• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Testing steering head bearings

ratsblast

ratsblast

Active member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Location
Belmont
Moto(s)
1997 1200xlh
Name
Daryn
Well I'm replacing the front tire on the punky buellster and bought a set of big balls(all balls) steering head bearings. I watched some videos online and they say if the steering is smooth and free it is good to go. Grabbing the forks the bearing feel free but seems light. I didn't feel any notches or anything, felt really light, almost loose. My bike has about 43k on it and is 16years old. I've been having a bit of a funk in the front end and the old tire was scalloped potatoes, so I don't know if I need to install the head bearings. I'm going to loosen and align the forks while I'm at it.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated, I'm not really that knowledgeable about chassis work just want to fix the bike and go on doc wongs ride on sunday.
 
Jack up the front end with the front tire off the ground. The front end should gently fall to the either side when moved passed center. too fast, loose bearings, too slow too tight. pull and push front end while jacked up to feel for slack.
 
Every manufacturer has a spec and testing procedure for how tight they should be. Honda wants us to put a spring scale on the triple when tightening them, and its def tighter than falling to the side. Check your FSM

Sometimes notchiness can only be felt when the forks and controls are off. Cables, wires, and fork weight can make it hard to feel.
 
Dont ask me about the buell manual, misinformation in there. I might just have to go for it, son of a bitch to replace the steering bearings. We'll see, I also need to inject the front wheel bearings with grease one of them is getting crunchy and a stupid size. Love my bike!
 
I have a love hate relationship with my bike, I love it and it hates me back. If I can hit 45k miles I'm gonna either sell it or my father wants to make it into a rototiller. I keep having stupid failures, I think the punky buellster has lived an eventful life and it ain't done yet. I'll update later.
 
Well pulled the triple tree off and got at the bearings, they are both pretty crusty, I could probably clean and repack them but for the $20 I'm throwing new bearings and races. The lower bearing is the crustier one The bike came apart pretty easily, I was surprise, only took about 1.5hours so far.
 
ratsblast said:
Well pulled the triple tree off and got at the bearings, they are both pretty crusty, I could probably clean and repack them but for the $20 I'm throwing new bearings and races.
Click to expand...

Since you're already in there, wise choice installing new bearings instead of trying to rehab old bits.
 
Got it back together and installed the all balls bearing and races. I couldn't use the rubber seals included as the buell uses metal dust caps, not seals. It was a pretty easy job just messy, I fucked up and didn't install the throttle cables correctly and need to do a bit of clean up but it should be good to go tomorrow. I might loosen up the bearing a bit but I want to ride it first and see how it feels. Also put a fat front tire on so I should be good to go. What a sequence to torque the front end, tighten this, loosen that, pull this, blah blah blah. I didn't have the special spring tool so I set the bearing play kind of by feel, a bit on the tight side but it feel smooth.
 
Tight will give you a "wander" on the freeway. The bike will weave back and forth a bit on its own. Plus, steer heavy obviously .
It only takes a hair of loosening to relax it.
 
Well I rode the bike and between new tire and head bearings I don't really notice much difference, the old tire went lumpy so now the bike rolls smoothly. Seems to ride good and straight so that is good. Not much else to report, I'll keep an eye on it.

The grease I injected into the bearing spewed out, nice and rusty looking grease, I'll have to find some fresh bearings.
 
STEERING HEAD BEARINGS...
First sign that your steering head bearings are loose will be felt through the
bars as a pronounce clunk during braking...

If your steering head bearings are too tight the bike will weave and
not seek it own center...

I don't use torque wrench method to archive perfect torque rather I
raise the front wheel off the ground and tighten the steering head
bearings until the bars lock then I back off the nut until the bars
free wheel with a slight drag... with this method you find that sweat
spot and avoid over tightening and under tightening even if you
upgrade to taper roller bearings...

CUPPING...
Cupping, which is more accurately described as scalloping is a natural wear
pattern on motorcycle tires and it will always follow the tread pattern. It is
not a sign that you have bad suspension parts. It merely shows that your
tire is indeed gripping the road when you make turns (thank you for that Mr.
Tire!). This cupping develops within the side wear bands of a leaned
motorcycle. The extreme forces that come in to play when the bike is leaned
in a turn are what produce the effect and when the wear becomes sufficient,
one will experience vibration and noise when one banks into a turn.

The softer the compound of the tire, the sooner this cupping will
develop. Low tire pressure will exacerbate this wear pattern and you
will lose many serviceable miles by running low. Improper balance has
nothing to do with cupping on a motorcycle tire. Improper balance will
merely cause your bike to vibrate within certain specific speed
ranges
 
I set up the bearings a bit tight and you will feel it. 1/4 to a half turn off and good to go. Busy Little and others thank you.
 
I'm going through this now. The bearings look OK but the bike is developing a very small, almost imperceptible wobble on the highway and sounds like crap under braking. Good luck!
 
ratsblast said:
Any help or suggestions are appreciated, I'm not really that knowledgeable about chassis work just want to fix the bike and go on doc wongs ride on sunday.
Click to expand...


Not sure why i forgot to post this but looser is better. In my bike the spec is hand tight, any tighter and you start to prematurely wear the (poorly designed) bearings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top