Steering head adjustment

[Justin B.]

My foggy recollections and suggestions are in red...

Thank you so much Mike.....Rob is right....a hanging at dawn!  BTW. my steering was sweet last summer. Bike sat too much and now has problems...so this can happen quickly...I just hope it is dried grease not the bearings shot. Bike's hate to sit!

So far: For a 1983 R65LS   Clean and Lube Steering head Bearings

1. Remove National Cycle windscreen
*** Remove gast tank.
2. Use circlips to undo the ignition threaded ring and remove ring and collar. Store safely.
3. Loosen black instrument cowling gently and carefully remove turn signal bulbs from inside holders.
4. Remove totally the black instrument cowling and store somewhere very safe!
5. Pop off the two black covers over the 2 top fork tubes. Store away.
6. Unscrew the 10 mm. Allen centre top nut and use a big screwdriver or steel rod to counter the force of removal.....I read this is called anti-torquing method and helps relieve cranking pressure on fork alignment. Awkward to hold both socket wrench and screwdriver but can be done. Nut turns counterclockwise and the screwdriver pressures clockwise.
7. I put the bike on a lift and cranked it up so front wheel is 2" off the floor.

Now that's as far as I have gone. Here is what I think may be the next step:

PLEASE CRITIQUE AND ADD/DELETE/ SUGGEST other ways:

8. I think I am suppose to put a block under the wheel now. Remove any fork brace or just loosen now.No need to remove any fork brace as the forks aren't going to be disassembled.
9. Loosen only the lower yokes clamping bolts. Don't even think about touching the clamp bolts on the lower tree!!
*** Loosen fork tube clamping bolts on the TOP tree.
10.Remove the top oval looking nut from the top of each fork? Do It need to remove the filler Allen nuts?  I think I do but...Haynes says no for another model bike. You don't need to remove the top plugs or fill plugs, leave everything on the top of the fork tube alone.
11 Do I loosen more stuff on the top yoke? Just enough to get it to pull free and out of the way.
12. Lift the whole top yoke and handlebar assembly up...like Rob says maybe tie to ceiling with bungees and rope.
13. Remove the knurled or bevelled? adjustment nut.
14. Pull forks down while adjusting the block under the wheel to allow it to fall down a bit. Make sure I have fore and aft movement of forks so can smunch grease around. A slight hammer on hardwood blcok on the steering stem may be needed to make the forks fall down a bit.

Or, you can unbolt the caliper, tie it out of the way, and drop the whole fork assembly out where it is easier to work on and clean/repack the lower bearing.

I will get the camera out a try to snap each important step.

Greasing will be done by hand. Adjustment is another good challenge which I will tackle but now I need to watch the Masters Golf.  Don't have anything at all to do with golf, it kills more brain cells than booze!!  Be back tomorrow probably.

[Justin B.]

As far as lower bearing is concerned, it is pressed onto the steering stem and only needs removal if it is being replaced.  Both top and bottom races are pressed in and somewhat of a bugger-bear to get out.  I just pull the fork assembly out, or down several inches and use full strength Greased Lightning, followed by aerosol Berryman's B-12 to clean the bearing.  After it is clean and completely dry I have had good luck repacking the bearings with semi-synthetic wheel bearing grease although full synthetic may actually work better.

[suecanada]

This is just fantastic!!! Thank you Ed and Justin.

First off...I did take the gastank off...it's on and off so often I guess i just forgot to mention it...again a really safe place to store!! When the list of detailed steps is totally complete and checked out, it will get printed. Some pics handy but Mikes is pretty good for getting the idea of the downward movement that exposes the bottom bearing. Getting rid of so many hard steps is great too.

Wow! What to say...I don't have to remove the two top fork nuts at all.....hallelujah!!!! [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif] No horrible job to get them back in either, another hallelujah. Until you've tried that job..you don't know what good news this is especially if you live alone or have a testy partner.

With this help I am now keen to continue.....is it morning yet???!!!

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Ed Korn's tool is for removing the outer race on the steering head, the lower one, at least, which is the more difficult of the two.  I think (not sure) that the tool can also be used for the swingarm outer races, as well.  Someday I hope to own one.  They are expensive, for sure...

I figure, as rarely as I am in that deep at that end of the bike, I will spend $12 for a couple of bearings and replace everything.  It has been since 1990 or so since I have seen mine.

[nhmaf]

I second all of Justin's comments above.

You want to loosen the TOP triple clamp/yoke pinch bolts, but don't do the bottom ones.
I'd keep something under the front wheel to block it up until you're ready to lower-away.  
Again, no need to remove anything inside the fork tubes like the allen-head filler caps, etc. as they'll just
go for the ride with the fork tubes.  Once the top stuff is unbolted/removed, you might need to
coax the steering stem and forks to drop with a rubber mallet or using a wooden block to cushion things
with.   Having a helper to pull a little (down & forward) on the tubes and being ready to "catch" it if things
decide to move all of a sudden is a good idea, too.  Be patient and don't swing like you're splitting wood !  
The lower bearing on my bike was fairly well stuck on the steering stem, but as long as it isn't damaged that
doesn't matter as you don't need to remove it.

Leaving the fender, fork brace, lower yoke, and front wheel&axle all in place should keep the tubes pretty well
aligned so you shouldn't have any issue with misaligned/non-parallel tubes.   You just have to make sure
that you check the top of the tubes when you reinstall to make sure that they protrude the same amount
above the top yoke/clamp.  The beauty of this process is that you can leave the brakes, etc. all connected.
You might want to consider unhooking the clutch cable before removing the front end, as it seems to have less
slack than some of the other cables, at least on my bike, anyway.

You'll want to check the races and steering head areas as well as the bearings for damage, and carefully clean
out any dried up grease and crud.   There are a variety of products that work pretty well for cleaning up old
grease, etc.   I use high quality dino-based wheel bearing grease to repack the bearings.   Synthetic stuff might be more resistant to turning to
hard jelly over the years, but  you don't need to use high temperature rated grease.

I was inspired to get out into my garage this evening and start tearing things down to at least examine what it is going to
take to repair the clutch on my bike.   It is cold, windy and snowy today, so  I only got things as far as removing the seat,
battery&holder, fuel tank, and airbox before the unheated garage made my fingers too stiff to work right.  Now, I'm back in
the house, warm fire in the woodstove, and some good single malt scotch in my glass.....   aaaaahhh !

 
  

[suecanada]

The job is Done! And it would seem to be a success so far at least to my uneducated feel. I would say that no one needs to shy away from this maintenance item but you should have another person around for help in lifting the fork assembly up and back into place. The advice about removing as little as possible is absolutely brilliant!!!! Thanks guys!!!

So here goes:

1.If you have an LS remove your windscreen and black plastic cowling around the instruments. Use a circlip plier to unscrew the round ring around the ignition key hole. Pull out the turn signal bulbs from their holders while the black cowling is slightly pulled back. Remove totally and put all loose parts aside safely.

2. Remove the gastank and store away. Remove the black plastic fairing backing that wraps around the forks just for safety sake as these are hard to come by I have heard. I didn't at first and if you're careful you don't need to . Using a 10mm allen socket, undo and remove the centre top steering stem bolt.

4. Put the bike on a lift or centrestand and raise front wheel about 2" up and block it there.

5. Undo the two 17mm clamping bolts that hold the forks in the top yoke and the
two 13mm bolts that hold the instrument panel to the top yoke too. I did not unscrew the speedometer cable from the speedometer as I got at the left 13mm bolt from the side with an open end wrench. The other side i used a 13mm socket.

6. Remove any ziptied cables or things attached to the handlebar that would not allow you to pull the handlebar unit up and back. I had a modulating headlight sensor bulb ziptied to the handlebar which had to be cut off.

7. I used a big screwdriver to gently wedge the handlebar unit up as far as I could then used the rubber hammer to coax the handlebar unit off the rest of the way then eased it back onto a big pile of sheets on top of the frame backbone. I put a piece of wood under it to stabilize it in a vertical position....given that the brake fluid reservoir might be happier vertically! Maybe not an issue.

8. Undo the knurled adjuster big ring..I had to use a rubber adjustable boa to undo it. I wasn't strong enough to turn it anticlockwise by hand. The boa is great. Clean up the adjustment ring and I lightly greased it and set it aside for later reassembly.

9. After removing your wheel block try to pull the fork assemby down...here i ended up tapping the steering stem with the rubber hammer on a block of wood. You can see your progress by looking under at where the lower bearing will start to appear. Once the lower bearing is down and out from the steering frame tube and you think you can get at it to clean it, your fine. Put a wedged shaped  wood block under the wheel now or even your square wood block is OK.

10. Remove top bearing and clean up top and bottom bearings AND their races so they spin beautifully. I used a toothbrush for the lower one, sprayed with brake cleaner, dried.

11. Pack on the grease by hand and really smunch it in everywhere you can...too much is not an issue..can be cleaned up after everything is back together.

12. Now the hard part where you need your friend.  Lift up holding the bottom of the forks as far up as you can, trying to keep the alignment proper such that the lower bearing goes into its race and the steering stem goes in and up the middle of the top hole too. This is hard and you may need your friend to tell you how you are doing. When the lower bearing is mostly up into its race punch the wedge farther under the wheel with your foot to hold things up until you can get a clamp under the lower bearing and over the lower yoke. Rest. Tighten up the clamp as best you can...the lower bearing should be seated now and the wedge under the wheel will hold it there.

13. Use two clamps to evenly seat the top bearing into its race. I suppose one can use a large socket to hammer in the top bearing but whatever you use you don't want to dislodge the lower bearing again.

14. Replace the cleaned and slightly greased adjuster ring and screw up.

15. Put a bit of grease on the top part of the forks and inside the top yoke holes so they slip onto easier. Replace the handlebars and do up the 2 bolts that attach the instrument bracket and the two bolts that clamp the yoke around the forks (30 foot pounds. You will know that the yoke is down far enough as these front instrument bracket bolts will line up with their holes and forks up properly.

16. Put on the 10mm allen centre nut and tighten down to seat bearing.

17. Loosen 10mm allen nut.

18. Now I backed off the adjuster nut until I got some fore and aft play when tugging  the bottom forks. Tighten this adjuster nut until the play disappears and then retighten the top nut. Check that the forks fall to the side gently when handlebars pushed by you one way. Feel for any notchiness. If none be happy...if notchiness felt bearings may need replacing I guess.

19. Take bike off centrestand or lift and then roll it forward and apply front brake. Feel and listen for clunk. Recheck the fore/aft play and free movement of the handlebars to each side. Check nothing like cables are binding things up.

20. Mount the gas tank.

20. Take for a road test and check play and handlebar movement again until you're happy with things. You might want to do tight slow turns.

21. If happy then put the black plastic instrument cover back on with the turn signal bulbs back in their holders and do up the ignition ring.

22. Be happy.

[suecanada]

So that was as much as I could type in above without using up more space than allowed. I may have gotten lucky the first adjustment but it is something I will be watching and testing for the next few 100 miles.

Without your help I could not have done this....articles by Randy Glass and Snowbum and Duane Ausherman were very helpful but to have something specifically for our R65's is essential too.
My grease was very thick and lumpy and the handlebars would NOT turn easily and there was notchiness in a big way that wasn't noticeable until the bike was on the centrestand or lift. It was dangerous to steer.
I have pics too but so far in the wrong order which I can't seem to change. Self explanatory probably if you want to see them at:

http://sue5762.fotopic.net/c1253501.html

[suecanada]

The top 10mm allen bolt gets tightened to 60 foot pounds without the anti-seize on it...I actually never got it that tight which is probably OK as I had put anti-seize on it and someone said that lowers the torque needed by 30 %.

[Bob_Roller]

Just a question here, but there is a plastic plug on the steering head of my R65, if one were to put a correct size grease fitting into this hole,would it be feasible to pump this cavity full of grease ? Just an observation that could reduce the work involved in this area.

[donbmw]

Just a question here, but there is a plastic plug on the steering head of my R65, if one were to put a correct size grease fitting into this hole,would it be feasible to pump this cavity full of grease ? Just an observation that could reduce the work involved in this area.

The plug is covering the holes that the RT fairing mounts. It would take alot of grease to fill that up and it may not get in the bearings.

Don

[westfalian_alien]

Hello Sue,
thanks for Your illustrative and exact description of the whole procedure - it will be stored as 1 :  1 - copy in the technical department of German "Kleine Boxer Forum" with Your kindly allowance, if it will be given by You.
Because at least two of the Kameraden here in Fatherland got the same steering problems after their winter brake. None of them underwent the complicated tricky procedure of disassembling the steering head - they simply overflooded the bearings with lubricants (WD 40 in one case, Ballistol in the other) - and both they claim excellent function by now.
A problematic sign of weakening morality or working spirit, isn't it? Reminds me on my granddad's saying (an old R 75 military driver):
"Mit Hammer und mit Bindedraht
kommen wir bis Stalingrad".
Drive safely
+++
westfalian alien

[suecanada]

One other thing...My partner Derek who helped me with the reassembly part and I are hoping that someone will come up with better procedures to lift the front end back up and seat the top and bottom bearings. It was hard to get the whole assembly to go up straight as it was tiring holding and tugging. The piece of wedged wood as a blocking and lifting tool under the front wheel was the best we came up with.

I would love to have grease fittings fitted but how do we go about this??
The job is not a long or difficult one barring the final lift to reassemble things.

Before anyone lists all my steps as "the technique" I'd like to hear from the experts who saved so many steps in the first place. They will know best.

[Bob_Roller]

Sue, the thought that I just had , was to install a grease seal in the steering head tube, just above the lower bearing race and just below the upper bearing race, it would have a tight fit on the steering spindle shaft. Then drill a hole or two in the steering head tube between the bearing and the grease seal, install a grease fitting, and you could purge the grease in there with a grease gun say before you put the bike up for the winter, or during a yearly maintenance routine.

[nhmaf]

Great Job, Sue - we KNEW you could do it (and I don't think that we lied to you about anything, either !)
 
 [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Hmm, I am not sure - in theory it could be done be adding grease seals as Bob mentions, but
I don't think that you'd get a good seal that wouldn't also cause drag or possibly bind up on the stem.
And, if you did have to pull the steering stem out to replace bearings, you'd also have to get the
grease seals out, or have a tougher time"threading the needle" to get the stem back up in there.
Also, I'm not sure how well the older grease would "purge" out from the tapered roller bearings, especially if the
adjuster and locknut were still cinched down tight.   But, I've been proven wrong before and will
readily admit that I don't know much of anything !

Maybe I just feel better about taking it apart periodically to make sure that everything is as it
should be through visual inspection...  I have seen some older bikes with grease fittings on the steering
head tube, but I've always been suspicious as to how much grease got into the bearings versus just filling
up the tube.
 :-?

[Justin B.]

I'd love to be able to just put a grease-gun to it, even if on the first time I have to go through a tube of grease getting it full!  I think Bob should be tasked with trying this and reporting back...