Wheel Bearing Question

Hi,

I've been looking for some information here at KZR and haven't found what I was looking for exactly, but did pick up a lot of info I can use at some point.

I just acquired this '82 KZ750H3 because it was there and I liked the looks of it. It has 7k miles on it so I think it has issues from sitting a lot. With the intention of cleaning the chain I discovered that the rear bearings weren't so hot. So, I have new bearings and I managed to get the old ones out OK. There are two smaller bearings and one bigger one. All three bearings are the shielded type but the big one has the shields on both sides removed. I assume that's the way it's meant to be, but here are the questions that come to me:

1. Is that really the way it's suposed to be?
2. Is it really better to take the shields off? Seems like the grease would stay packed a little better with the shields on. What's the point of removing them?
3. I noticed that some on-line stores are selling these parts with the -RS suffix, which would mean they are sealed bearings. Are sealed bearings a good option? Did they not exist in 1982?

Or, as is often the case, is my thinking all screwed up and my questions don't even make sense?

Any input or advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken

Welcome kbeau37

1. Is that really the way it's supposed to be?

A. My big bearing was also sealed but it sounds like your supplier sent you an open one
which will work fine just check the grease when you change the tire.

2. Is it really better to take the shields off? Seems like the grease would stay packed a little better with the shields on. What's the point of removing them?

A. Leave them on , they're sealed bearings.

3. I noticed that some on-line stores are selling these parts with the -RS suffix, which would mean they are sealed bearings. Are sealed bearings a good option? Did they not exist in 1982?

A.They say, these new sealed bearings are suppose to be better than what we were running back then, talk to me in 40,000 miles.

Good luck,

JD

Thanks JD. I think I said it wrong. The new bearings are all the shielded type, with shields, but not sealed. The bearings that I took out were also the shielded type, but the big one had both shields removed.

From your answer, I gather that maybe I should have bought the newer sealed bearings. I think I'll use the ones that I have but leave the shields on on the big one too.

Again, thanks for your reply.

Ken

I'm not sure what you mean by shielded, these are the ones I put in my bike.
Not because I did a bunch of research, they were just what was available.

www.z1enterprises.com/Wheel-Bearing--Sea...750-KZ1000-2788.aspx

Fresh bearings are a good thing , I'm sure the ones you bought will work just fine.

Happy trails,

JD

Those are sealed bearings from Enterprise and probably what I should have gotten. The shielded bearings have side shields to hold the grease in but they aren'r really sealed. You can pop the shields off. On a sealed bearing you can't do this. The big bearing on my wheel had no shields. I don't know if the bearings came that way or someone popped the shields off. I was trying to figure out if that's the way it was supposed to be. I guess the easy answer is to just use sealed bearings and don't worry about it. I used the shielded bearings that I had, left the shields in place, and everything seems to be fine. Thanks for your help. Raining here so it's a good day to work in the garage.

Ken