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Head shake

24K views 130 replies 30 participants last post by  cyclopathic 
#1 ·
Researched and read many posts in the forum regarding the head shake during deceleration. It appears this is fairly common to the 2012+ 650 Vstroms.

I just installed a new set of Bridgestone Battlax T30's (sport touring street tires) front and rear on my 2013 Adventure model (it has 19,000 mile on it). Brought the bike up to Suches, GA for the summer. Very impressed with their smoothness and grip.

After about 250 miles I too noticed the head shake especially down mountain. It is especially noticeable with hands off the bars, but can also be felt with a light grip on the bars. I must admit this is not confidence inspiring.

Brought the bike to my mechanic and he lifted the front wheel off the ground and moved it side to side and for and aft checking the steering head bearings. There was no for and aft movement, BUT when moved side to side it would "center itself" in a notch and this could be felt each time it was repeated.

My mechanic wants to replace the steering head bearings with the "all balls" brand of steering head bearings and believes this will resolve the problem.

This bike has never been ridden off road and I use it as a street bike. I am on the fence about doing this and am considering trading it for something different.

Has anyone tried removing the stock steering head bearings and replacing the with the up market "all balls" brand? Your responses would be greatly appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
Has anyone tried removing the stock steering head bearings and replacing the with the up market "all balls" brand? Your responses would be greatly appreciated.
Not so sure about "All Balls" being an upgrade, there made in China and there is a lot of mixed reports in regards to the quality.
Do a little bit of research first.
Personally I would stick with the OEM bearings.
 
#5 ·
I've heard overwhelmingly positive on the All Balls kits, I've ran them in several bikes and never had anything resembling an quality issue.

I'd run them in a steering head without pause.

OP, I'd tighten your steering head bearings before changing them, that has cured a lot of front end wobble, but some shimmy is normal and tires, weight, etc. can exacerbate it.
 
#4 ·
Here's one example of the change. Steering Stem Bearing Replacement / Upgrade | Black Lab Adventures
A notched bearing needs to be replaced. The stock ball bearings only have points of contact at the balls in the races. Tapered roller bearings have a line of contact which is superior. I too have reservations about Chinese bearings as some are fine but some are not. The steering head bearings don't move far or fast though and those using the All Balls brand have reported good results. Still, when I did mine I chose SKF brand Japanese bearings. Bearings from Japan, the USA and Europe seem to have better quality control. Two 32006 bearings from one of those areas and one Suzuki part # 51644-12C00 lower bearing seal are the only parts needed. The upper seal can be reused but the lower seal gets destroyed in removing the lower stem bearing.
 
#6 ·
Lift the front end and move the wheel side to side. If you can feel the notchiness, the bearings need to be replaced.
 
#7 ·
If your going to change them the tapered roller bearing are the way to go. I had headshake on my '07 and just took off the top nut(s), greased the stock bearings and re-tightened....all my headshake is gone.
 
#8 ·
I had headshake on my '07 and just took off the top nut(s), greased the stock bearings and re-tightened....all my headshake is gone.
That's fine for loose bearings. Dimpled bearings need to be replaced.
 
#9 ·
"Bearings from Japan, the USA and Europe seem to have better quality control. Two 32006 bearings from one of those areas"

Are the Suzuki OEM bearings "ball" bearings verses a tapered bearing?

I googled the 32006 bearing and came up with Timken Automotive Bearing, will these fit my 2013 Suzuki Vstrom? If so, will these be a better alternative to the OEM bearings?

Thank you for your valuable input.
 
#10 ·
Stock bearings are ball bearings, not a great choice for headstock bearings. Number 32006 bearings are tapered roller bearings, a better choice for the job and will fit perfectly. Timken is a quality brand.
 
#12 · (Edited)
One more thing....any head shake under any circumstance needs to be addressed. It is not normal, and can be extremely dangerous and yes even fatal at speed. For some reason many here seem to accept head shake since it only occurs when hands are off the handlebars. But even then it is a symptom of a possibly much larger problem that might re-surface after a long wide open pass, or it might be accentuated by a slightly overloaded bike on a trip. It then might just induce a high speed wobble which is something no one here wants to ever experience(and I know for a fact some here have and are lucky to live to tell about it).

FB you are on the right track getting this taken care of....let us know how the new bearings handle the issue.

Btw, my wife's Burgman 400 has an absolutely horrible head shake w/hands off the handlebars(worse I have ever seen). It's getting taken care of before she finishes here ride training and gets on the street.
 
#31 ·
One more thing....any head shake under any circumstance needs to be addressed. It is not normal, and can be extremely dangerous and yes even fatal at speed. For some reason many here seem to accept head shake since it only occurs when hands are off the handlebars. But even then it is a symptom of a possibly much larger problem that might re-surface after a long wide open pass, or it might be accentuated by a slightly overloaded bike on a trip. It then might just induce a high speed wobble which is something no one here wants to ever experience(and I know for a fact some here have and are lucky to live to tell about it).
While I don't disagree that it needs to be checked (and in FB's case, it seems it was indeed a mechanical issue - bearings), I have had head shake that was caused only by tire choice. My DL1K never liked Tourances. You installed a Tourance front and you had deceleration head shake. Replaced it with an Anakee or Battlewing, the head shake went away. Same load, same suspension settings, same roads even.

Because I agree that it's not good to ignore it, I stopped buying Tourances for the DL1K, even if they were highly rated by most people and the rear by far the longest wearing tire I ever tried on it.


Gustavo
 
#13 ·
I contacted All Balls Racing about their bearings, asked them "are these made in China". Below is their response.

Hello Michael -

Thanks for taking the time to inquire about our bearings. All of our wheel bearings are manufactured by KML. They are a small China manufacturer, but make hi-quality bearings. All Balls specifies the grade of bearing and the seal design for our bearings. We only accept ABEC 3 level precision, use Chevron SRI 2 grease and a triple lip seal design. All of our bearings are qualified to run at 5-7000 RPM's. To achieve this rating all bearings are tested after manufacturing. They are spun at high speed and 3 bands of noise are measured which determines the quality of the micro honing of the races, the roundness of the balls and the quality of the ball retainers. The only bearings we use meet EMQ quality levels which far exceed the needs of a motorcycle and ATV requirements.

We've tested many OE and other aftermarket bearings and compared them to the KML bearing and I can assure you we can hang with the best of them.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,

Helen

Helen Turner
All Balls Racing Inc.
822 N. Reading Ave
Boyertown , Pa 19512
Tel: 888-228-3323, 610-473-0505



I'm going to give them a go, because my mechanic has already ordered the bearing and they have been delivered.

Sure don't want to irritate them and cause a distraction.
 
#15 ·
If you want a product review that's worth much, you don't ask for it from the manufacturer. Don't bother looking at dyno results published by exhaust manufacturers either.
 
#16 ·
Alls balls are light on the grease, other than that they are solid. Carefully pry off the dust cover and pack in some more good grease like Bel-Ray waterproof grease.........DONE!
 
#17 ·
Sorry but that is not the way to handle a 2RS ball bearing. They should not be packed. That causes churning and shortens the bearing life. Bearings sealed on both sides, or 2RS, should be fine as they come from the factory. There is also the danger of adding an incompatible grease.

See Bearing Failure Due to Over Lubrication | Bel-Ray Company, Inc
 
#18 ·
Sorry but that is not the way to handle a 2RS ball bearing. They should not be packed. That causes churning and shortens the bearing life. Bearings sealed on both sides, or 2RS, should be fine as they come from the factory. There is also the danger of adding an incompatible grease.

See Bearing Failure Due to Over Lubrication | Bel-Ray Company, Inc
Time will tell Pat, but a buddy of mine has been doing this for years with no ill effects. Trust me when I tell you that the bearings do not have enough grease, and hard telling of the quality of grease in them from the factory. The Suzuki non sealed bearings seem to last pretty well, cannot imagine these lasting any less or having any earlier failures.
 
#19 ·
I have not used all balls.
I would go with OEM. I have heard from a couple of friends in my local club, who's work I know and trust. They have used all balls and they recommend that seller as a no go. Too many issues and quality that is suspect.

It's not uncommon for bikes to exhibit a little shake when the bike is pitched forward especially with no hands on the bars.

Worn tires, indexed steering, mismanaged weight balance. All can contribute to that unstable feeling.
 
#22 ·
Upon researching the All Balls Racing, I asked them if they tested each bearing received in from KML, below is their reply.

”The bearings are tested at the factory and are rejected if they do not meet our specification. All our bearings are tested in China."

With that said by marketing company - All Balls Racing - who are relying on a spoken promise from the Chinese, I have no faith in the quality of the bearings the import.

So I had my mechanic send the all balls tapered bearings back to their distributer (I will be paying shipping and the restocking fees).

Then I went to VBX bearings and ordered the Nachi 32006 bearings x 2, these are premium tapered bearings made in Japan.

I have also ordered the lower bearing seal, Suzuki Part# 51644-12c00.

Thanks to Grey Wolf for planting the seed about All Balls Racing.

BTW, I will instruct my mechanic to not add any grease to the new bearings.
 
#23 · (Edited)
32006 tapered roller bearings are two piece unsealed and ungreased bearings. They are only oiled to prevent corrosion. They need to be packed with grease. Any excess will be pressed out in use and kept inside the steering head by external seals #2 and #7. There is plenty of room around the #1 stem for excess grease.

It's the unitized wheel bearings that come with grease sealed in that need to be left alone.


 
#25 ·
I'm just happy you got the updated information in time.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I understand over-packing the bearings, but many of the sealed wheel bearings I've received (and this includes some OEM bearings) were so sparsely lubricated that I had to examine them very closely to even SEE the grease. When I've pulled a bearing seal and added, I never loaded them to the point that they are "full", only that they receive a generous lubrication...there's plenty of room left for the excess move.

I've done many rear-wheels on so many bikes that were subjected to horrendous mud/water, and I always got long life span out of them without problems. I'd have thought one set of bearings, just once, would have failed if my method was suspect....or I'm the luckiest guy ever.

If there's wisdom in leaving them alone, or anyone suggests it, I won't argue that point it's your bike - but I'll continue to grease them if they look like the ones I've been examining.
 
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#27 · (Edited)
The general rule is that a bearing should be about 1/3 full of grease. That is approximate. The real problem is that a bearing that is too full of grease will churn the grease, the grease will overheat and be damaged, the heat-damaged grease won't properly lubricate, and the metal will be damaged. This greatly relates to the speed of the bearing and the propensity for overheating.

About adding grease to a sealed bearing...they don't need more, but more important is grease incompatibility. Google it. Grease is a mixture of a thickening agent (base), oil, and additives such as moly, graphite, Teflon, tackifiers, dye, etc. Some bases must not be mixed with other bases; the result is a black watery mess that does not lubricate. Some sealed bearings come from the factory with a long life poly urea base thickener which must not be mixed with the common lithium base grease. There are compatibility and incompatibility charts, but you need to first know what you're working with. So...keep sealed bearings sealed.

Swingset, if you want to make bearings more resistant to water (and I do not know if this is an improvement over sealed bearings), open them, clean them, and repack them with an aluminum complex base grease. Belray makes a good one. The aluminum complex base is the most waterproof. (As a side note, sodium base is water soluble, silica base is very high temperature resistant, clay base is not quite as high temp, etc....there's a lot of options with various greases. The failures I saw with sealed bearings in deck machinery at sea usually came after the steel parts of the seal side plates rusted away but the grease was good 'til then.)

I haven't used All Balls brand bearings, but I know they are widely used. The Chinese can make any quality that the buyer watches them make. They make good jet fighters, satellites, tanks, etc. Some of their electronics are tops...my Apple products, my stereo amp I'm presently listening to, as well as the KYMCO scooters my friend sells--and KYMCO runs the factories. I'd use All Balls, but I'd prefer any top industrial brand as Greywolf describes.

About setting the tightness of steering head bearings--that's kind'a Magic. The spec is to measure the effort to turn the front with a spring scale. My '04 was really vague going downhill at speed...it gave a new meaning to Adventure riding. It met the spring scale spec. There is a torque spec, but that is for setting the bearings into position. The lock nut then needs to be backed off and correctly tightened (not too tight). I tightened mine by feel that I cannot describe (one hand, kind'a snug but not too much) and the bike rode great after that.
 
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#29 ·
Notwithstanding the issues of grease incompatibility, is churning the grease really an issue with a Steering Head Bearing? I just can't see there ever being enough motion there for that to be an issue.

..Tom
 
#30 ·
Churning is not a problem on steering head bearings. They don't move fast and are not double sealed. Those wanting to add grease can clean them thoroughly then add grease. That being said, I don't see the point. Being a low speed bearing, all they need grease for is to prevent rust.

I wish the thread hadn't gone off track on to wheel bearings.
 
#32 ·
Reports indicate Tourance and Conti Road and Trail Attack series front tires cause a wobble.
 
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