Steering head bearing HELP

badgermilk · Dec 13, 2008

Hi guys,

Changed my steering head bearings for Koyo bearings instead of OEM.

The Koyos are tapered instead of the roller OEM ****.

Koyo bearing number is 32907jr-3.

Anyway, put all the front end back together, nipped the top nut up nice and tight so theres no play, then backed it off and re-tightened making sure theres no play again.

Problem is the steering doesnt fall from side to side as easy as i'd like. Is the steering supposed to fall freely when front end is off the deck??

I used a c-spanner to tighten the nut back up pretty sure I havent over tightend things though, (just enough so theres no play).

I did pack the bearings out with quite alot of grease, this might be slowing things.

Any ideas or help please? Anyone used the same Koyo bearings on their bike?

Cheers

robin1 · Dec 13, 2008

steering head bearings

Hi

One thought - if you have a steering damper the steering will never be loose enough to flop. You could disconnect it and test.

The ring under the top yoke is what adjusts the bearing tension - it doesn't need to be very tight at all. Take off the top yoke, and loosen the ring until there's movement in the bearing. If the front is off the ground, squat in front of the bike, grab a fork leg in each hand and move firmly front to back. Make it good and loose so you can feel the movement, then tighten slowly so that the movement has just gone. Then fold the tabs down to hold it in place.

Then put the top yoke back, and tighten the top nut to the right torque (Haynes says 80nm to 2000, 100nm 01 on).

badgermilk · Dec 14, 2008

Thanks for the idea, I tried it with the damper off and its just the same.

Only thing I can think of now is the lower bearing wasn't seated all the way down on the bottom yoke. I could still rotate the dust seal under the bearing. Looking underneath the bike when I move the bars the lower dust seal stays still, it also doesnt look seated all the way into the frame, is this normal?

Sprocker · Dec 14, 2008

Are the two bearings the same depth :dunno

badgermilk · Dec 18, 2008

yes bearings are the same depth.
Gonna re-strip it all i think, yet again for about the 4th time.
Might wipe some of the grease away.

Anyone know if the lower bearing is supposed to sit all the way down on the lower clamp?
Looking underneath the bike when I move the bars the lower dust seal stays still, it also doesnt look seated all the way into the frame, is this normal? Can anyone have a look at their bike for me?

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Steering head bearing HELP

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