Buying parts and tools on the Internet

What started out as just replacing a tire has mushroomed. The only good thing about the hole operation is that the adapter plate I made for the floorjack works great. Looks like it will be holding the bike up for about a week or two while I wait on parts and tools to show up. New wheel bearings, replacing all the nuts and bolts that the dealership meshed up. Ordered one of them licence plate holders that move the turn signals in and the plate up (EMP). What a jungle of sites for Rocket parts. I know where to go and who to Order from when it comes to Harley parts but Rocket parts are a ***** to order. ALLBalls has the bearings for the rear wheel but no clips Bike Bandit has the clips but no tools for bearing removal or bearing replacement that is reasonable. Took a couple of hours searching and reading but should be good to go. Not cheap either. figuring in everything including the tire it has cost. Well at least this time if it is screwed up after installing everything I can only blame myself. It will be a cold day in hell before I ever think about taking my bike to a dealership again.

Sonny...a caution about bike bandit....im pretty sure they don't stock anything.... they order it from a local dealer they have a relationship with, so you have to wait for the dealer to get it and them wait for them to process and ship it. Last time i bought rocket parts from them it took over 3 weeks.

Last parts i ordered from hermy's triumph in pa. Some of the lifter shims they didn't have, so it still took a week & a half, but i felt they did a great job. Prices will be the same, and they have a great website with the complete parts manual.

Some other guys might jump in here....i have read about a couple other dealers who will give guys a discount if you call, but i generally wind up ordering parts at 10pm so i like the Web option.

as far as removing bearings u can take a drift or screw driver and go through the opposite side and knock it out just take it easy and go back and forth so it does not cock. for a driver if u can find a socket the same size as the outer bearing that should work. also if it is not to deep u can use a large socket to drive it in flush then use the old bearing to seat it. hth

I glad your talking about bearings. I removed my wheels to replace the rubber and clean the wheels, grease the splines ect. After cleaning the wheels I checked the bearings found the front ones good but the rear ones are locked up. I'm not sure they were ok before cleaning but they're frozen not. Has anyone experienced this before? Are both sides of the bearings sealed? I have experience with machinery and drive equipment.

I am aware of the drift and socket. The Rocket is kind of special to me so I spent about $180.00 for a tusk blind puller and a installing tool. Multiple sizes in each kit, so now we can do the Harley to. The Rocket is 20MM and the Harley is 25MM. Both kits will come in handy when I get around to rebuilding the Harley. The Harley still runs good but it is just a matter of time before it screws up again. Getting off the subject here. Wheel bearings for most bikes are sealed bearings. I do not mesh around with wheel bearings. If they do not turn I replace them. All balls make some really good bearings. Had the Harley at 10,000 miles completely loose a bearing causing the bike wheel to wobble severely. At 70 MPH it was not fun. No indication at all that the bearing was bad just one minute enjoying the ride the next ****ting my pants. Destroyed the rim in the process. To loose at turning I replace the bearings. Some folks ride on a set of bearings for a very long time. I do not. Every time the wheel comes off the bearings get checked. If I see grease where there should not be grease it gets my attention. Most of the time you can hear and feel a bad bearing but as I found out the hard way not always. Going with a car tire this time anyways so I more than likely needed to replace the bearings anyways.

geneseo1911 said:

Sonny...a caution about bike bandit....im pretty sure they don't stock anything.... they order it from a local dealer they have a relationship with, so you have to wait for the dealer to get it and them wait for them to process and ship it. Last time i bought rocket parts from them it took over 3 weeks.

Last parts i ordered from hermy's triumph in pa. Some of the lifter shims they didn't have, so it still took a week & a half, but i felt they did a great job. Prices will be the same, and they have a great website with the complete parts manual.

Some other guys might jump in here....i have read about a couple other dealers who will give guys a discount if you call, but i generally wind up ordering parts at 10pm so i like the Web option.

Click to expand...

+1 on Hermy's being quicker to ship to you

We will try them out next time.