...but rode home anyway. I had a feel of the rear wheel - it rotated forward - roughly - but almost not at all backward. And here's how my driven flange bearing looked when I took off the sprocket carrier. The rest of it just fell out with no prompting.

New one in now, all is well again.

For now...

 

Good catch hmm,

I replace wheel bearings when I replace tyres - I've had a front bearing collapse at speed and it's not a nice feeling!

For the cost - to me it's cheap insurance.

Cheers, SB

 

I don't replace them that often, but do spin the wheel and listen close for noise. Also reach in the give the bearings a turn while the wheel is off to feel check for rough races/***** or sticky bearings.

 

Wow, what was it like to ride it like that????

 

that looks knackered, ive had a couple of rear wheel bearings give up, its not pleasant, I check and regrease (un sealed type) every time I have the wheels out, and check spinning the wheels everytime I lube the chain

 

Well, when I first heard the noise I thought it was either my centre stand touching the ground (it's been a bit 'lazy' recently) or one of the drain covers in the car park. But after that it was London traffic or 50mph plus on the A3. So I heard nothing. "Out of sight, out of mind!" The 18-mile journey was as normal - acceleration, braking, all felt OK. But as I said, when I checked the wheel, it would barely rotate backwards, and when I removed the sprocket carrier the ***** and one half of the bearing shell just fell out. So the pressed-in side of the shell was the only part left in - thankfilly there's a little lip I could use to bash it out.

 

Luckily, that bearing is in the sprocket carrier, which allows the unit and rear sprocket to rotate very slightly forward and back as part of the "cush drive" with the rubber dampers inside the rear wheel. When it fails, your wheels and rolling bearings are unaffected, but your rear sprocket may no longer line up 90 degrees to the chain, and smooth throttle inputs are all but impossible. Mine failed on my '93 900RR in a similar fashion, but all I noticed was a very jerky throttle in traffic. Nice repair, BTW.

 

If you have a mig welder a handy way of removing stubborn bearing races is to weld three-four "dabs" into the race, with enough current to make them melt in but not enough to melt through. Before it cools down take a screwdriver, chisel or whatever and whack the race with the chisel and a hammer into the dab you just welded and the race will just drop off.

The straighter you can get the race out the less it will fight. If you bash it from one side too much it can wedge into the hole pretty darn good. Why I know? Let's just say that it might have something to do with my current ownership of a 10 tonne floor press...

Looks somewhat like my front wheel bearings did when I changed them after buying the cbr only my bearings were filler with wet rusty sludge, once they dried in the garage they seized completely.