1100 gs , a little play at the rear wheel

[de crowe]

I have a relatively new to me r1100gs 1996 with 50 odd k miles, i can feel a little play when i "rock" the rear wheel when the bike is on the main stand. does this suggest worn bearings or something ? Compared to other boxers it seems to "whine" a little more than i am used to.
yours etc.
worried in the west!

 

[nick.ct]

Play usually comes from 1 of 2 sources.

1 The paralever bearing at the rear end of the swing arm

2 The wheel bearing itself

To determine which is the cause..............

If the play is still there when someone applies the rear wheel break, its likely to be the paralever bearing, if the play goes away its likely to be the wheel bearing.

 

[Pekkavee]

I have a relatively new to me r1100gs 1996 with 50 odd k miles, i can feel a little play when i "rock" the rear wheel when the bike is on the main stand. does this suggest worn bearings or something ? Compared to other boxers it seems to "whine" a little more than i am used to.
yours etc.
worried in the west!

Do you "rock" it with a 3-9 o'clock grip or 12-6 o'clock grip?

Pekka

 

[de crowe]

changing hands

Do you "rock" it with a 3-9 o'clock grip or 12-6 o'clock grip?

Pekka

a kind of 11 to 5 rock, ( W. I AM left handed)
it has new tires!

 

[Pekkavee]

a kind of 11 to 5 rock, ( W. I AM left handed)
it has new tires!

Hmmm...

11-5 may be paralever bearing or wheel bearing.

12-6 is wheel bearing and 3-9 is paralever bearing.
But you can test it as nick.ct told you.

You can tighten paralever bearings a little but it's better to change them anyway.
If it is the wheel bearing you can do a check as Steptoe told us:
Steptoe advices
If it is, just change the bearing. No big deal.

However I don't think your paralever bearings would have worn out with those 50 odd k miles. Maybe wrong installation sometime in the maintenance history or some other problem.
If the wheel bearing is worn out the shims should be shecked when changing the bearing. They usually last longer in these "light weight" bikes compared to LT bikes which have the same FD.

Or maybe you are just paranoid after reading all the forums, and you don't have any problem at all.

Pekka