Any reason these ideas wouldn't work?

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cls74

New Member
May 24, 2008
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Springfield, IL
I've tried doing searches and can't seem to find any threads on it.

I'm fairly new to the motorbiking world and haven't disassembled a bike in atleast 20 years. I've been researching how often the wheel bearings need to be repacked and figured it would be pretty simple to just install grease zerks into all the bearing hubs. Wheels, cranks and steering.

I work in a large CNC manufacturing company, so slight modifications if needed wouldn't be a problem. A total one off wheel hub would be possible but something to that extent I'm sure I would be charged accordingly for machining labor and such. Not the route I want to go.

With that being said, can anyone say why it wouldn't work? I have several ideas on how to force new grease in flushing the old grease out. I'm sure old thinned grease in the wheels might leak out and create a splattery mess, but if you flushed it say every 2-3 weeks depending on riding habits it should stay fairly congealed.

Secondly, I just ordered a clutch lever and the cam shaft as they are called. The splines on mine are already allowing it to slip. Trying to get the lever off for adjustment I noticed it is basically a cast material and actually started to crumble. I'm going to have both parts made out of steel. Instead of having them attach with splines I thought about doing a square head. Anyone tried to make these and had problems over the long haul?

Sorry for the lengthy post, but my mind is now in race mode and I don't want to jump the gun. Thanks for any input.
 
spad4me

spad4me

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Jan 20, 2008
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Arizona Bullhead
a zerk fitting on the hub of any bicycle wheel would be a great idea.

Different kits have different suspect Chinese scrap metal incorporated into the parts.

American steel would be an improvement.
 
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cls74

New Member
May 24, 2008
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Springfield, IL
I'm going to do the clutch for sure. I should have them by the end of the week if their website is correct. The part I am not sure about is if there are any improvements to the flat cam design that could improve the fuctionality of it. It's kind of hard to visualize the actual works of it, just seeing the wear on the edge that makes contact . I've been thinking about a plexiglass cover to put on just to be able to see the actual contact points while disengaging the clutch. I'm sure something better can be done.

The wheels are what have me thinking. Unless the bearings have changed they aren't durable, especially when taking a continuous 25mph road beating. Would constant greasing be enough for them?

I'm thinking too much
 
Dave31

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
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Aztlán, Arizona
I use red wheel bearing grease and when it starts to turn black...I know it's time to clean them and re-pack. I've got over 4,000 miles on my wheel bearings have not had any problems. Most people over tighten there bearings which turns into premature wear.
 
Jstude

Jstude

New Member
Jul 3, 2008
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South Carolina
I'm thinking about installing a grease fitting on my crankset. But as far as the wheels, and fork bearings, if the grease started breaking down and running on a hot day, it could get messy. If it were to get slung onto your tire tread, it could cause loss of traction and disaster. The main thing is to apply only the amount to get the job done and no more.
 
Jemma Hawtrey

Jemma Hawtrey

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Dec 29, 2007
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Essex, UK
cls74 said:
I'm going to do the clutch for sure. I should have them by the end of the week if their website is correct. The part I am not sure about is if there are any improvements to the flat cam design that could improve the fuctionality of it. It's kind of hard to visualize the actual works of it, just seeing the wear on the edge that makes contact . I've been thinking about a plexiglass cover to put on just to be able to see the actual contact points while disengaging the clutch. I'm sure something better can be done.

The wheels are what have me thinking. Unless the bearings have changed they aren't durable, especially when taking a continuous 25mph road beating. Would constant greasing be enough for them?

I'm thinking too much
Click to expand...
I am riding a schwinn with a motor that is capable of 34mph on the flat - I havent had any problems with bearings or anything like that in 500 miles. Granted any improvement in lubrication is always good - and it would probably be the saving grace for using a 7 speed hub as transmission - but the key to these bikes is simplicity I think - much like the old early motorbikes.

Its a good idea though :)

Jemma xx
 
Andyinchville1

Andyinchville1

Manufacturer/Dealer
Dec 26, 2007
502
1
18
Scottsville, VA
HI,

I like the idea of being able to grease the bearings without having to take things apart BUT a few things to think of tho may be:

1) Some higher end wheels use sealed bearings....may have to remove the seals to allow grease to enter the bearings BUT if you force the grease in (grease guns can make a lot of pressure) you risk ruining the seal (no biggie maybe because by then you'll have the zerk in....Of course then you HAVE to grease because the seal is blown ....

2) Some really high end wheels (and actually a lot of good medium quality wheels too) will spin seemingly forever given a slight nudge when the wheel is raised off the ground.....If you place the zerk in the middle or near the middle of the hub the grease will have to fill the hub cavity first BEFORE being forced into the wheel bearings....this will induce a fair amount of drag (relative to before the hub was filled with grease) as the hub will have to spin against the grease along the distance of the axle.....Drag probably won't be a lot in the scheme of things but it will be there.

3) Pumping grease until it come out through the cone areas can get a little messy and hard to clean because the forks or rear wheel stays are so close to the cone area...

4) As mentioned above watch out for the excess grease that may / will come out when greasing.....if the grease falls on the wrong spots it could decrease braking ability...

In all sounds too neat to pass up so I vote "go for it"! ;-)

Andrew
 
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cls74

New Member
May 24, 2008
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Springfield, IL
Started on the clutch today. The small machine room had too much on their hands so I grabbed a few files and started shaving. I started with a 10mm(.394) tapered alignment dowel. The top end is pre drilled and tapped, but decided to go with a welded arm. It had roughly .04 taper which I thought would be good for taking out the slop. I only had the new clutch, cam and a pir of calipers, didn't think to bring the cover with me as I was counting on mills and lathes to get it done. Took me about 6-7 hours total using standard flat files, a square file and a 3 sided taper file for the retaining groove. I apologize about the quality of the pics my dig. cam appears to have taken a dump for no reason. Had to use my cell phone.

First 2 are comparisons of the Factory new and my reincarnation:






This pic shows the cam and a new arm I am going to have welded on. I am using the 10mm arm from an old mag base I saved for some reason. Now I know why. I'm actually going to taper the top of the cam so the arm leans slightly for better alignment to the cable:



Last picture is very hard to see. This is the original clutch cam. The shiny part that you can see on the end is actually rounded about .050 on the flat edge. Clutch would stick while disengaged and also would slip causing it not to engage:



All in all it was fairly straight forward, I did have to file out some of the taper once I was able to put it on the bike and the retainer groove was tricky to keep it even with a file. But once I got it to go in freely it fits like a glove. Freely twists but has very little side to side slop. Grabbed it with the channel locks and engaged/disegaged the clutch normally. Tomorrow I'm going to have it welded and drill/slot for the cable. Should be back on the road by 6pm. If something does go wrong, I have a new clutch cam and arm so no harm no foul, but don't think that will be an issue. Think I'll find a steel rod replacement for the clutch actuator rod, ball bearing hopefully should already be steel.

Sorry for the long post and quality of pics. I'll try to borrow another cam tomorrow.
 
Goat Herder

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
:-||rotflrotflI've ridden cheap and high end hubs if you can't get a grease cert on just drill a hole one quarter of an inch. leave it that way, no need to cover it I never did. This worked for all my years of peddling a good many! years. Now what you do with this hole is but up a piece of automotive fuel tubing to the hole then the other end to the grease gun. Works fine every time. I've put hubs together that had good alloy axles, I can tell rolling a hub by hand , and check end play if its fine. If its not brocken don't fix it! I donnot need any extra work! grease till the old stuff comes out, wipe the extra off the next few times you ride. It just takes a second your supposed to be looking over your bike anyway, unless one wants to regret bad suprises! last it takes a second set of paws to work a manual grease gun, I've managed it by me self both ways one has more cursing though.
 
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Goat Herder

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
For this to work three eights fuel tubing , youl have to hold them still butt everthing together. It really is not has hard as it might sound hope this helps
 
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ocscully

New Member
Jan 6, 2008
373
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Orange County, CA
WTB Grease Guard Hubs

BikePro.com / Buyer's Guide / WTB Hubsets - Bicycle Parts at discount prices / the Buyer's Guide / Bicycle Parts at their finest! / Professional Bicycle Source / Bike Pro Here is a link to a pair of Hubs that were made by a company called Wilderness Trail Bikes. Other than Phill Wood hubs these are probably the best hubs ever produced and unfortunatly no longer available. WTB liscensed their Grease Guard system to Suntour which made hubs using this system for several years. There are two grease fittings in each hub so each bearing gets it own. The hubs use sealed cartridge bearings and there two special rubber seals inside the hub that keeps the cener of the hub seald and forces the greas to flush the old grease out of the outer seal. You just pump grease into each side until you see fresh grease leaving the outer seal and wipe off the excess. The original WTB hubs are very collectiable amoungst the vintage Mountian bike folks and bring pretty high prices still today when the become available bu[t the Suntour hubs can be had at quite reasonable prices.

ocscully
 
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