30203 wheel bearings locally?

I was wondering, do we need to buy wheel bearings from a BMW source, or are they somewhat universal? In other words, a 30203 wheel bearing or swingarm bearing: is there anything BMW-Airhead-specific about it?

Does anybody get bearings from a local bearing house or online distributor instead of from a BMW-specific sourece (Bob's, Max, Boxer2valve etc)?

Thanks in advance,

Eric Z
RVa
US

Can't imagine why one can't buy bearings from a good bearing supplier. As we know, BMW doesn't make bearings. They spec bearings from their sources for use. So, getting a quality SKF 30203 bearing should be all that hard.

Some past discussions:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?5905-R75-6-Wheel-Bearings

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?36713-Non-dealer-source-for-swingarm-bearings

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?27711-swing-arm-bearings

Give it a shot. I tried to source steering head bearings this way, but they are not a standard configuration. Wheel bearings might be.

And when at the bearing house make sure you ask the counter guy if there is something better. Often there are seal improvements etc.

Eric,

My last set of wheel bearings (30203 Nike) were purchased back in 2012 from Tom Cutter at Rubber Chicken Racing Garage for $25. Obviously prices may have increased from that time but I would inquire there or other Airhead Parts Suppliers. To my limited knowledge there's nothing special about these bearings. I just did a quick Google search at my local NAPA auto parts store and found them there for $40.

Tom is a great source for parts and knowledge, I do as much business with Tom as I can.

-Mike V.

I've spent thousands of dollars with Tom over the years. Usually when I need advice, I will buy from him. If I don't need any advice I usually buy from a local shop or a supplier that has an online ordering system and timely fulfilment and shipping.

30064 said:

Eric,

Tom is a great source for parts and knowledge, I do as much business with Tom as I can.

-Mike V.

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Bearings are universal. You just need to know the size you are looking for, and any large bearing supply place can provide them. The biggest difference you are going to find is in the way the bearing is sealed, one side, two sides for example. The better ones are sealed on both sides, but that is not required in all applications, in fact in some cases the back side should be open, pivot bearings on airheads and early K bikes are an example of that.

cycleman2 said:

Bearings are universal. You just need to know the size you are looking for, and any large bearing supply place can provide them. The biggest difference you are going to find is in the way the bearing is sealed, one side, two sides for example. The better ones are sealed on both sides, but that is not required in all applications, in fact in some cases the back side should be open, pivot bearings on airheads and early K bikes are an example of that.

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Not all bearings are "universal." Some are specifically commissioned by a manufacturer (say BMW) and not available in any other supply chain. That said, as far as I know the bearings in question are available.

Try Motobins UK

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I also buy online from Summit Racing.
Someone on the forum said: “Summit is oft overlooked”. Very true.
Quick delivery on the East Coast (Virginia).

I only want SKF, FAG ? or Timken brands. Just a personable preference.

Charlie

PGlaves said:

Not all bearings are "universal." Some are specifically commissioned by a manufacturer (say BMW) and not available in any other supply chain. That said, as far as I know the bearings in question are available.

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I was pretty sure we where talking about a front wheel bearing for an airhead, and those sizes are universal. You just need to know the bearing sizes, the same also goes for the airhead swing arm bearings as I've bought both at a local bearing supply outfit. I know the pivot bearings on the rear drive of an oilhead are a tapered bearing which is likely a BMW only part. I see that next time I'll have to be more exact in my response.

cycleman2 said:

I was pretty sure we where talking about a front wheel bearing for an airhead, and those sizes are universal. You just need to know the bearing sizes, the same also goes for the airhead swing arm bearings as I've bought both at a local bearing supply outfit. I know the pivot bearings on the rear drive of an oilhead are a tapered bearing which is likely a BMW only part. I see that next time I'll have to be more exact in my response.

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Well, sometimes, some of us like to nit-pick. You were correct as to the subject wheel bearings, which I think I acknowledged, but having had a few failures trying to find proprietary BMW designs I had to nit-pick. No offense meant.

All Balls Made In China

Someone mentioned using All Balls bearings. I avoid them because they are made in China. Ideally I prefer made in Japan, or Germany.

I hear what you saying, but it seams like more and more parts are coming from China. A lot of BMW oem parts are coming from there. I not trying to push them, but I use all balls over the years and never came across a bad one yet. The hard part now is trying to find parts that aren't made in China.

k1200lt00 said:

I hear what you saying, but it seams like more and more parts are coming from China. A lot of BMW oem parts are coming from there. I not trying to push them, but I use all balls over the years and never came across a bad one yet. The hard part now is trying to find parts that aren't made in China.

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When I locally sourced wheel bearings for my F800GS I was offered a range of prices and countries of origin.
China- $1.99 ea. Bulgaria- $9.90 ea. I find the Eastern Block products are made to last. Spent the $9.90.
OM

k1200lt00 said:

I hear what you saying, but it seams like more and more parts are coming from China. A lot of BMW oem parts are coming from there. I not trying to push them, but I use all balls over the years and never came across a bad one yet. The hard part now is trying to find parts that aren't made in China.

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Bingo! And that is our second largest problem. At the moment SARSCov2 (Covid 19) is the biggestone.

Parts

It isn't so common in BMW part situations but in auto situations, price meant lower quality. I could get $10 brake pads that would last 25K miles or $30 that lasted 50K..

A lot of stuff is made in China and some of it is crap, some is not, for us airhead owners it takes a bit of hunting around to find good OM parts for our bikes that will work for a reasonable price.

I have found that as long as I buy my parts from a long established source for BMW parts, be it BMW or someone else, I have never had a problem with either cost or reliability. I don't go to Autozone for parts for my BMW bikes nor do I mess around with industrial supply shops for parts.

The cost in savings is not worth having to spend the time cross matching numbers and dealing with someone who has no knowledge of the bikes. I suppose if, BMW wanted $300 for a set of bearings, I might take a bit of time to find a set for $50 that would work as well. I don't think that is the case here or is it?

A quick check of BMW supply shops as well as BMW parts official dealers, show bearings of certain quality to be all within the reasonable cost range.

I have heard the joke many times that the cheapest thing on a BMW is the owner. Cheap is not always the best, then again expensive is not always the best either. St.

I'm not concerned with price, I just want to get them same-day and without shipping charges on top of the cost. I hate buying a small part from Bob's or Max's and paying shipping on top of it, then waiting for order fulfilment, and shipping time. USPS has been really unreliable lately. But even before the mail slowed down, it can take a week between placing order and receiving order.

That's why I want to find locally if possible.

Did you check with Anton? I think he is in VA.
OM

Omega Man said:

Did you check with Anton? I think he is in VA.
OM

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No. He's 70 miles away in Charlottesville, I'm in Richmond. But a year or two ago I asked him if he wanted to do small parts orders like Tom Cutter, and he said not really.

Anton rebuilt my transmission and rear drive, as well as sold and mounted a couple tires for me, so it's not like I don't want to give him business but I am looking for a bearing house right here in Richmond that I can drive to and get a FAG or SKA 30203 bearing set same-day.