steering head bearings

[DeanR]

Have my front wheel elevated today and noticed a real slight front to back motion (looseness) of the front end when pulling on the front wheel. No notchiness when moving the bars side to side but I think they are probably a little too free moving. I'm assuming I need to tighten up the steering head a bit but am not sure what to loosen to do this. A search didn't turn up any tech tips.

[fredintoon]

Hi Dean,
there's two ring-nuts with notches in them just under the top triple tree. They are threaded onto the steering stem and you thread the bottom one down to tighten the races. The top one is a lock nut. The tool you need to turn them is called a spanner wrench in the US and a peg wrench in the UK. You will need two of them to re-lock the nuts together at the right setting. OK, you can bash the nuts round with a hammer & punch but it wrecks up the spanner notches. The correct setting is when the 'bars just fall to either side from dead ahead when you nudge them and stay centered if you don't while the front wheel is propped off the ground.

[bikerphil]

adjustment

1. Loosen the 2 upper fork pinch bolts, left and right.
2. Loosen the steering stem pinch bolt by the fuel tank.
3. Remove the large 22mm steering stem bolt.
4. Lift off the upper triple tree and handlebars, prop out of the way.
5. Loosen the top lock nut on the stem.
6. Tighten the lower nut until snug, then back off slightly.
7. Tighten down the upper locknut while holding the lower nut from turning.
8. Reassemble everything and torque large 22mm stem bolt to 60 ft. lbs.

HTH.

[bikerphil]

forgot to mention

Tighten the left and right fork pinch bolts last.

[DeanR]

Thanks guys, mainly I wasn't sure if you could do this without removing the bars and upper tree. Seems they do need to come off!

[prometheus578]

"Be prepared..."

I'll bet, (if'in I were a bettin' man), that once you tighten up the bearings... you'll feel notchey-ness.
With slop in the bearings, as they turn, they will glide nicey over any notches you may have.
I would recommend: Once you have the upper stuff of, remove the wheel and the brakes(to reduce weight) and slide down the lower tree and inspect the bearing race for grooves or striated marks. If you have none, then re-grease as best you can and reassemble.
Oft' times, one can't see any wear marks at all, but can still feel notchy-ness when turning. How the steering feels when the bike is up in the air is one thing. When the bike's on the ground, (with a rider on it) and theres 300 lbs worth of diagonal weight/pressure against the bearing, any slight blemish on the bearing race will make a difference.

[fredintoon]

One thing leads to another

Hi guys,
you can adjust the ring-nuts with the top 'tree in place if you use the correct spanner wrenches, slackening the 'tree's fasteners beforehand & tightening them afterwards is all you need to do. If you take a hammer & punch to the ring-nuts, yes, you will need to remove the top 'tree to gain the necessary access.
A thought, now that you are in there , maybe this is a great time to tear down the steering head enough to inspect the steering head races for wear and possible replacement and re-pack them with good new grease anyway?

[DeanR]

Yep, I was thinking the same thing about the looseness maybe masking any bearing problem.
So far I only removed the stem bolt and loosened the two pinch bolts and tried to get those adjustment nuts to move with a hammer and screwdriver. No luck yet. Don't want to beat up on em too bad but I don't have the right wrench.
By the way, the top tree doesn't want to slide off despite being loose. Am I missing another connection point somewhere? or do you just have to work it off.
Thanks for the recommendations about jumping in a little further.
We'll see!

[bikerphil]

top tree

You should just be able to rock it loose, or pry up on it with a large flathead screwdriver. If you don't have that spanner wrench, use a drift and hammer or a large pair of needle nose vice grips. Try adjusting first, see if it's ok. Changing the bearings and races is a time consuming job, but the end result is well worth it.

There are 4 bolts holding the upper tree.

[prometheus578]

"Loosey goosey"

Large stem bolt, pinch bolts for each fork tube...
Laxdad, you didn't mention the long pinch bolt by the big chrome stem bolt.

[ClarkGriswald]

Hm, mabye its a "Self sealing stem bolt"?

[DeanR]

Prom, didn't initially notice that long pinch bolt, but after I did, the tree wiggled loose without loosening it.
Turns out I have the spanner wrench for my shock preload, it's the right size, but it's cheap and starts to bend before those nuts break free.
I hit em with a little PB Blaster but that's probably not a good idea because it will likely find its way into the bearing.
How do you guys get em freed up?

[bikerphil]

With the upper tree out of the way and the front wheel all the way to the left, try a pipe wrench on the top stem nut. You should be able to get a good bite. PB blaster is ok.

[jetmechmarty]

This is the one you need:

http://www.mikesxs.net/mikesxs-tools...ategory_id=7.1

[prometheus578]

Prom, didn't initially notice that long pinch bolt...

Apparently... at one time I didn't either. When I replaced my bearings last year, I noted that I had forgotten to put that bolt back in from a repair job sometime prior!
Unless one has the correct size spanner wrench, or Bikerphil's pipe wrench, one must resort to the punch and hammer method.
A screwdriver is no better than a chisel... will cut the nut flanges off.
As a last resort... use a socket extension as a punch. Has a broader head and a flatter face, (sort of like me)