How do you know you wheel bearings about to go?

[muzikill]

Over the winter im going to check this out. Does the wheel / axle rod need a regular degrease / regrease or is it maintanence free? Im starting to get a slight low pitched rubbing noise on every rotation at low speed. How long do the brake discs last?. Can the axle rod wear down?
Ive noticed the inside of the wheel where the rod passes through there was a bit of dirty grease.
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[Bibio]

define low pitched rubbing noise.. is it a whooosh whooosh or a grind grind noise?

a slight coating of grease on the axle will stop it from sticking to the bearings but its a good idea to take it out once a year and clean/grease.

suzuki recommend front disc service limit is 4mm.

yes you will get dirty grease behind the seal as the seal wears down but as long as the bearings have a shield on them to stop the ingress contaminating the bearings then all is fine, clean it out if you want.

very unlikely that an axle will wear down.

to check bearings.. pop the front up on a stand the grab wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock then slightly rock wheel side to side, spin wheel a 1/8 turn and repeat till you have turned wheel 360. if you feel any clicks or grinding then bearing/'s are shot. you can check for rumbling bearings by prising the pads away from the discs and spin wheel, there should be no noises while you spin the wheel.

[muzikill]

Define woosh woosh lol. Its not a grind as its gone on long enough to know its probably not brake related or speed sensor related. Im going to do a brake overhaul soon. But wise to know how to visually inspect the wheel seals/bearings. Its not been long since i had the whole lot apart when i realigned the forks and when i did that i cleaned/regreased the lot which suprises me i get this slight sound.

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[Bibio]

woosh woosh that gets more frequent as the speed increases or is it a constant sound? or are you feeling roughness threw the bars when you are riding?

you won't be able to visibly inspect the bearings unless you take them out at which point they are burgerd if you do. the seals should have 2 lips on them which gives you a groove in the middle this groove stops ingress of dust.

[DJ123]

remove the front wheel. put a finger in either side of the wheel where the axle goes through, then spin the wheel. it should be a nice smooth spinning sensation, no jerkiness or rough areas.

[muzikill]

More frequent as speed increases and maybe it gets constant but the sound of engine/wind blocks it out. Not noticable through the bars.

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[muzikill]

Ive done the wheel wiggle when i worked on the forks and it was fine. Is there any way to clean the inside out of the wheel of dirty axle grease without disturbing the seals/bearings?

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[Bibio]

Originally Posted by muzikill

More frequent as speed increases and maybe it gets constant but the sound of engine/wind blocks it out. Not noticable through the bars.

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most probable culprit is a warped disc. easy to check, pop front up on stand then rotate wheel. you will hear the high low spots as it passes the pads, sometimes accompanied by the pads rising and falling in the callipers which will give you a clicking sound as well as the irregular rubbing. sometimes its just stuck buttons which can be freed off.

Originally Posted by muzikill

Ive done the wheel wiggle when i worked on the forks and it was fine. Is there any way to clean the inside out of the wheel of dirty axle grease without disturbing the seals/bearings?

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you can draw a rag threw the hole to clean the old grease from the inner surfaces. but to be honest unless the grease has grit in it then why would you want to remove it... grease is good it stops things seizing.

[Sid Squid]

Take the calipers off and then spin the wheel - the noise you're describing is far more often brake than bearing related.

Taking the calipers off will assist in identifying where the noise comes from.

[muzikill]

After reading the replies so far i seem to remember turning the wheel on the axle without calipers and it was balanced and no rubbing sounds. I think im on the right track thinking of a brake overhaul. Ive always had an eye on buying one of those tools to test for runout. It cant be easy using the naked eye to check out warping/misalignment.

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