Steering head socket

[captjerry]

Searched the archives,
Anyone made one? If so how?
Thanks

[Ken Talbot]

Where abouts in here were you thinking of using one?

[captjerry]

#4, Ken

[Bob Falter]

captjerry,

Note a bad idea. It would be a little hard to make and wouldn't do much for the second nut. Guess I'll just keep using a hammer and a small, dull, punch.

[captjerry]

Not to sound ignorant, but how can you torque to spec
with a hammer and punch. Am I missing something here?

[Ken Talbot]

I've wondered about that too. The shop manual calls for 7.2 to 8.7 ft-lb, with a caution against over tightening. Then it goes on to check it out by turning the stem from lock to lock. "If there is any binding or looseness, readjust the steering stem tightness". To me this says to tighten it a bit, but don't worry about going for a particular torque value. Worry instead about getting just a nice free action back and forth, not too tight, not too loose.

If a person had the special adjuster wrench, you could drill a hole in the end of it, measure the length, attach a fish scale, and work out the exact torque. I'm guessing you would still end up having to tweak it a bit to get "not too loose, not too tight".

[captjerry]

Mine are notched pretty good at center, their on the "to do"
list here in the next couple weeks.
Guess Im just paranoid over the torque specs due to the fact
I own a goldwing also and them critters will let you know in a
heartbeat if you havnt done it right with a big ole headshake

[uk1.1s]

Brute force and...

'Fraid I'm from the school of the hammer and punch approach.

Wifes XJ600 has been in a crash and needed lots of adjusting before we got around to refitting the bearings. Seem to loosen off every time she rode it for a while. That and replacement of steering head bearings on most of my old bikes means I've had a fair bit of experience in the brute force approach.

For the number crunchers out there - I agree, no idea what I've torqued the nut too. However, you do get a 'feel' for it.

With conventional ball bearings, too tight and the handlebars do not move smoothly from lock to lock if given a gentle push (assuming the front end is still in the air).

Too loose and there is up and down play in the steering head stem - and a distinct little klunk on braking maybe once it's all back together.

I usually get them a little too tight and then ease the nut off a little - that way there's no question of it being too loose.

I said above 'conventional ball bearings' as the way to go when replacing is for taper roller equivalent bearings. These last A LOT longer and I feel that the work rather better. When tightening up they don't tend to lock up the steering as much when over tightened - so I suppose a bit more difficult to get right. Make sure there's no up and down play and then give 'em a bit extra for good measure. Suppose it's a 'feel' and experience thing, but not too hard to work out once you're there doing it.

Good luck

[xssiveone]

I was always told to raise the front wheel off the ground and tighten the bearing enough so the wheel stays straight by itself. A gentle nudge in either direction and if it goes all the way to the stops without binding then it is adjusted correctly.

[Bob Falter]

Harley tells you to do it just they way xssiveone is telling you. They even give you the number of degrees that you nudge the wheel off center before it turns on its own. Problem is that you have to disconnect all of the cables, especially the clutch, so they don’t effect the wheel turning.

I do it just the way uk1.1 does it. Tighten them down until you don’t have any looseness and it still turns easily. These tapered roller bearings are just like the wheel bearings on trailers, and the front of cars before front wheel drive. You tighten them down until you can move the wheel in and out but the wheel still turns free. Then you have turn the castle nut forward or back until you can get the cotter pin through the hole in the spindle. Not very critical considering your going to load it down with a lot of weight and spin it at up to 1000 rpm.

If you get them too loose they will klunk on braking just like uk1.1 said. If you leave them that way they will wear funny and you won’t be able to get adjust them to where the front end turns smooth. My XS was that way when I bought it. I noticed the klucking when I test rode it. The POs must have ridden it that way most of the 14,000 miles that was on it. Other than ruining the bearing, and races, it didn’t really hurt anything. The front end is not going to fall off as long as you have the two nuts securely locked together.

[Bob Falter]

I was in a hurry when I wrote the last reply and didn't do a very good job of it.

In the second paragraph this statement:
>>You tighten them down until you can move the wheel in and >>out but the wheel still turns free.

Should have been:
You tighten them down until you can NOT move the wheel in and out but the wheel still turns free.

In the third paragraph I jump back to talking about the steering head bearings but don't make that very clear either.

Sorry,