How do I identify a bad front wheel bearing?

[Pors]

Guys

For the past 100miles I have experienced a kind of humming / rumbling / gritty feeling through the handlebars on my 2000 750SSie. I can’t actually hear the noise yet, but I can definitely feel the vibrations through the handlebars, and it quite clearly resembles the experience I have had with bad wheel bearings in cars, so that’s what I’m guessing right now. Another indication with these vibrations are, that they are much more evident under coasting / engine breaking / breaking, and my theory is that the front wheel bearing will be under a lot more stress when breaking and therefore noisier with a faulty bearing.

So the questions are; is this at all related to the wheel bearing or does these vibrations point at something else? And; Are there a sure way to identify a wheel bearing gone bad? And; If this in fact is a bad wheel bearing, should I worry that the front wheel suddenly locks up, or could I ride the bike for another 1000miles with the bearing progressively making more and more noise?

Thanks
Niels

[blade625CT]

I'd put the bike up on stands, drop the calipers [use zip ties to hang them out of the way, and take stress off the lines]

now you can spin the front without any drag, and see what everything looks/sounds like [it should spin freely, and silently]. you could also check your rotors for runout.

while you have the calipers off you can take a good look at your pads too

make sure nobody squeezes your brake lever while you have the calipers off.

[Stick]

While it's up, calipers off, also remove the wheel. Bad bearings are best felt with your thumb. Lie the wheel on it's side (careful of the rotors, eleveate on a couple of 2x4s). Then apply pressure to the bearing inner race with thumb, and rotate while applying pressure. It should rotate very smoothly. If you feel it grabbing, or any glitchiness, it's bad. Be sure to do this to both bearings.