Voge 300 Rally wheel bearings, swingarm and side stand: the checks

Owner reports rather than a manufacturer bulletin. These are the cycle parts owners report needing attention sooner than expected on a 300 Rally used off road, and each has a check that takes less than a minute.

Wheel bearings

Reported as failing early on some motorcycles. A 300 Rally spends its working life in dust and water, which are precisely what end a wheel bearing, and its 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels spend more of that life being struck than a road wheel does.

The check: with the wheel off the ground, it is held at the top and bottom and rocked from side to side. Any play is a bearing. The wheel is then spun: a bearing on its way out rumbles, or can be felt as a roughness through the axle.

The check belongs at every chain adjustment. It takes fifteen seconds and finds the problem while it is still a bearing rather than a wheel and a hub.

Swingarm bearings and bushes

Also reported worn on some motorcycles. The symptom is a vague feel at the rear that worsens when the motorcycle is loaded, and a rear wheel that does not track the front.

The check: with the rear wheel off the ground and the chain slack, the swingarm is grasped at the axle and pushed from side to side. There should be no lateral movement at the pivot.

The manual's periodic maintenance table lists the swingarm and the steering bearings among its items, and both are work for a dealer to the torque table in the edition supplied with the motorcycle.

The side stand

Reported bent after low-speed drops and off-road use. A stand bent even slightly changes the angle at which the motorcycle leans, which is how a parked machine ends up on its side on soft ground.

This matters more on the 300 Rally than on most. Both editions of the manual state that it is equipped with a side stand only. There is no centre stand for parking, maintenance or a puncture, so the side stand carries every stop the motorcycle makes.

Two points follow:

• A bent stand is replaced rather than straightened. Steel that has been bent once has been weakened at the bend, and it bends again more readily.
• The stand switch is part of the same assembly. The French edition shows a side stand switch alongside the stand itself. A stand that has been knocked out of position can leave the switch misaligned, which produces starting or cut-out complaints that look electrical but are mechanical.

After a water crossing

Bearings do not fail from water; they fail from water that is left in them. After a wet ride or a crossing, the motorcycle is ridden long enough to bring the hubs up to temperature, and the checks above are made at the next service rather than when a noise appears.

Related pages

The chain adjustment at which the wheel bearing check fits naturally is set out in chain slack, adjustment and lubrication, and the effect of lowering on the only stand this model has in 300 Rally seat height. The remaining specification is on the 300 Rally model page.