Maintenance of Steering Head Bearings

[decorn33]

 I read through Snowbum's article on cleaning and re-greasing the steering head bearings.  His methodology appears to be focused on /5 and earlier machines that require what I would consider considerably more finagling to get access to the bearings than later machines.  Has anyone ever written anything on the steps to take on the later machines that have the cast lower and upper triples?

[Barry]

If the bearings are good you can clean and re-grease the bearings by dropping the stem a few inches.

Haven't seen a procedure but it's all fairly obvious.

The only hard bit is undoing  the socket cap screw which may be very tight. You need a quality Allen key and a long length of pipe for leverage or a quality bit to fit your socket set.  The cap screw will likely come loose with a loud crack. If it's really stuck take precautions not to do any damage to you or the bike if the tool snaps by padding or removing anything in the line of fire.

The adjustment ring is not the beast design on the R65 as it just has fine serrations around the edge and can be difficult to get a grip off. When doing the bearing adjustment on completion make sure to keep the top triple tree clamps loose and tighten as the last step.

Everything else should be the same in principle to Snowbums write up.

[montmil]

It will be difficult to clean, inspect and regrease the bearing without removing the fork assembly but it can be done... kinda.

Check the outer races for brinelling, a deformation of the outer race that shows as marks/depression running perpendicular to the race's diameter caused by the roller bearings banging about on a too loose install. Or worse... see photo.

If you find any similar issues, you'll new new bearings. Inspect and check back in. We can assist in this often testy chore.

[decorn33]

Thanks very much.

I returned on Sunday from a multi-day 300+ mile ride and toward the end the bike seemed noticeably wobbly. I put it on the center stand and grabbed the forks for a good shake. I did feel some play, so I am wondering if I may have some issues with the lower bearing and race in particular. I don't feel any binding in the rotation, but a cleaning and inspection can't hurt.

I saw on Jeff Trapp's Northwoods Airheads site that he has specific tools for dealing with steering head bearings that look pretty good for the $$. Has anyone had experience with his line?

[montmil]

I can personally recommend Dan at CycleWorks and his Steering Head Bearing Puller Set.

http://www.cycleworks.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_33_50&products_id=64&zenid=51a8695806376d46ed60402614559c64

I bought this package for my first stem bearing replacement chore and it was well worth the price. No damage to the R65s steering neck, fork stem or those lovely alloy triple clamps. I did kinda booger up the sharp edge on the large, split ring outer race puller but still completed the job per specification. When contacting Dan to purchase a replacement part, he sent it to me for free! And tossed in an Official CycleWorks t-shirt. Score!

OK, so I'm shilling for the guy. [smiley=wink.gif] Maybe he'll toss in a shirt for you if you mention my name. Or not.

[Tony Smith]

I can personally recommend Dan at CycleWorks and his Steering Head Bearing Puller Set.

http://www.cycleworks.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_33_50&products_id=64&zenid=51a8695806376d46ed60402614559c64

I bought this package for my first stem bearing replacement chore and it was well worth the price. No damage to the R65s steering neck, fork stem or those lovely alloy triple clamps. I did kinda booger up the sharp edge on the large, split ring outer race puller but still completed the job per specification. When contacting Dan to purchase a replacement part, he sent it to me for free! And tossed in an Official CycleWorks t-shirt. Score!

OK, so I'm shilling for the guy. [smiley=wink.gif] Maybe he'll toss in a shirt for you if you mention my name. Or not.

And I will put in my plug - go and buy the cheapest stick welder you can find - run a bead of weld around 1/3rd or so of the race and it will fall out as the weld cools. And you will have a stick welder that is useful for other home projects - a BMW specific tool to remove bearing races, or for that matter a blind bearing puller is only useful for one thing.

Cue Monte's reposte here _______________

[decorn33]

Tony -
What kind of amperage do you need to run a stick welder? My garage shop only has minimal electric at the moment.

[Barry]

Don't know how it works in the US but you can run a small stick welder from a standard domestic 13A 230 volt supply in the UK so that's near enough 3 KW.

[Luca]

I'm also a fan of welders for pulling outer bearing races.  I like to stick a washer in there and weld that to the race.  Minimizes chances of welding race to neck and provides something to hit with a hammer and drift.

Cheap welders work  in a pinch but they don't work that well.  While they might work for pulling bearing races or slapping together home-made tools, you'll probably find them inadequate if you want to do any sort of finer work.  Also, while stick welders tend to be cheaper, they are a bit of a 3 pound hammer compared to their counterparts and are best suited to heavy work.

I was fortunate to happen upon a brand new Lincoln 140amp MIG welder New-In-Box for $300.  Unlike a Harbor Freight mig welder, the wire isn't always "hot."  It has more voltage controls, better wire speed management, and a good company behind it if things go wrong.  It's supposed to be connected to a 20Amp 120Volt outlet, but it won't draw that kind of power unless you're running it at maximum capacity.

Best advice I can give you is to buy a name brand welder, even if second hand, rather than get a cheap one.  Mine is one of the best tool investments I've made.

P.S. Monte, I have a fire extinguisher

[D Mann]

At last Saturdays tech day I asked about repacking the bearings, it was recommended that I do fork seals at the same time. They said any monkeying around with the forks can cause a leak and it is better to have the seals done and not have to take it apart again.

[montmil]

At last Saturdays tech day I asked about repacking the bearings, it was recommended that I do fork seals at the same time. They said any monkeying around with the forks can cause a leak and it is better to have the seals done and not have to take it apart again.

Fairly solid advice. Be sure to order a replacement pair of the "felts" that go in the rubber wiper caps.

[Tony Smith]

At last Saturdays tech day I asked about repacking the bearings, it was recommended that I do fork seals at the same time. They said any monkeying around with the forks can cause a leak and it is better to have the seals done and not have to take it apart again.

Fairly solid advice. Be sure to order a replacement pair of the "felts" that go in the rubber wiper caps.

Agree re fork seals. I would consider fitting gaiters rather than refitting the original dustcaps and wipers. The reason is that with a good gaiter in place, forkseals last damm near forever and you don't have road debris taking divots out of your fork legs.

Plus, at least in my opinion, gaiters look old school and cool.

[Ed Miller]

Well now you guys reminded me of a job I haven't done for a long time and it's probably due.  Sigh.

Steering head bearing clean and lube, that is.

[Barry]

It's the job that's never started as takes the longest to finish
[size=9]samwise
[/size]

I'm overdue a spline lube.