1981 XS1000 Heavy steering

[cycle builder]

After cruising on the highway for a few miles the steering seems to get heavy to turn which makes it hard to go slow and stay in a straight line. Steering head bearings don't seem to be loose or to tight and it steers normal around town. Has anyone run into this problem.

[ratbyk]

Hard Steering

Possible low front tire pressure or dragging brake calipers. Nothing else besides the steering head.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk
82 FT500 "lilRat"
ZX11 Temptress

[Dennyz]

I would suspect the front brakes. If the return orifice in the master cylinder is pluged (search on spooge) the fluid will expand as your ride and apply front brakes on its own.

[cycle builder]

Dragging brakes sounds logical. It makes sense that the oil could expand and make the front brake drag. Will check it out and see if this helps. Thanks

[skids]

Re: 1981 XS1000 Heavy steering

Well, overtightened steering bearings give a feel like that. It feels kind of like balancing on a board and difficult to hold a straight line. Maybe they are dry?

Originally posted by cycle builder
After cruising on the highway for a few miles the steering seems to get heavy to turn which makes it hard to go slow and stay in a straight line. Steering head bearings don't seem to be loose or to tight and it steers normal around town. Has anyone run into this problem.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Cycle Builder,

It can be difficult to get the feel of the bars slightly binding with it on the ground, and the friction of the front wheel while it's sitting still and you turning the handlebars. Try raising the front wheel off the ground, wedge something under the front of the engine/frame while on center stand so that the front wheel isn't touching, no stress on the steering joint, then turn it left and right slowly, and see if you can feel any little bumpy movement, or binding, slight changes in smoothness of movement.

The bars should easily glide from left to right, but like skids said, if the grease is drying up, the bearings could be starting to bind, or flat spot. Might just need a cleaning and repacking? Good Luck!
T.C.

[Czekus21]

This might sound stupid but if you had the front end apart, did you line everything back up the way it's supposed to be ( alignment )

[MartyA]

Sounds like your bearing race is notched, just like mine was. You can test for brake drag by running a few miles and feeling the disc, but I bet it is the steering bearing.

Mine was fine in turns, but a battle on the straight. Test it like TC suggests, you might feel the flat spots, or you might feel the drag of a dry bearing. I didn't feel anything when I propped the front up, but the bearing race was flat spotted and dry when I took it out.

The new one makes all the difference.

[John]

New bearings can be found at your local bearing supply store . Don't even bother with a dealer. They'll charge you twice as much. That's where I found mine.