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Changed my steering head bearings today. Another first for me.
My bearings had never been changed so the original ball bearings were still in there. I was surprised at how well the grease has held up over the last almost-20 years. Also, I could feel the notch when everything was still on the bike, but once I got the bearings out they felt really smooth.
Changed them for All Balls needle bearings. Other than grease, the kit (#22-1003) contained everything I needed. Took me five hours, and made a few rookie mistakes.
Most time consuming mistake was not checking the routing of wires and hoses when installing the steering head assembly and the forks. I was able to correct that mostly without a fuss, but I had to dismantle the throttle cables and the front brake hose to put things right. That was quicker than disassembling the wheel, fender, forks and everything. Oh well, changed my front brake fluids at the same time.
I got a cheap bearing driver kit on AliExpress. Was not happy that none of the disks fitted this size. In the end I used my Dremel to cut a slot in both the inner and outer race of the old bearings and used those races together with the Ali kit to get everything seated. 17.0US $ 15% OFF|10 Pcs Bearing Race & Seal Driver Installer Set Remover Automotive Tools|tools automotive|tool tooltool removal - AliExpress
I'm surprised at how little torque is needed on the preload adjuster nut to get the right resistance in the steering. On my test ride I had things way too tight, but I found a convenient parking lot and was able to loosen things up with an adjustable spanner for the top nut and a c-spanner for the lock nut and adjuster nut. No disassembly required.
My bearings had never been changed so the original ball bearings were still in there. I was surprised at how well the grease has held up over the last almost-20 years. Also, I could feel the notch when everything was still on the bike, but once I got the bearings out they felt really smooth.
Changed them for All Balls needle bearings. Other than grease, the kit (#22-1003) contained everything I needed. Took me five hours, and made a few rookie mistakes.
Most time consuming mistake was not checking the routing of wires and hoses when installing the steering head assembly and the forks. I was able to correct that mostly without a fuss, but I had to dismantle the throttle cables and the front brake hose to put things right. That was quicker than disassembling the wheel, fender, forks and everything. Oh well, changed my front brake fluids at the same time.
I got a cheap bearing driver kit on AliExpress. Was not happy that none of the disks fitted this size. In the end I used my Dremel to cut a slot in both the inner and outer race of the old bearings and used those races together with the Ali kit to get everything seated. 17.0US $ 15% OFF|10 Pcs Bearing Race & Seal Driver Installer Set Remover Automotive Tools|tools automotive|tool tooltool removal - AliExpress
I'm surprised at how little torque is needed on the preload adjuster nut to get the right resistance in the steering. On my test ride I had things way too tight, but I found a convenient parking lot and was able to loosen things up with an adjustable spanner for the top nut and a c-spanner for the lock nut and adjuster nut. No disassembly required.
