before you do anything. get some brake disc cleaner and give the
rear brake rotor a thorough cleaning.
you can try this out for yourself. after you jack up the bike, with
the rear wheel free in the air, roll it along, and see if it's
rolling freely and smoothly. if your wheels can rotate, but not
smoothly, as in like there're sounds at regular intervals, it's
likely to be your bearings.
after that, check for lateral movement on the top and bottom of the
wheel. with a friend holding onto the bike, grab the top (then
later the bottom) of the bike, and see if it can move "sideways" or
not. if it can, most likely your wheel bearings are gone. can be
replaced.
but one important check would be that whether your brakes are
sticking or not. this requires some confidence, and don't advise
you do it if you don't have the tools. have a knowledgeable friend
around. remove the brake calipers and housing, but leave the cable
attached (that way you won't screw up the hydraulics system). leave
your rear brake housing aside, ignore it first.
with your brake housing out of the way, repeat the check. if you
find that this time round, the wheel rotates smoothly now, your
brakes are sticking. could be due to seized brake pistons, or
incorrect installation of the brake pads. leave this to the mech to
repair already.
ok i'll repeat the steps:
jack up bike, check for free rotation.
if it doesn't rotate freely, mostly likely sticking brakes or worn
bearings.
if "sticks" at intervals, most likely bearings.
then grab wheel top and bottom, and see if the wheel can be moved
sideways. it nothing's wrong it cannot be moved sideways, if can,
bearings are gone. if you find that at this point, the wheel
doesn't rotate smoothly, and NO lateral movement, that means your
wheel bearings are fine...
remove the brake calipers and housing. repeat the rolling test. if
you find that the problems persist, and there's no "improvement"
when the brakes are off, you can isolate the problem to the
bearings. if you find that the problem is gone after you remove the
brakes, most likely it's a brake problem as i mentioned
above.
actually brake pistons and seals can be cleaned and replaced by
ourselves. but without a proper bleeding kit, plus tools, i
wouldn't recommend it. to be honest, i myself dunno how to do it
also..
hope this helps lar.. just in case your mech ask you to change the
whole rear end of the bike or overhaul or something... which is
ridiculous...
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rock hard... ride free...
