer you need. Bearings should be snug up to the spacer!

I will do this immediately. Thanks, will update with numbers and lengths and stuff.

Oh also- dude from Robinsons- 'that's fine, it just means your bearings will fail a bit faster'

[yorkie_chris]

Yeah that is true! How much faster is the question though, it could take 1000 miles off their life before they feel grungy, or they could ping to bits in the next 5 minutes.

I was just stating that to point out quite how incompetent they are in the workshop there. Never again!

[yorkie_chris]

What bearings are they? 25x37 or something like?

They have 6205R5 printed on the side, if that helps?