Steering head bearing adjustment

[Kookaburra]

Today I went where I have never been before using the excellent guide on this  forum. (Thanks Sue Canada) The grease in the bearings was not in a bad condition and there are superficial wear marks on the upper housing but nothing of concern. So now have cleaned and repacked the bearings and adjusted using the method in the guide.  
IE  tighten adjuster until no for and aft play in the forks and then back off a smidgeon. Torque down allen bolt and recheck for fore and aft play. My only concern is that the handlebars move very freely from centre line to the stops. There is no notchiness. New grease and adjustment does not appear to have slowed down the fall to the stops.

Question: Is this something I should be concerned about or should I stop jumping at shadows?

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[Barry]

If the forks fall side to side too easily you need to tighten the bearings a little beyond the elimination of all play to apply some bearing preload. This will provide damping in the steering and slow down the fall from side to side but the real reason it's important is for safety reasons to damp out oscillations.  BMW have a fancy method of measuring the torque required to rotate the forks through 20 Deg but most set the preload by feel or trial and error.

[Kookaburra]

Thanks Barry for your sage advice. Situation was rendered more complicated by the PO's routing of control cables that inhibited the free fall of the handle bars and made comparison with the pre existing situation difficult. I will give it some more preload. What is the worst that can happen if you overdo the preload?  

[Barry]

If you overdue the pre-load only slightly it won't harm the bearings but the steering will feel odd with a slow speed weave because your steering inputs will tend to over correct. It'll be pretty obvious if you've gone to far and you can back off the adjustment until it feels right.  

[montmil]

Setting the steering stem bearing preload is a PITA. To wit; tighten the knurled ring to your satisfaction and then when you snug up the top screw -with that big Allen wrench- the knurled ring will rotate just enough to upset the preload. It can suddenly become too tight so the entire process must be redone.

Ends up being a little game you play with that knurled ring. Only our 247s have this design. [smiley=wall.gif]

[Kookaburra]

I went back in there and tightened the knurled nut until there was an appreciable change in the speed the handlebars fell to the stops. On the test run there was a noticable change in the feel oof the steering. Much more confidence inspiring. I sometimes wonder whether I am kidding myself but isn't the point of maintenance peace of mind?

[montmil]

Ends up being a little game you play with that knurled ring. Only our 247s have this design. [smiley=wall.gif]

Correction: R45 and R65 have the BMW Type 248 engine.

[Tony Smith]

Ends up being a little game you play with that knurled ring. Only our 247s have this design. [smiley=wall.gif]

Correction: R45 and R65 have the BMW Type 248 engine.

I harbour a R65 with a 247 - the wife's R65/80 Frankenbike.