Ask Bowers

[paulmbowers 236]

Bzzzz..

Look at the bearings- there's no mystery here. Honda does not make bearings, and neither does KTM. They're all made by factories like Timken, Skf, etc.

If you want to argue (and it appears you do!) that KTM's chain/swingarm setup is sensitive to an overly tight chain and burns bearings, fine. If you want to believe that KTM undersized the bearings, bust out a mike and prove it. If you want to squawk about fuel lines, well, I don't know what to say here.

But Hondas wear out bearings just like other bikes.

Now buzz away. Be obnoxious somewhere else.

[Riggerdan 147]

The pictures are way more fun to look at then mosquito hunting…..

I'm a good helper for projects like this

I knew we should have tied some kind of rope / safety around this project…..

----------------- Utah 2012

[Bagstr 288]

Ha, Ha, He, He, my dad's stronger than your dad and my mom's sweeter.

Now let's talk about something which we can all agree. Ethanol in fuel, no I mean chains. My RK EXW has gone 5k without one lubrication. And the SuperSprocket 13t 3500/4000mi. Any other Good luck stories?

And I have a keen interest in how many links you guys run on the Orange Bikes. 13/14 to a 50t rear. Mine is 114. I would like to run the axle as far back as possible, but 116 seems too long.

Love all these opinions!

SandBagger

Both @ 114 links!

http://slavensracing.com/shop/chain-master-link-tool-by-zipty/

[ADV Bum 205]

I fortunately have never had a bearing fail on the trail. Seems I can make room for a couple spares in my already overstuffed tool bag.

[Suspenders 43]

When I had two racers for a season in the 50cc class both KTM's we went through wheel bearings about every 4 to 5 races depending on conditions.

The bearings on this model are smaller than they should be so they are put under more strain.

A bearing going bad also jeopardizes your hub as we trashed a couple because of a bad bearings spinning in the hub.

New hubs come with bearings installed. One of the new hubs I received with the bearings loose and just falling out of the hub. Loctite on Sat race on Sun (no choice) and KTM nor Motoworld would make good on the bad hub because we raced it. Purchased $7k worth of parts from Motoworld that season and I just don't believe they went up to bat for me. Sorry another story.

Solution was to go to a higher quality bearing from http://www.cbrbearing.com/ in Escondido.

It was towards the end of the season when a fellow racer enlightened me but never have replaced another set.

Service was fast and also have used his ceramic bearings on a couple of engines internally.

So the moral of the story may be, that the stock bearings are good enough to last for quite a while but better bearings are available.

[paulmbowers 236]

When I had two racers for a season in the 50cc class both KTM's we went through wheel bearings about every 4 to 5 races depending on conditions.

The bearings on this model are smaller than they should be so they are put under more strain.

A bearing going bad also jeopardizes your hub as we trashed a couple because of a bad bearings spinning in the hub.

New hubs come with bearings installed. One of the new hubs I received with the bearings loose and just falling out of the hub. Loctite on Sat race on Sun (no choice) and KTM nor Motoworld would make good on the bad hub because we raced it. Purchased $7k worth of parts from Motoworld that season and I just don't believe they went up to bat for me. Sorry another story.

Solution was to go to a higher quality bearing from http://www.cbrbearing.com/ in Escondido.

It was towards the end of the season when a fellow racer enlightened me but never have replaced another set.

Service was fast and also have used his ceramic bearings on a couple of engines internally.

So the moral of the story may be, that the stock bearings are good enough to last for quite a while but better bearings are available.

And there you have it!

Excellent information, presented well, based on personal experience and rational thought, all without being an ahole.

Thanks, George!

[ADV Bum 205]

When I had two racers for a season in the 50cc class both KTM's we went through wheel bearings about every 4 to 5 races depending on conditions.

The bearings on this model are smaller than they should be so they are put under more strain.

A bearing going bad also jeopardizes your hub as we trashed a couple because of a bad bearings spinning in the hub.

New hubs come with bearings installed. One of the new hubs I received with the bearings loose and just falling out of the hub. Loctite on Sat race on Sun (no choice) and KTM nor Motoworld would make good on the bad hub because we raced it. Purchased $7k worth of parts from Motoworld that season and I just don't believe they went up to bat for me. Sorry another story.

Solution was to go to a higher quality bearing from http://www.cbrbearing.com/ in Escondido.

It was towards the end of the season when a fellow racer enlightened me but never have replaced another set.

Service was fast and also have used his ceramic bearings on a couple of engines internally.

So the moral of the story may be, that the stock bearings are good enough to last for quite a while but better bearings are available.

And there you have it!

Excellent information, presented well, based on personal experience and rational thought, all without being an ahole.

Thanks, George!

Hmmmmm

[tntmo 911]

The KTM bearings are just one of those things that weren't designed very well from the factory, for whatever reason....probably cost or weight. I'd say every manufacturer has a few of these skeletons in their closet, whether fan boys want to admit it or not.

I change out bearings every few years as preventative maintenance. Preventative maintenance is something we also do in aviation maintenance and I do it on the bike for the same reason. Breaking down in the middle of the sky or the middle of the desert is no fun.