Steering head bearings

[johns]

Can the steering head bearings of a R65 be adjusted? Mine has a little play and after looking in my repair manual I found that there should be an adjustment bolt. After removing a lot of bits & pieces, I couldn't find anyting to adjust these bearings.

Looking at the parts fiches at realoem.com also didn't show me something I recognized :/

Any thoughts?

[Justin B.]

No adjustment "bolt" but the big skinny "nut" on the top of the stem is used to adjust preload on the steering bearings.  I believe there is a procedure for servicing these in the FAQ section - I think...

[nhmaf]

The later /5 and /6 models had a "steering dampener" knob which basically put more reload on the bearings, but that was phased out during the /7 models I believe - at least it was gone by the 1981 model year.   You can adjust the preload as Justin indicated but just be careful about it - too much preload can not only wear out your bearings fast but can also make the bike behave/steer VERY differently.

BMW intended the adjustable knob on the earlier airheads to be cranked up only when riding on very bumpy roads, though many folks cranked it in all the time.

[Justin B.]

The old dampner (like on a /5) was actually two chunks of metal with a pivot between them and when you adjusted the know you increased or decreased the friction between them.  This was supplanted by a hydraulic/itty-bitty shock absorber that the pivot point/fulcrum was essentially changed as the knob was rotated.

But, these various dampers are not an adjustment for the head bearings.  

Here is the old timey dampener on a /5:

[Justin B.]

And here is the "nut" that the head bearings are adjusted with:

[johns]

Ok, clear. My manual is wrong then. I'll look in to the required preload.