Rear end rebuild question...

[SuperDave]

Hi all.  I plan on doing a complete teardown/rebuild of the rear end of my 97 standard in a couple weeks.  I'm doing this as preventative maintenance and for the learning experience as much as anything.  I have new bearings on the way already.  I'm curious if there are any other parts I should have on hand, or just plan on replacing while I'm in there.  I'm at 31000 miles, but I have only owned her for the last 800 or so of that, so what I may find in there is anybody's guess.  Any thoughts, suggestions, or help will be greatly appreciated.

Dave

[John Schmidt]

Are you talking about just replacing wheel bearings, etc., or rebuilding the final drive? If the former, then yes...a good idea if you don't know how it was maintained. If the latter...rebuilding the final drive, unless you're having problems with it you're wasting time and money.

For servicing the rear end you'll need three different new o-rings and a thrust washer, plus a dust seal for the left side. And, I'd recommend doing the double row bearing mod described in Shop Talk, installing the large bearing in the left same as the one on the right. Pretty much guarantees you won't have a left rear bearing failure which some are plagued with.

[SuperDave]

Thanks for the reply John. I guess I should have been more specific. I don't plan on getting into the final drive too much yet.  I did order 2 of the 5204 bearings so I can do the modification to the left side.  If I understand correctly, this mod doesn't leave room for the left side seal on the bearing.  Is that right?

[John Schmidt]

That's right, no room for the dust seal. However, the link shows where to get a protector to go on the outside of the bearing to help seal off the bearing. Scroll down to Mirion's post for the chart and info on its use, plus a link to a description. Just need to take off a smidgeon more from the spacer.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,17081.msg145319.html#msg145319

[SuperDave]

Thanks for the info!

[Ricky-D]

That protector is not the end to all.

It helps keep boulders out (not the road dust) but will fail the water test.

It's not a good idea to eliminate the first line of defense, the main seal, and expect good results simply by increasing the amount of bearing on the left side.

Get extra bearings, you'll need them, eventually!

Not a smart move in my estimation.

***

[SuperDave]

That protector is not the end to all.

It helps keep boulders out (not the road dust) but will fail the water test.

It's not a good idea to eliminate the first line of defense, the main seal, and expect good results simply by increasing the amount of bearing on the left side.

Get extra bearings, you'll need them, eventually!

Not a smart move in my estimation.

***

I understand what you are saying here, as I thought the same thing.  However, from my reading on this and other forums on the topic, it seems that the double row bearings with no protection are still outlasting the single row with the shield.  I'm a big guy, and I ride 2up a lot of the time, so I am not under the impression that this is the last time I'll be doing this.  I figure that if I'm going to have to eventually do it again anyway, I may as well go with the sturdier option. 

Any other thoughts on this? 

[SuperDave]

you'll need three different new o-rings and a thrust washer

I only see 2 o-rings in the service manual.  What am I missing?

[Jess from VA]

Check this out.

You would be well served to review every Shoptalk article that bears on your project.  I often print them out and lay them down with the relevant shop manual pages when working on the bike. 


http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/Elusive%203rd%20O-Ring.htm

[SuperDave]

Thanks for the info.  I have been reading as much as possible, but there is SO much info out there it is hard to absorb all of it.
Thanks again!
Dave