Bearing lubrication question

[uclabiker06]

How often do the rear wheel, swing arm, and steering head bearings really need to be lubed/replaced?  LT manual says every 6K but thats kind of inconvenient;  specially if you don't know how to get to them.

[Howie]

Good question.

I just looked in my factory manual.  All they say is check the head bearings for plat at 30K km.  Though I would not say LT's recommendation is wrong, IMO, if you are paying, just too expensive, if you are doing it yourself, just too much work.  I do advise lubing the head and swing arm bearings early on since the factory is less than liberal with the lube.  Bearings can last a long time and I see no reason to replace a bearing until it shows wear.  The wheel bearings are sealed, so you do not lube them.  I check them any time I have a wheel off.  My bike is an '01 with over 47K mostly NYC miles on it.  Head, swing arm and wheel bearings are all original. 

[uclabiker06]

I check them any time I have a wheel off.  My bike is an '01 with over 47K mostly NYC miles on it.  Head, swing arm and wheel bearings are all original.

Okay, so when you take the rear wheel off you don't lube the needle bearings like it says in the LT manual?  Did you ever lube the barrings in the 47K miles that you have had the bike?? My bike has only 5.5K so I ask out of precaution and curiosity.  But man that would be an expensive lube-job (no pun intended).

[Howie]

Okay, so when you take the rear wheel off you don't lube the needle bearings like it says in the LT manual?  Did you ever lube the barrings in the 47K miles that you have had the bike?? My bike has only 5.5K so I ask out of precaution and curiosity.  But man that would be an expensive lube-job (no pun intended).

The wheel bearings are sealed, you cannot lube them.  You can and should lube the swing arm and head bearings, did mine at 12K.  The head bearings were a little dry

[uclabiker06]

Did you do it yourself?  Was it difficult to get to them?  Did you have to remove the bearing to lube it (I would guess yes).  I wonder if this contributes to high maintenance costs.

[Howie]

Since the bike was still new and under warranty at the time and I had trust in the shop I let them do it.  You need to raise the bike at both ends allowing both front and rear suspension to be free for starters since you need to remove the swing arm pivot and the steering stem.  If you go to ducati.com and look at the parts breakdown to get an idea.  You do want a repair manual if you choose do this yourself.

http://www.ducati.com/en/bikes/service/parts/2008.jhtml?family=parts

Oh, these are tasks you would need to do on most bikes.

[uclabiker06]

Okay sounds good.  Just spoke to dealership and was told that these bearings don't get lubed until 12K.  Looks like I have a while. Thanks again for the info.

[Techonly]

I replace the bearing every 2 years when I replace oil in the forks and replace tire (wheel bearing) Swing arm, never replaced . The cost of the bearing is nothing compare running with bad bearing. Normally speaking, SKF recommend to lube the beairng every 500Hours to 800Hours, depending on various conditions, therefore every 30,000M if average speed of 60m/h.

[ducpainter]

I replace the bearing every 2 years when I replace oil in the forks and replace tire (wheel bearing) Swing arm, never replaced . The cost of the bearing is nothing compare running with bad bearing. Normally speaking, SKF recommend to lube the beairng every 500Hours to 800Hours, depending on various conditions, therefore every 30,000M if average speed of 60m/h.

I'm guessing SKFs idea of a lubed bearing and Ducatis idea are different.