Wisper Tailwind rear hub bearings

[AndyBike]

How many miles ?
Bearing do wear in hubs, it's not unreasonable to have a bad bearing now and then.

I'd expect bearings to last many thousands of miles, as they wouldnt normally have side loading on them and are supporting (whatever) parallel. Thing that wrecks them is cack handed thinking a pressure washer* is a good plan.

*Usually after giving them a good spray with grease dissolving GT85 or such
....
@OP if you can access one side, you can remove the seal(black bit) and pump new grease into them.

 

[Tony1951]

Great thread this.

 

[sparky967]

I'd expect bearings to last many thousands of miles, as they wouldnt normally have side loading on them and are supporting (whatever) parallel. Thing that wrecks them is cack handed thinking a pressure washer* is a good plan.

*Usually after giving them a good spray with grease dissolving GT85 or such
....
@OP if you can access one side, you can remove the seal(black bit) and pump new grease into them.

Never used a jet wash on any of my bikes

 

[sparky967]

Great thread this.

 

[sparky967]

Does this motor cover plate have to be taken off in order to remove the freewheel?

 

[saneagle]

Does this motor cover plate have to be taken off in order to remove the freewheel?

That's an AKM or similar motor. The bearings aren't easily serviceable. They supply the side-plate and freehub as a complete assembly for replacement.

Regardless of that, you can normally bring the freehub back to normality by filling it with Three-in One oil. It must be 3-in-One, not any oil, unless you want to do it in two stages with penetrating oil and gear oil.

 

[Tony1951]

Regardless of that, you can normally bring the freehub back to normality by filling it with Three-in One oil. It must be 3-in-One, not any oil, unless you want to do it in two stages with penetrating oil and gear oil.

I restored a long idle Raleigh Twenty a year or two ago for my daughter in law. I picked it up at more or less scrap price. The rear three speed was completely solid - no chance of a change of gear and a nasty rough sound as I operated the pedals with the rear wheel off the ground. I squirted in some white spirit with an oil can, and ran the pedals around to free the thing up. and drained it out after and squirted in more. The gears started to change. A lot of rusty mess came out the first time I drained it, and a lot less the second. I left it fill nipple down over night to drain out, and then put in some 10w40 engine oil and ran the gears for a few minutes, and then I drained it out again, leaving the wee filler cap downwards with a rag to absorb the oil.

The thing I don't like about three in one oil is that it dries up to varnish / gum. Modern engine oil doesn't do that - especially synthetic which I use in my motorbikes. Some of these old bicycles get left a long time and the oil dries up if it tends towards varnish.

It ran great after that and is still in use.

 

[saneagle]

I restored a long idle Raleigh Twenty a year or two ago for my daughter in law. I picked it up at more or less scrap price. The rear three speed was completely solid - no chance of a change of gear and a nasty rough sound as I operated the pedals with the rear wheel off the ground. I squirted in some white spirit with an oil can, and ran the pedals around to free the thing up. and drained it out after and squirted in more. The gears started to change. A lot of rusty mess came out the first time I drained it, and a lot less the second. I left it fill nipple down over night to drain out, and then put in some 10w40 engine oil and ran the gears for a few minutes, and then I drained it out again, leaving the wee filler cap downwards with a rag to absorb the oil.

The thing I don't like about three in one oil is that it dries up to varnish / gum. Modern engine oil doesn't do that - especially synthetic which I use in my motorbikes. Some of these old bicycles get left a long time and the oil dries up if it tends towards varnish.

It ran great after that and is still in use.

My can of 3-in-one is more than 40 years old. The oil never looks any different when it comes out, and the nozzle thing is open all the time.

 

[Tony1951]

My can of 3-in-one is more than 40 years old. The oil never looks any different when it comes out, and the nozzle thing is open all the time.

Good old can that. I used 3 in 1 in the past on guns and they ended up all varnished. Old fashioned engine oils also used to dry to varnish. I've seen it in engines. Synthetic doesn't do that and I always have a half a gallon of that for my motorbikes.

Edit:

If you kept that 3 in 1 for forty years you can't be using it much unless it is a very big can.I must have had half a dozen cans of that over that period and I don't even like the stuff

I use 90 w gear oil applied by a small paint brush on my motorbike and bike chains.

 

[saneagle]

Good old can that. I used 3 in 1 in the past on guns and they ended up all varnished. Old fashioned engine oils also used to dry to varnish. I've seen it in engines. Synthetic doesn't do that and I always have a half a gallon of that for my motorbikes.

Edit:

If you kept that 3 in 1 for forty years you can't be using it much unless it is a very big can.I must have had half a dozen cans of that over that period and I don't even like the stuff

I use 90 w gear oil applied by a small paint brush on my motorbike and bike chains.

I've never seen or heard of 3-in-one drying or turning to varnish. maybe there was something in your guns that reacted with it. I always used it in my SA gears when I was a kid, and never had any problems. The SA hub had one of those flip up oiling caps in those days. Anyway, it works really well to fix most of the freehub problems we get here on hub-motors.

The can is nearly empty. When I moved house 3 years ago, I found it buried in my shed. I've been using the spray cans that you get in Aldi occasionally. I always get one when I see one, though it's not quite as good as the original in the tins in the photo. No self-respecting engineer should be without a tin of 3-in-one. Not having one is like being an electrician6 without a voltmeter.