Front wheel bearing grease

[OverCaffeinated]

It was recently pointed out to me that there seems to be excess grease around my front wheel bearing. I have noticed it, and have honestly thought it's been there since the bike was new. I have not noticed any negative behavior from the bike, handling or noise. After a bit of searching it has been said that grease is used to help during assembly, so it could be this. Are the sealed wheel bearings full of grease? Parts diagrams show there is a "seal ring", but there is only one on the left side, and my left side just happens to be clean.

[He Man]

thats how mine looks too, the only reason i could come up with on why its on the right side is because you slide the axle in from the right so all the excess grease gets accumulated on the right side.


I just recently put my bike together with new lube and after a short ride i just wiped it off and its fine.

[Howie]

Probably just excessive grease from assembly.  Your wheel bearings are sealed.  If the seals go bearing failure will follow quickly.  If you have mileage on your bike and notice no problems, you are probably fine.  If you want peace of mind, remove the wheel and inspect the bearings.  If the bike is still under warranty, you might want to stop by the dealer.

[Slide Panda]

On the right side - Id wager it's from (re)assembly.  I've had my front wheel off a couple times - each time the axle gets a coat of grease.  I don't heap it on by any means - but even a light finger coating is enough to me some build up on that larger diameter spacer section of the axle.

[OverCaffeinated]

Assembly grease is what I was thinking too. I'm 90%-95% sure that it's been there since the day I picked the bike up new from the dealer. The bike is not under warranty, but is relatively low miles. 5077 miles to be exact. If I get time I might lift the front to spin the wheel to listen and feel for anything.

The guy also said my bike needs a lot of work.

Thanks guys. I knew I wasn't trippin, but had to be sure.