So your thinking....front wheel maintenance - that's a little different. Well, this all started with flipping my front tire around. Done this because of some freaky wear. But I think this is probably normal for knobbies. You can somewhat see what I'm talking about in the next pic.




Anyway, I figured I'd post up this little maintenance thread. Some may find it useful.
While I had the bike jacked up, I figured I would check the bearings. Grabbed the top of the wheel and gently pushed/pulled sideways.....a very small bit of movement. Guess the bearing are starting to get bad. Might as well pop em out and stick in a new set. Bearings are dirt cheap and once they start to get bad, they won't last long. Plus they'll more than likely cause problems at the most inconvenient time and/or place.
Popping them out is fairly easy. Hammer and some sort of long drift. Keep in mind that before you start hammering, remove any lip seals. Sometimes there may be a hidden circlip holding stuff in place. A lesson I learned a long tome ago.
The first one is the hardest because the edge of the bearing is hard to get at.Once that one is out and the centre bushing removed, the second bearing is much easier to get at. It was a good thing I decided to do the bearings. For some reason the original bearings didn't have an inside seal. As you can tell in the next pic shes not too healthy looking. I don't think it would have lasted much longer.



The replacement bearings I bought are sealed on both sides. You don't need to buy the bearings from the dealer, most commercial supply shops will have them.Normally you can get the bearing number off the bearing itself. In my case - 6202. This a standardized number, and all major manufacturers will make it to the same specification.


OK....Once you have everything removed, clean up the surfaces including the circlip groove. Dental pics work great in grooves and 3M scrubby pads make cleaning metal parts easy. Don't use emery cloth to clean the bearing surfaces of the hub- you want the bearings snug fitting. To much emery clothing and you can get a loose fitting bearing after a while. Here's what I call cleaned up good enough.



In most cases your bearing is gonna be a snug fit. But if for some reason the bearing slides in and out of the hub easily, this has to be remedied. A loose fitting bearing can spin inside the hub later on down the road if it starts to seize . Then your hub is ruined. There are a couple remedies for this situation. First you can buy some bearing retainer liquid. It's basically thread locker for bearings. Place some on the outside before you install. I personally don't like this method - you are basically hoping it works. The second method, which is what I prefer, is to centre punch lightly around the surface where the bearing sits. keep the spacing even all the way around. What this does is that it causes the metal to raise slightly around the punch mark. Now when you try to place the bearing in you'll find you have a snug fit.

OK....now it is just a matter of putting the new bearings back in. Don't forget to install any circlips and lipseals that were removed. Good idea to change the lipseal as well, even if it still appears good. They are dirt cheap and keep water/dirt/mud out--cheap insurance if ya ask me.
Another tip: Always install bearing in a hub by tapping evenly to the outside race. Hitting the inside race can cause damage to the *****. Some people use a socket of the same diameter. My method is to take one of the old bearings and take a slight skim off the outside race using a bench grinder. Do this before installing the new bearings so that you can tell ya have enough skimmed off. It should be easily installed/removed into the bearing pocket of the hub. If you use the old bearing for installing without skimming some off the outside, well... it gets firmly seated with the new one. Another lesson I learned the hard way. Hold onto this modified bearing for future changes.

Lastly, seeing as how you have the wheel off, greasing the speedo gears and cable is a good idea if you haven't done it for a while. Here's my speedo all disassembled and cleaned up:


It all comes apart fairly simple. Remove one bolt and the hub can be disconnected from the cable. The remove circlip from centre shaft and then the washer and plastic gear can be removed. Then the small gear can be gently pried out thru the cable opening. Nuttin' to it.
In my case the speedo cable is easily removed from the cable housing. Take note of how much cable is stuck out. Mine looked like this:

Then just pull down on it and out it comes . Give her a coating of grease and feed back up through. Should go all the way back to original position. It may take some turning of the cable to get it right.
Phew....that was a lot of writing just for wheel maintenance. I know most of that was straight forward and boring for most but if it helps just one person it was worth it.
I probably missed some stuff. Others can feel free to add any extra tips. Anyone has further questions...fire away.

 

This is something I need to remember to check when I get my bike out from my Moms place in the spring!

 

Outstanding DIY! Thanks!! Standard ball bearings can handle incredible rpm's. Seals on bearings cause some drag, which diminishes rpm, but that should not matter here. Using sealed ball bearings makes sense, but they are extremely hard to lube. You can remove the rubber seals from the inboard side and fill the bearing with good wheel grease. They can be taken out without damage to the raceway. You can also buy them with one steel shield, or two steel shields and remove one. Open bearings are not bad in this application because they allow water and crude to go through the bearings. The standard lube that comes in a ball bearing will not hold up well in this application. With this type of bike, it's good to pull the wheels twice a year (spring and fall) if you ride year round, and especially if you off road at all. Personally, when I had dirt bikes a long time ago, I would drop new bearings in the wheels all the time. They take a lot more shock than a street bike because of the bumps and jumps and deteriorate VERY quickly. Use a good brand and check where they are made on the bearing. Fafnir 202KD or SKF 6202Z for one shield, which I would recommend. Sold bearing for 20 years......sorry!