Tag Archive for 'hub'

Ep 10: Replacing rear wheel bearings

Published
by
Waz
on February 2, 2009
in Episodes
. 25 Comments

Garage Night TV has turned 10! Well, it’s our 10th episode, anyway. In this instalment, Pete replaces the rear wheel bearings on his Honda Africa Twin 750 – and gets a nasty shock when he finds what some previous mechanic has done in this department.

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Sealed bearings. Great! They come from the factory with lots of lovely grease inside, and their own integral seals to make sure the grease stays in, and the muck stays out.

Right? WRONG! For me, the biggest revelation of this episode came when Trent popped open one of Pete’s new bearings and showed that inside was little more than a token smear of factory lubricant. So if you really care about those bearings lasting, it’s a good idea to check them – how to go about this is one of the numerous tips you’ll get by watching the video.

If there’s a lack of grease, you might consider adding some yourself. It’s not recommended to pack them solid, though, due to the possibility of overheating or hydraulic lock. There’s a bit of debate on this, but about 1/3 full of grease is one recommended figure. Continue reading ‘Ep 10: Replacing rear wheel bearings’

Ep 9: New spokes on an old wheel

Published
by
Waz
on November 21, 2008
in Episodes
. 12 Comments

Watch Waz and Trent dismantle the wheel in Ep 3: Sand, heat and nipples and Episode 4: Wires, shocks and smoke.

A spoke wheel is a thing of beauty. Here at Garage Night, you can’t tell us otherwise. Cast wheels might be acceptable if you ride a road toad, but if you’ve got spokes, you’ve got class.

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Just think, each thin metal spine is fragile on its own, but strong enough when laced together with a bunch of buddies to bear several times the weight of your bike when you’re full on the brakes, or keep your wheel from crumpling when you smash through a wash-out. And no matter how you try, for elegance of both form and function a cast or billet wheel can’t come close.

An old, neglected spoke wheel is NOT a thing of beauty, though – as I found when I bought a complete secondhand USD fork front end for my bike and discovered the seller had been less than honest about its condition. The Garage Night guys were never going to let me put it together in that state. So the wheel had to come apart. Continue reading ‘Ep 9: New spokes on an old wheel’