Originally Posted By: tomcat27
cost is no object. I'm replacing them for a friend on his Suzuki. he had both front and rear replaced around 40k by the dealer. the rears failed 1k later while on a long trip. the fronts are now failing with 15k on them.
Sounds like high pressure car wash hose or S100 and a garden hose failure, seen it 100 times. The seals are not made to keep water under pressure out so it blows some water in and the bearings fail a short time later. The S100 and similar motorcycle total cleaners cut the grease between the axle and seal and wicks under with the same effect.
I put over 240K Km on one Honda on the originals most of it at over 160 KPH and almost the same on 2 others with not problems. Go with OE, SKF, NSK, F.A.G. or Koyo bearings. Converting the head bearings from ball to tapered rollerss was one of the first things I did also.