If its got an old style grease nipple swop it for a modern one get a flexible grease gun hose draper do them and loads more grease it but do not over grease then put the old grease nipple back on if you want to look original
I would not trust greasing the wheel bearing via the grease nipples! Unless you know that your hubs are packed full with grease before you start, how do you know how much to squeeze in. Best to dismantle the bearings, clean them and re-pack with grease by hand. Ron
Do them by hand to start with but i would still fill the hub up with a grease gun till you can just see the grease appearing at the bearings or you will have to take the wheel of every time you need to grease the bearings
I used to put a small quantity of grease in the hubs hoping that centrifugal force would help it find its way to the bearings. Nowadays I rely on greasing them with every tyre change.
I'm I sure I read somewhere in a Norton manual to not overdo the grease into the nipple as too much will go through the bearing and onto the brake drum. I don't know if the same thing will happen on a BSA. I fitted the last lot of wheels I built with sealed bearings, I've got them in my Commando wheels and I've never had a wheel bearing go and I do a lot more miles on that bike. So in the WD Norton it should last me a lifetime.
When I think back to my 'Transit Tipper' days, the front wheel bearings were the adjustable Timkin taper type as on an M20. When the bearings on one side started howling, I would replace them with a new pair, suitably packed with grease and adjusted, then forget them for maybe 20,000 miles or more of overweight and abusive use in muddy quarries etc.
On that basis on my M20, I think a clean and repack every tyre change or when the wheel comes out for any other reason is sufficient. On ball bearing races, as Horror suggests, The sealed pre packed bearings should see you out. Ron
I've had 2 WM20s, and each had thoroughly greased brake drums and shoes, front and rear. So I'd say less is more. Some day you might actually need brakes that work!
When using the M20 regularly and particularly when I've been engaging in off road riding in wet conditions, I clean out and regrease the bearings at 8-12 monthly intervals...
I've found if they are left too long under that type of use short bearing life is the result, so I've altered the service interval to get over this...Taper wheel bearings should last for years if correctly maintained...Ian
Hi Pat
I ran second hand petrol Transit tippers for nearly 30 years with as much weight removed as possible to carry 2 ton loads of sand and gravel. up to 50,000 miles a year of abusive use, they were replaced with later models about every 4 years. My 4 ton tippers were doing about half the mileage.......Not days that I look back on with too many fond memories. The blokes who took over my business are still going as best they can against the severely increased traffic around here. I don't miss it!..... Ron the retired but still always busy!:relaxed:
