Top Yoke bearing failure.

[Peter L]

My 2004 has completed 124,000K's sucessfully without trouble and only now am I having to replace a bearing or two. First was my front wheel bearings which only cost $40 fitted. This time though it looks like my "Angular contact ball bearing in the top yoke has failed. Has anyone had the same failure and if so is it easy to replace and do we have to buy a genuine BMW bearing or are they a common part from any engineering supplier?? I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has experienced the same. Thanks Peter.

[marc]

Looks like the telelever version of a steering bearing. The angular part is probably because the fork angle changes as the trailing arm moves up and down. I'm guessing that would make the bearing either rare or expensive.

Let's see.... Googling the part number tells me the bearing goes for about $72.50. Not completely outrageous. And one place has it for about $56. Add $12 for world wide shipping.

[Peter L]

Thanks for your response Marc. Our local BMW dealer said this was a common problem on the earlier (04) bikes, and it's not the bearing that wears out it's the bearing housing which can be fixed by "Shimming" or plastic metal. So when time permits I will have it out to find out. Peter.

[Peter L]

To answer my own problem with serious play in the handlebars, it turned out to be the Angular contact bearing in the top yoke that had failed due to water retention under the plastic cap. There was alot of rust around the bearing and it sounded pretty rough. Once replaced with new the problem was fixed. To replace the bearing was a simple and pretty straight forward job, should anyone have the same problem I would be happy to help. Peter.

[DiabloADV]

I have the same problem!

Did you install it yourself or at a dealer? If you did...any guidelines...or even basic starting point?