Forum

[Cumbrian_andy]

Can anyone tell me what the bearing number or size is for the rear wheel brake drum/sprocket on a B5 EFI? Mines failed along with the rear wheel bearings (6203). I'm hoping its just down to the Indian bearings being not quite as good as SKF or similar premium quality parts. I suspect the failure is down to the bike being used as a sidecar tug and the extra stress on the rear wheel and bearings. I may also have in the past over adjusted the chain, which I guess won't have helped matters.
As an aside if anybody has good practical advice on adjustments and maintenance or mods on sidecar bikes I'd be grateful.

Thank you.

Andy

[Adrian]

It's a 6005 bearing, same as the earlier models.



Not wishing to add gloom and doom/extra costs, but check also that the bearing hasn't fretted in its housing and also on the sleeve spindle which fits into the bearing. You might need a drop of loctite bearing fit or even a new brake drum and sleeve.



I was hoping to re-use the drum off my old Electra on a project, the bearing was well nasty but the drum looked OK until I fitted the new bearing - why is it sliding up and down in the housing? Answer, the housing is worn too. This was after 17k miles of solo riding, no sidecar on this one.



A.

[PeteF]

Bearing sizes are pretty straightforward. If the size is not on the bearing then just measure it.
These people seem to have everything. http://simplybearings.co.uk

[Adrian]

It's definitely a 6005-2RS, I have the old one here. 25mm I/D, 47mm O/D, 12mm wide.



+1 regarding Simply Bearings, they could supply me with a set of 6203 bearings needing C4 clearance for a front hub with a slightly over-tight interference fit.



A.

[Adrian]

Sorry, should have remembered the 2RS suffix first time! A.

[Cumbrian_andy]

Thanks gents! I'll be getting the bearings through my nephew who has a garage business and he's going to fit them properly with a press etc. He mentioned using some sort of special bearing lock compound so I'll leave it up to him to sort. he knows his stuff and as a motorcyclist too he is switched on to any special precautions. It looks a simple enough job, I reckon if the drum and sprocket have gone out of spec then I can always get another from our hosts. I suspect the Indian bearings are maybe not quite tough enough for the stresses I'm putting them under. What surprised me is that the swing arm bushes havent gone yet. I guess thats just a matter of time. At least it all doesnt look too difficult to do and the spares prices are reasonable for this day and age. I bought a new Renold chain for the EFI as the original is about out of adjustment, again I suspect not the greatest quality and being hammered with sidecar use? I did wonder about trying a HD DID "O" ring chain, I assume its a 530 metric size? Will likely do that next time round when I'll likely get a new sprocket set too. The bikes done just about 3.5k miles with the chair. I got the bike used with running in miles on it. Quite like it when its running smoothly so would like to persevere with improving its reliability.
Many thanks again.

Andy.

[Cumbrian_andy]

Theres something very odd going on. When we tried to install new bearings (6203 SKF) in the rear wheel, the cushdrive side one went in just fine, needing the bearing press tool to drive it in for an interference fit, as it should. However the offside bearing literally just "dropped" in to the bearing seat. Inspection seemed to suggest it had been "fretting" or even spinning in the seat, we supposed because the original may have partially seized as it failed on the road evidenced by the vibration I felt and the signs of overheating on the old bearing. So i bit the bullet (no pun intended) and bought a new rear wheel and internal spacer from our hosts from their sale stock of new wheels. Today being the first opportunity to get the job done I tried a brand new SKF 6203 sealed bearing in the new wheel. Oh dear, exactly the same as the old one, cush drive side nice and tight, offside so slack i could push the bearing in easily by hand and feel slight play in it. So it begs the question, was this always the case with the original wheel? Is the new wheel faulty too? or is the offside bearing of a slightly different outside diameter for some bizarre reason? I feel I have wasted £72 on the new wheel or that RE's quality control is plainly rubbish if they let wheels through with this amount of machining error?
Help!
Andy.

[Adrian]

Hi Andy,



your new wheel hub is definitely faulty if a brand new bearing just slops around in its housing with no interference fit at all. Either ring our hosts ASAP tomorrow and get a (checked) replacement, or get your money back. IT IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.



The 6203 is a very common bearing size, and the chances of you getting an undersized bearing are highly remote. I cannot for the life of me think why any factory - even RE (India) - would specify an oversize version of a standard commercial bearing, commercial expediency requires an off the shelf item which they can bulk buy. Someone in Chennai made the hole too big.



If your wheel was off an exceptionally rare machine you might find an engineering shop capable of boring out and sleeving the bearing housing, but as this is only a Royal Enfield Bullet we're considering, try another wheel.

[Cumbrian_andy]

Thanks Adrian. I just wondered what were the odds of getting a wheel with exactly the same problems twice? I did think I should get Hitchcocks to fit the new bearings but as I have a set of SKF 62032RSH I can save a further £25 on bearings as the budget for this repair is getting a bit extreme. I can't help thinking I might be better off cutting my losses and selling this bike. For all I enjoy riding it, it seems to be a very sloppily built thing and I'm just too long in the tooth to faff about fixing stuff that shouldn't need fixing.
Andy.

[Adrian]

I'd see how you get on with our hosts finding you a replacement. Could be both of your hubs with the oversize bearing housings were part of the same batch!



You MIGHT get away with using Loctiteâ„¢ Bearing Fit, but I'd want to hear if anyone else has successfully used it in this situation.



A.