Wilsons Sandbox

I went on a quest yesterday to find a replacement for the #6004 sprocket hub bearing. The Binghamton, NY area is pretty devoid of bearing suppliers. There are none listed in the yellow pages, in fact the category "bearings" is not even listed in the yellow pages. I found one place by word of mouth. I asked for a #6004 bearing with seals both sides. The counter guy punches in some numbers as I am saying that I don't want any Chinese bearings. He looks at me and smiles and punches in some more numbers. He explained that the first bearings that come up in his system are the cheaper ones and these tend to come from China. If a customer requests something else, they punch in a code which lists substitute bearings. He gave me a Fafnir #9104PP bearing which is made in Japan. The box has the Fafnir, Torrington and Ingersoll-Rand names on it. These are well known names if you are familiar with the big-iron (heavy industrial machinery) trade. There are four different part numbers on the box and one on the bearing but none of them are 6004 so I asked the guy if this really was the correct bearing. He was really nice and got out a spec book and a vernier caliper (yes, I know how to drive one of those, even the analog ones) and I measured the ID, OD and thickness of the bearing. It exactly matched the 6004 specs. And the seals actually seem to seal the bearing since I can't look past the seals and see the ball bearings. The bearing cost US$13.50 plus 8% sales tax. Total $14.58. Happy New Year. Bob Kaub

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., Dale_Johnson@a... wrote:

> So are the bearings on the rear hub pressed? I finally got all the > parts I need to fix my bike and was going to do it this weekend.. > > Dale

Yes. Freezing them first helps for install...

> Hi, > > A picture tell a thousand words > > Regards > > Brian

A pitcher is worth a thousand words too. Bogdan

My stock bearings distingrated on removal (my intent was to

> repack them) and they only had 7.5K miles on them. If you do a lot of > offroad/wet riding, they're probably great PM. > > Thanks for listening... > ------------------ > Zack >

Note that most bearings are damaged by the removal process, (banging on the inner race) the only way you can repack them is in situ - I think it was Cycoactive's site that described a cool method. Only works for fully sealed bearings, though. Rich

Rich- I don't know about that, I had to remove a pair of SKF's in my front hub and I got them out without injuring them no problem. I just warmed up the hub with my torch and tink,tink with my drift and they were both out... Now they had just recently been installed so they hadn't welded themselves in there, but when I reinstalled them, they got a light coat of antiseize to further aid their removal after another 50k miles I have heard of people putting their wheels in the oven at 350 for an hour and the bearings simply fall out after that... Unfortunately my oven isn't big enough. ------------------ Zack Banana Republic of Washington, DC KLR650A5 "Buster" | KLR650A2 | ZG1000A1 | KZ440A2 | KX125G1 | 1966 Vespa 125 COG #4664

> Note that most bearings are damaged by the removal process, > (banging on the > inner race) the only way you can repack them is in situ - I > think it was > Cycoactive's site that described a cool method. Only works > for fully sealed > bearings, though. > > Rich >