Dark side too dark

[Big Mac]

I've been running on the dark side for quit some time, first with a Falken, then later on with a Yokohama. At the end of May I developed a "clunk" in the rearend. I didn't have the time nor the desire to dissemble it to find the problem so I made an appointment and left it with the dealer.

Even after making an appointment it took them two weeks to look at it, rearend was shot. It took them another week to get back to me with the list of parts needed and another week to fix it. One month and $2,000 dollars later I got it back.

Bottom line, they said the bearings in the rearend were toast and the car tire was what caused it. They said running a flat surface such as a car tire was putting too much stress on the rearend in the corners.

I'm not trying to bump heads on opinions, I just wanted to relay what I was told because I've read here the same thing has happened to people running a motorcycle tire..

If there's any consolation, I had the bike for sale when the clunk started and the first guy that looked at it said to give him a call when it got out of the shop. When I finally got the bike back I gave the guy a call and told him how much the repairs cost. I said I wouldn't be able to sell it at my original asking price and asked him if he thought I was out of line by asking to split the bill. He didn't bat an eye, he said that would be fine, after he saw my bike he quit looking and said he had the comfort of knowing the whole drivetrain had been replaced.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

It's been a hoot fellas, I'll be here lurking from time to time

Mac

[Valker]

Definitely hang around...... The Valk just got us started, the friends keep us going.
I was one of those who had to have the rear gears replaced and only ran on motorcycle tires up to that point. I went through two sets of rear wheel bearing on bike tires. 30,000 darkside with out a recurrence....go figure.

[mrflamewerks]

The mechanic you spoke to doesn't appear to be the sharpest pencil in the box. The differences in the static and dynamic loads in the final dirive between a CT and MT installation would be, for all intents and purposes, insignificant. My guess is your mechanic is one of the "Flaming Death" crowd and figures telling people their bikes will self distruct is a more effective argument for not using a CT on a bike. Something else caused the failure.

[mikehallbackhoe]

one possibility is the bearing failed due to lack of grease. with a car tire, you still have to lube the rearend every 10,000 miles. since motorcycle tires rarely make it to 10,000 miles,  you can lube it every tire change. with the car tire, if you are not careful, you can go too long without the scheduled maintenance.

[Sludge]

one possibility is the bearing failed due to lack of grease. with a car tire, you still have to lube the rearend every 10,000 miles. since motorcycle tires rarely make it to 10,000 miles,  you can lube it every tire change. with the car tire, if you are not careful, you can go too long without the scheduled maintenance.

+1

[Big Mac]

+1

Shortly after I bought the bike I'd heard tails of guys getting 15-20k out of a rear tire and when they went to replace it the splines were shot so no matter what the rear tire looked like the splines were lubed every 10k.

My own personal opinion is the drivetrain in the Valk is it's weakest link. I've owned two Vmaxs which stock produce close to twice as much hp as the Valks. When it came to rear tire changes I'd use wheel bearing grease, multipurpose grease or, if there was enough of it, I'd smear around the old grease.  I modded my Vmaxs (stage 7 carb kit, clutch kit, etc) and never had a drivetrain related issue.

Regardless of the drivetrain issue.......I miss my Valk :'(, best bike I ever owned

[Valker]

Just gotta jump in. I have run a car tire for 23,000 miles without relubing the splines and not had a problem, and when I did relube them, they were in perfect shape, black and wet with grease.. My dealer changed a rear tire for me and the splines destroyed themselves 11,000 miles later, completely dry, and rusty looking.
I believe what Daniel Meyer says about the alignment being the most important issue. I now ALWAYS loosen the four bolts and tighten them last.

[hoser]

How are you going to lube the bearings?They are sealed.  Hoser 

[Challenger]

Just had this happen and have never heard if it before. removed rear wheel to replace u-joint, reassembled and got 150 miles before a racheting sound reared its ugly head while  cornering. thought it was a wheel brg, When I removed the rear wheel I found the 4" spacer in the rear end assembly that seats against the rh wheel brg had gotten out of its little groove in the housing and wedged in the slip fit. This effectivley moved the wheel away from the hub 1/16" and allowed the drive gear to wobble in the dampers. I have had the wheel off several times and never knew that spacer could move, probalbly when I pushed the axle through. It would have wiped out the rear gear if not detected in short order. could be what happened to yours. I know I will be alot more careful next time. 

[Big Mac]

How are you going to lube the bearings?They are sealed.  Hoser 

Yea, made me wonder too, you'd think they could have been a little more imaginative......
"Your bearings were abducted by aliens"

[ossvalk]

dont it take everyone 1 day to ride to Grand Junction from Oakland

[rflegal]

Didn't I read on the VOAI home page that failing rear bearings is an identified issue with the Valk?

I know it was on the same page that said my '97 had smaller front bearings and was ID as a weakness.

Bob

Ha, I thought I did - from the FAQ

#4 Rear wheel bearing failure. The bearing size has not changed for the rear. Failures for the rear have occurred as well. The possibility exists that a poor grade bearing has been supplied to Honda or that the bearings have not been properly lubricated by the supplier. The fix is the same as for the front bearings

[admin]

There is a guy that sells bearings for all kinds of bikes on ebay and I bought a set after mine went out and they are good to go and cheaper and maybe better than the Honda ones.  I have a 97 valk too and the front bearings are different from others but the back ones are the same all the way up to the Interstate.

[dennisraz]

When I changed my first tire out at about 5,000 miles there wasn't any lube on the splines or hub.
I applied some good wheel bearing grease upon reassembly,and change out the gear fluid every 10,000 miles.
I'm riding on my original wheel bearings and rear end components at 40,000 hard miles,about 10,000 on the dark side.
 

[MP]

Hoser:
You got it right.  The bearing failed.  Most of this talk is about the splines and gears.  The bearing is sealed.  All the talk about grease, etc for it does not apply.
It is a good issue for the splines, gears, but not for the bearings themselves.
Some bearings will go well over 100,000 miles.  Some will fail in 10,000.  Such is the nature of mechanical things.  Most will go a very long time though.  Sometimes, your luck runs out early.
Having a car tire vs a mc tire would not matter. Very short axle, two bearings, where the load is placed on that shaft matters little.  Forces almost the same no matter what.
MP