Woody's Wheel Works Sealed Bearing Conversion? - Wrenching https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/ Airheads Beemer Club Discussion Board en-US Fri, 17 Jul 2026 01:44:50 +0000 wpForo 60 Woody's Wheel Works Sealed Bearing Conversion? https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-7361 Fri, 16 Sep 2016 06:44:45 +0000 Thanks for the reply. I am a little confused by your reply though. You said that the majority of motorcycle use radial bearings, then say I might reconsider if they offer radial bearings. "Reconsider" as in decide not to purchase for the 2 reasons given.
My bearings are rust and need to be replaced, Also I fear that the race is loose in my hub as wheel I was removing the rivets to replace the drive dog, the race fell out of the hub.
Yikes !! Sounds as though it's time for a whole new wheel.]]> Wrenching Richard W https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-7361 Woody's Wheel Works Sealed Bearing Conversion? https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-7359 Thu, 15 Sep 2016 19:34:13 +0000 Wrenching Brian Scott https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-7359 Woody's Wheel Works Sealed Bearing Conversion? https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-7358 Thu, 15 Sep 2016 05:56:40 +0000 Woody's web site and didn't see any mention of a bearing conversion. Two comments.... ► Although there are sealed tapered roller bearings, the vast majority of "sealed bearings" are the common radial ball-type. Probably the vast majority of motorcycle wheels turn on radial bearings and do just fine. There is no service, when the balls give out, you simply replace the bearing. But they do "just fine" because the vast majority of motorcycles are not carrying 2 passengers and a ton of camping gear !! So the stock tapered roller bearings are somewhat superior in that their greater surface area allows them to generally last the life of the bike under any load conditions. ► The common fear that "sealed bearings" appeals to is that loss of grease will allow the bearings to prematurely wear out. Stop and calculate the RPM of a motorcycle wheel at 100 MPH and you'll quickly see that it's not even turning as fast as the blower motor in your home's furnace. And what percentage of your time do you really spend at 100 MPH ?? So we start to understand that the grease is mostly there to ward off water and catch dirt. Therefore a maintenance routine that periodically washes out the old grease (along with the embedded water and dirt) and replaces it with fresh grease is superior to a bearing you cannot service. So a few questions are in order. And the first one is, "Are these ball bearings, of either radial or angular contact ?" If the answer is "Yes", then you may wish to reconsider.]]> Wrenching Richard W https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-7358 Woody's Wheel Works Sealed Bearing Conversion? https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-5507 Tue, 13 Sep 2016 23:05:06 +0000 BMW Sealed Bearing Conversion $99 (includes bearings) Has anyone had this done? Is it recommended? Brian]]> Wrenching Brian Scott https://www.airheads.org/community/wrenching/woodys-wheel-works-sealed-bearing-conversion/#post-5507