Steering head bearings.

[323ian]

Hi,

Sorry for my first post being a question but i will introduce myself properly soon!

I have searched on here but not found my answer.

Right i recently replaced my steering head bearings on my firestorm and decided to fit like for like and go with the stock ball and race type but after fitting them within about 30 miles the head goes very loose and they need adjusting, now done this 3 times so im guessing something is not right at all.

Anyone had this and what was the problem?

Whats the gain of fitting the taper rollers as i have seen this is popular?

Thanks,
Ian.

[tony.mon]

This isn't unusual, Ian.
If they're not seated absolutely tight and square in their housings the bearing (especially to outer race of the lower one) can settle every time the bike goes over a bump.
This just means that the bearings need nipping up.

You'll have discovered by now that you don't need to completely remove the top yoke; just lift it up on the stanchions and you can then tap round the locked nuts as a pair.


Tapers vs balls- it's about the contact areas.
A ball bearing contacts on a small round area, and a roller contacts on a strip section.
This means that you won't get the notchiness that ball bearings give when they're worn, or much less so, anyway, and they last a lot longer.
But rollers need to be tightened a lot less when installing, as otherwise the steering feels sticky, as though a steering damper is set too hard.

It's the same work to fit one as the other; why wouldn't you?
Honda only fit ball types because they're cheaper.

I expect Alastair will be along in a minute to back me up.

[AMCQ46]

My answer is the same as Tony already wrote, I am just chipping in so you know he is correct.

The standard ball races should be run with a good prelaod on the castle nuts, there is a section in the Haynes manual on setting them............once you fit tapers then you ignore this section as you should set them to the point where they just have zero clearance, and not into preload.

[Xenocide]

Sorry to hijack. I suspect my bike might need it's bearings replacing or tightening up. If you lift it up on the side stand and rotate the bars there's no "notchyness" - it's nice and smooth but on braking i can feel a "click" every so often.

I can't picture what you meant when you were referring to tightening up the bearings a bit, tony. What's the procedure? Loosen off the locking bolts on the top tree and tighten the nut in the middle a half turn or so?

Cheers.

[tony.mon]

Not quite.
The big chrome nut in the centre just holds the top yoke in place.
Underneath it are two lock rings, that are tightened together and then held in location to each other by a tab washer between them.

If you undo the top yoke nut, and the two fork leg clamp nuts on the top yoke (don't undo the lower yoke clamp nuts or the bike will drop onto the front mudguard).
Remove the two thin circlips form the top of each fork leg above the clipons.
You can now tap the top yoke up an inch or so, which will lift up the clip-ons as well.
You can now see the two locknuts, and tap them (still locked together) round a bit with an old screwdriver and mallet.

But the noise you hear is probably the internal fork leg sliding bearings or sleeves, which wear over time.

Replacing those will mean removing the fork legs and stripping them down.

Before you do this check to make sure it isn't something loose in the brake caliper/pads area.

[Xenocide]

Ahh I see - thank you very much. An amazingly thorough response.

So is that the brass bushes at the bottom of the fork sanctions? I've never bothered replacing them before, just oil + seals etc.

Thank you very much for your time writing that . (y)

[tony.mon]

That's them.
Try David Silvers or Wemoto for pattern or genuine spares.