DRIVING STYLE [BEARING PROB]?

The problem is water, not braking technique. We are pretty sure of that. The early bearing failures seem to be happening mostly to guys who ride in the rain frequently, and if you look at the pictures that have been posted, the bearings are grossly rusted. The issue is poor water sealing rather than excessive heat.

I have mine checked at each tire change, and at 14,000 miles they looked shiny and new. But I rarely ride in the rain, and I try to avoid directing a hard stream of water at the bearing area when washing the scoot.

The solution if they fail, is to replace them with a bearing that has decent water seals.

I agree that the problem is water, but I also believe that this happened with a faulty batch of bearings. No matter how you ride, or whether it's in rain or shine, good bearings would never fail at such low mileages as have been reported. I have almost 20,000 miles on my Burgy and I ride aggressively and in the rain and the bearings are fine. I don't think that this is a major issue at all.

Cheers,

Bob

My dealer has "let is slip" that there was a faulty batch of bearings. What is annoying, if this is the case, is that Suzuki did not do a recall. This has cost them some face, but in their view, probably not as much loss of face as a recall.

They certainly got spread around the world.

It does seem that riding in the rain has a lot to do with the rate of failure of these "possibly" below par bearings.

I use my front brake the most, so don't see it as a heating problem. I also don't use the brakes all that much, because the engine braking is so strong. Its a feature I have come to enjoy, just hold in enough brake to light the brake light to alert anyone following you that you are slowing quite rapidly.

Cheers

L.SKULSKI said:

HI ALL
No bearing should fail in the amount of time I have heard that alot of you ........

Click to expand...

.....some

with respect :wink:

I have 8,200 miles on an 2003 650, NO bearing problems.
I DO check my lubricants regularly, oil and Grease, I ride in the rain on occasion.

I have had a bigger problem with dealer set up that the machine itself.

Like anything else, there can be some items that have a failure. Suzuki, like other manufactures, don't make everything. They do need subcontractors, and have some outsourcing for the Items they don't make (Electrical, Tires, etc). All you can really ask is "When there is a problem, will they (Suzuki) fix it".
I think for the most part, they do.