Sounds like a bit of an internet rumor tbh Paul. There have been reports of a few isolated failures on spoked rears, but there's nothing from Ducati about a "recall" to replace the rear bearings. If there's an issue, then it would be sorted via the warranty procedure with new parts. There have been no part number substitutions either, suggesting the bearings remain as original spec etc. Wheel bearings should always be checked when a tyre change is done Fraser.. the Pikes Peak isn't affected at all as it runs a single sided rear with a completely different set up.
Quick Update – Bike is a 2021 V4S now with 21K miles. Last time out it got very dirty and had a full clean (no jet wash) and then sat in the garage for 4 weeks (due to Xmas, New Year and Weather!) until last week. Noticed rear wheel was very stiff to rotate when rolled out of the garage but all well on a 120-mile ride, except that at 45mph + there was a noticeable droning noise that I thought was from the rear of the bike (I don’t carry a pillion). At the weekend I removed the rear wheel to check the wheel bearings, they were very dirty around the seals so cleaned it all up with the wheel removed. On further inspection the rear wheel bearings were lumpy to rotate and felt like there was grit in there. Took the wheel to my dealer (PT) and they confirmed the bearings were shot and were replaced there and then. Both the wheel and sprocket carrier bearing (2 on the wheel and 2 on the carrier) were replaced. The old (that is the original OEM) “sealed” bearings had brown seals and were stamped "China" on them, one on the brake side of the wheel was corroded in and hard to remove. The replacement bearings have black seals and are stamped NRG. I am told that rear seals should last about 20k miles on the twin spar rears as they are smaller whilst the SSSA bearings are bigger and better! Wheel refitted today and it felt smooth and easy to rotate, very easy to wheel out of the garage. On the road it is definitely quieter, still some speed related noise from the rear of the bike but I reckon that is just chain noise. Bottom Line - At 20K miles it would be good idea to check those rear wheel bearings. I don’t think that a rear wheel bearing check is in any service schedule that I know about.
When I stripped my spare wheels in prep for powder coating I found the same, my spares only had about 3.5kmiles on the bearings. I think the external oil seals had been put in dry & the seal springs had rotted when water got in , this held the rusty paste created against the bearing seals & the resulting rotations got this past the bearings seals making the inners in toast. I made sure the new external oil seals were loaded with grease when fitting in to the spares and my other set to try to avoid a repeat (hopefully).
When on the European Multistrada Meeting in Spain, I experienced a transmission speed whine from the rear end which I put down to a worn chain. Once home, I checked the chain which seemed OK but decided a new chain and sprocket set was a good idea anyway as the bike had done nearly 14,000 miles . Once the replacement chain and sprocket set had arrived, I removed the rear wheel and then the cush drive (sprocket flange, item 1 in the diagram below] ready to change the rear sprocket. I noticed that the spacer into the wheel bearing seal on the disk drive [15] was discoloured and grooved, the spacer on the other side [17] was in better condition but there were slight marks from the seal rubbing. Both wheel bearings [8] were stiff to turn and were notchy but with no discernible play. Both bearings [2] in the cush drive were good. As the bearings and seals weren't too expensive, about £43, I decided to order up a set and fit them myself - bit mistake as removing the bearings proved to be very difficult. The seal ring on the sprocket side had corrosion on the inside. The cush drive side seal ring was fine. Both bearings were corroded but there was some grease present under their internal seals. When removing the bearings I damaged the inner spacer [9] which is inside the wheel between the bearings. I wasn't in hurry for the replacement bearings and seals as I was going on holiday, so ordered them from www.bike-parts-ducati.com. When I got back from holiday in early August I started chasing delivery. I was expecting a bit of delay, after 5 weeks I phoned Ducati Aylesbury where I had an annual service booked for the end of August, they had bearings [8] and seal rings [10] in stock but would have to order the inner spacer tube [9]. They received it the next day! I obviously cancelled the order with www.bike-parts-ducati.com (actually In Moto Limited, in Croydon). I asked Ducati Aylesbury for the cost of replacement spacers. The spacer on the disk side [15] had a new part number [7131F751A] and would cost £25.58, which was a shock given the original part was £5.45. This new spacer part number was introduced on the on the V4S 2025 model but was shown as the replacement for my 2022 bike on their system. The spacer that goes into to seal on the cush drive side [17] also has a new part number [7131F741A] for 2025 and the price has jumped from £9.67 to £47.28. The service guys at Ducati Aylesbury checked with one of their technicians and he said he would just clean up the spacers and not replace them but ensure to use grease on reassembly. The part numbers for the bearings [8] and seals [10] are the same parts numbers from the introduction of the Multistrada V4S in 2021 to the latest 2025 version. These bearings and seals are used on numerous Ducati models with double sided singing arms, as are the original spacers [15 & 17]. As far as I can tell, only the 2025 versions of the Multistrada V4, V4S and V4 Rally use the new, more expensive spacers however I was unable to check the parts catalogues on the Ducati website as they have not been released for the 2025 Multistrada models. Lessons learnt: Every time you have the rear wheel out or at least annually, remove the cush drive and check the seal rings for damage and the bearings for smooth running. Check the spacers are in good order. Check the bearings in the cush drive assembly. If the bearing are good but the seal rings or spacers look damaged, change the seal rings and clean up the spacers Before putting the wheel back in, wipe some grease into the seal rings, the spacers, wheel spindle and between the bearings around the inner spacer [9] Don’t spray water at high pressure in the area of the wheel spindle, and just about everywhere else Attempt to drain any water out of the wheel hubs, especially just before laying up the bike for the winter. The wheels have large holes in the casting around the hub and the inner space [9] between the bearings is not an effective seal Order parts from your local Ducati dealer Get someone else to remove the wheel bearings and fit the replacements Exploded parts diagram of the rear wheel assembly: The spoked wheels use a similar bearings and spacer arrangement: One of the bearings, this one is from the sprocket side. The disk side was a bit worse. Seal ring (disk side). The sprocket side was not corroded. Spacers which fit inside the seal rings (smaller one is on the disk side, the larger one is between the wheel and the cush drive.
Having recently done all my bearings, the rear hub was the biggest shock to me, considering my bike has only done 40k km (around 25k miles). Seeing the above just reaffims my thoughts that I'll be doing my rear hub every 10k miles now as it's clearly not designed to last the life Ducati are claiming. Note - I did the hub on a 1260, not a V4 - https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/eccentric-hub-refresh.101517/page-3#post-2233145
