Bearing Failure Ruins Bash Plans

Blanca Busa said:
Listen by the time I get thru with them they will beg you to take a set of BSTs :)

You ever see the commercial where the guy knocks over tv stand and tells wife it happened on its own and he needs to buy a new one? You were just talking about new wheels :whistle:
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Mamma always said never trust a car salesman... :whistle:
 
If the chain was so loose when you picked up the bike, that is a red flag that something didn't go well. It only takes a few minutes to check it out before you leave, and might have avoided all this.

Human error is always possible, even with an experienced wrench, but I've learned to poke and look at the work performed before I leave. I've never wrenched on my bike, and don't have a problem paying the professionals to do the work.

Glad you didn't crash. That would have hurt a bunch.
 
Man Willie! Sorry about your bike but even sorrier about your weekend!!! Hope she is all sorted out soon. I am sooooo glad I carried my wheels in to have my tires mounted.
 
Willie, having just went through my rear bearings, I so empathize with you! Two Busa owner bearing failures in one month (on the org). Anyways, even after all these years, I have a totally new and high consciousness about inspecting wheel bearings in the course of my normal maintenance on the bikes. What a complex story! Doyle
 
I had to change my fronts this year (an 08) and I have a set of rears waiting for it...
 
fallenarch said:
I don't believe in benifitting unreasonably when something like this happens. Also I don't want to maybe do something that might hurt the dealer and put some poor entry level mechanic out of his dream job. If I went in and tried to get as much out of these guys as I think I can over this mistake I would never feel safe on those wheels. Maybe it's silly superstition, but I keep my Karma clean brother. If they want to step up and make it good that's great, if not then I'll just buy my wheels, brembo, Bazzaz TC, and next bike from someone else. That's punishment enough. As for warning other riders, this can happen at any dealer, especially one who doesn't know your specific bike. Bottom line is work on it yourself or look over the work with a fine tooth comb. Nobody cares about your azz quite like you do!
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Bottom line I'm glad you're okay, I don't get to make those kind of mistakes in my line of work because someone could get hurt or hurt others; possibly killed...
 
raydog said:
Willie, having just went through my rear bearings, I so empathize with you! Two Busa owner bearing failures in one month (on the org). Anyways, even after all these years, I have a totally new and high consciousness about inspecting wheel bearings in the course of my normal maintenance on the bikes. What a complex story! Doyle
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I gotta tell you guys, you were both fortunate not to have had a different outcome. When I pull mine to replace the Q2 that has a plug in it, I will be doing very close inspections.
 
fallenarch said:
I don't believe in benifitting unreasonably when something like this happens. Also I don't want to maybe do something that might hurt the dealer and put some poor entry level mechanic out of his dream job. If I went in and tried to get as much out of these guys as I think I can over this mistake I would never feel safe on those wheels. Maybe it's silly superstition, but I keep my Karma clean brother. If they want to step up and make it good that's great, if not then I'll just buy my wheels, brembo, Bazzaz TC, and next bike from someone else. That's punishment enough. As for warning other riders, this can happen at any dealer, especially one who doesn't know your specific bike. Bottom line is work on it yourself or look over the work with a fine tooth comb. Nobody cares about your azz quite like you do!
Click to expand...

Dont want to take an entry level mechanic out of a dream job?
Are you serious? Anyone who can afford further education to go to MMI, not everyone is capable of repairing motorcycles just as other jobs that require a set skill level.
Working on a high performance motorcycle is like working on an aircraft, tech induced errors can take the life of the operator!! Some mistakes are not very forgiving, and installing wheels is ONE of them.
You are Very....... I repeat VERY lucky that bearing didnt give out on a 120 MPH sweeping turn on the side of a mountain. Do you think that shop or mechanic would have known about it, do you think it would ever be investigated the cause of the accident? I am guessing now, so now this mechanic goes and continues to make more mistakes... This is why its very important to take these things seriously and take the action maybe not for yourself but the next owners safety whos motorcycle is being worked on at the shop.
Accident, these types of accidents are a little more serious then a chef not cooking my steak properly..

Glad to hear you got a free pass to another chance to life to live another day on your pride and joy:beerchug:

I am at 25K miles on my 09 so far as bearings go. I have replaced the front wheel bearings twice, first OEM set had a minor defect on the inner part of the race that you could bearly feel by hand, second set started to get a little more resistance then I personaly care for so I replaced them a different style bearing which have been doing very well since replacement.
Rear bearings still test and check very well with very little wear that are closely inspected on the average of 3500 miles.
 
For the record I did have a talk with the owner and explained the situation on top of the email I posted. I would not let something like go without reminding the shop that they do have people's lives in their hands. Most people don't check bearings and frankly you shouldn't have to. 2 Suzuki dealers both told me that they never go bad. One dealer said they would have to order the tool because they never have had to replace one. Still, the lesson here is that you should visually inspect them every tire change just to be sure none of the bearings is missing a ball and that there are not metal filings in the wheel.

Just another precaution to look out for. I can tell you that when they go the bike is a hand full even at 20-30 mph.
 
Willie, Lankee makes one good point. It may be a blessing the bearing went out before you got to the bash and pushed it.
 
If chain was under propper tension/allignment before you got there and they changed the wheel and it wasnt after and their was noise that means they forgot the spacer. That wheel wouldnt line up correctly without that spacer and you would be rubbing the wheel right on the swingarm/bearing and most likely would be able to feel weird play in the back of the bike. What does the inside of the swingarm look like?
 
lankeeyankee said:
Dont want to take an entry level mechanic out of a dream job?
Are you serious? Anyone who can afford further education to go to MMI, not everyone is capable of repairing motorcycles just as other jobs that require a set skill level.
Working on a high performance motorcycle is like working on an aircraft, tech induced errors can take the life of the operator!! Some mistakes are not very forgiving, and installing wheels is ONE of them.
You are Very....... I repeat VERY lucky that bearing didnt give out on a 120 MPH sweeping turn on the side of a mountain. Do you think that shop or mechanic would have known about it, do you think it would ever be investigated the cause of the accident? I am guessing now, so now this mechanic goes and continues to make more mistakes... This is why its very important to take these things seriously and take the action maybe not for yourself but the next owners safety whos motorcycle is being worked on at the shop.
Accident, these types of accidents are a little more serious then a chef not cooking my steak properly..

Glad to hear you got a free pass to another chance to life to live another day on your pride and joy:beerchug:

I am at 25K miles on my 09 so far as bearings go. I have replaced the front wheel bearings twice, first OEM set had a minor defect on the inner part of the race that you could bearly feel by hand, second set started to get a little more resistance then I personaly care for so I replaced them a different style bearing which have been doing very well since replacement.
Rear bearings still test and check very well with very little wear that are closely inspected on the average of 3500 miles.
Click to expand...


Im a graduate of MMI and i can tell you first hand that there are alot of students that fail out of school because they cant hack it and some who are kicked out because of unsafe work practices, but there are also some that pay to take classes over and over till they pass but yet never become better mechanics. Im very lucky to have the mechanical aptitude that my father instilled in me and i never appreciated it till i went to school and saw some of the kids who had a hard time removing plastics off of a dirt bike let alone anything else. I also agree that it needs to be brought to that mechanics attention that there was a spacer missing. All mechanics have access to the manuals and honestly should have noticed that hey this doesnt fit together right. We all make mistakes but we have to be able to learn from them and never knowing we made a mistake is a HUGE mistake in itself!
 
fallenarch said:
One dealer said they would have to order the tool because they never have had to replace one.
Click to expand...

There's a tool to replace the bearings? Didn't need anything other than a set of snap ring pliers and a press to do the one's on Doyle's bike. That being said those dam CZ wheels he has on the bastard were one of the hardest tires to change on my machine to date!

Glad you are ok brother and that you caught it on time.

Scott
 
Sorry to say but you need to start wrenching your own bike, there is no reason that the mechanic did not notice the bearing was going bad!
 
isiahstites said:
There's a tool to replace the bearings? Didn't need anything other than a set of snap ring pliers and a press to do the one's on Doyle's bike. That being said those dam CZ wheels he has on the bastard were one of the hardest tires to change on my machine to date!

Glad you are ok brother and that you caught it on time.

Scott
Click to expand...

The manual says a tool is needed on the sprocket side. I suppose there is a way to do it without the tools.
 
card16969 said:
Im a graduate of MMI and i can tell you first hand that there are alot of students that fail out of school because they cant hack it and some who are kicked out because of unsafe work practices, but there are also some that pay to take classes over and over till they pass but yet never become better mechanics. Im very lucky to have the mechanical aptitude that my father instilled in me and i never appreciated it till i went to school and saw some of the kids who had a hard time removing plastics off of a dirt bike let alone anything else. I also agree that it needs to be brought to that mechanics attention that there was a spacer missing. All mechanics have access to the manuals and honestly should have noticed that hey this doesnt fit together right. We all make mistakes but we have to be able to learn from them and never knowing we made a mistake is a HUGE mistake in itself!
Click to expand...

Again, I informed the dealer of the problem.
 
Didnt that feeling of " Wow something doesnt feel right here let me double check" when there was no 1" spacer installed on the rear wheel?? That wheel had to be wobbling when it was up on stands for the excessive play.... Sad so sad some people take no pride or care when working on others motorcycles. Even entry level would ask someone to look at it, this right here is just a perfect excuse of "ahh screw it" and serious actions should be taken toweards this type of work ethic.
 
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