Did you replace steering head bearings?

[mrbigjeep]

Is it not possible to just tighten the bearing up? My mexhanic took my bike for a ride, said I had loose steering head bearing, then removed a nut up top and pulled te handlebars off and tightened it with a spanner wrench and no more front end knocking now

Now I am completely new to bikes so I'm not exactly sure what he even did or how the bearings work for thy matter but the front end knock went away

 

[Smersh]

Is it not possible to just tighten the bearing up? My mexhanic took my bike for a ride, said I had loose steering head bearing, then removed a nut up top and pulled te handlebars off and tightened it with a spanner wrench and no more front end knocking now

Now I am completely new to bikes so I'm not exactly sure what he even did or how the bearings work for thy matter but the front end knock went away

It would help... short-term. It's my understanding that once a\ bearing starts wearing out, it's all downhill form there + add all the dirt that accumulates. So, you should be ok for now, but i'd keep an eye out for it. I'm lucky to know my way around the bike so i'm not afraid to take it apart. Replacing the bearing gave me a piece of mind, though I still check for play in this bearing routinely.

 

[Themadclowns]

*cogh* 63k miles *cough* never touched the things.... should i be worried? feels great still!

 

[PFD023]

Timely topic. Mine just came in from the dealership today. Knocking in the front end so I did the test and put it up on the centrestand and weighted the back end.....pull on both forks....yup....lots of play. Turning the handlebars with the front end unweighted you can also feel some resistance .
Bike is an 05 with 24k on it (kilos).
Going to do it this week probably with the help of some of the other threads on the subject.

 

[Koozi]

Mine were shot at 5000 miles. I cleaned, greased and reinstalled them. They lasted a very short while and then started loosening up again. Went All Balls under warranty!

Here is a Write up of the install if anybody is considering doing it.

 

[Hellgate]

Yamaha steer tube bearings are terrible. I've replaced they on ever one I've owned with roller bearings. Night and day.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jeadra]

Winter is coming up, and I'm honestly dreading tackling this project. Hell, I had a hard enough time trying to knock the fork seal out of my little TW's leaky fork....had to get the husband to help me out.

I know this is one project I can't avoid doing. The front end is clunky over bumps, and I put it on the centerstand and tugged on the forks a few weeks ago. There's a bit of play in there, but I'm going to keep riding it through the fall season. The thought of having to put off a fall trip because I screwed something up in the repair process is not appealling in the least.

On that note, anyone have a recommendation for a decent garage heater? I find I work better when my hands and fingers aren't numb from the cold...

 

[04fizzer]

Winter is coming up, and I'm honestly dreading tackling this project. Hell, I had a hard enough time trying to knock the fork seal out of my little TW's leaky fork....had to get the husband to help me out.

I know this is one project I can't avoid doing. The front end is clunky over bumps, and I put it on the centerstand and tugged on the forks a few weeks ago. There's a bit of play in there, but I'm going to keep riding it through the fall season. The thought of having to put off a fall trip because I screwed something up in the repair process is not appealling in the least.

On that note, anyone have a recommendation for a decent garage heater? I find I work better when my hands and fingers aren't numb from the cold...

Depending on the size of your garage, I'd go with one of two options:

A kerosene heater like this
Shop Dyna-Glo Convection Kerosene Heater at Lowes.com

Or one like this
Shop Thermoheat 125000 BTU Kerosene Forced Air Heater at Lowes.com

The first one will take longer to heat up the space (turn it on, go have breakfast or lunch, and come back in an hour), but it's quiet and emits very little in the way of fumes and such.

The second is like standing in front of a blow torch. It'll get a space warm FAST, but you need to crack a window or door to get fresh air in, as the fumes can be pretty uncomfortable.

 

[jeadra]

Cool, thanks!

I need to see how he feels about kerosene heaters. The smaller one should work just fine, but he's terribly cautious when it comes to fire hazards. We have a small uninsulated city garage, enough space for 5 bikes and my small car, when everything is properly arranged.

Maybe I could convince him to help me put up some foamboard insulation in there this weekend....I've done work out there when the temps have been in the 20's, but my fingers go numb pretty quickly even through my work gloves.

I'm just hoping I won't have to deal with replacing the bearing seats...that looks like the worst part of it. But with the bike at 17k miles, I can't hold out much hope.

 

[04fizzer]

Cool, thanks!

I need to see how he feels about kerosene heaters. The smaller one should work just fine, but he's terribly cautious when it comes to fire hazards. We have a small uninsulated city garage, enough space for 5 bikes and my small car, when everything is properly arranged.

Maybe I could convince him to help me put up some foamboard insulation in there this weekend....I've done work out there when the temps have been in the 20's, but my fingers go numb pretty quickly even through my work gloves.

I'm just hoping I won't have to deal with replacing the bearing seats...that looks like the worst part of it. But with the bike at 17k miles, I can't hold out much hope.

The first one will most likely be your best bet then. Insulation isn't critical. It's much less of a fire hazard than the salamander type (you don't want anything in front of that one). It's not advisable, but we used the standup one (it uses a wick, like an oil lantern) in our house when we lost power due to an ice storm back in 1994.

The nice thing about it is that you can set your tools on top of it to warm them up, just don't leave them there too long or they'll get HOT.

With respect to the bearings, you'll need to replace the races too. Doing one without the other is a waste of your time and money, honestly, because you'll just have to go back and do it again.

I don't' know if you've mentioned what bearings you're replacing them with, but I'd highly recommend going with the All Balls roller bearings over the OEM ball bearings. Doing that will most definitely require new races. Getting the old races out/off isn't bad at all as long as you have a decent brass drift (you can get them at Sears). You'll spend more time getting the new ones installed. Take your time.

 

[PFD023]

If you are planning on finishing the year with the existing bearings in......why not just wait till the spring and do them then?
My thought is this.......unless you plan on doing alot more work in your cold garage then save your $$ and skip buying a portable heater.
Look in the paper/online for "heated winter bike storage" and see if they'll rent you a spot for a day or two......do the work there and ride home.
If that doesn't work just wait till spring .....since you aren't planning on doing it before the end of the season.

But I'm really cheap......er....a..... frugal I mean.

 

[jeadra]

Are you kidding? Spring and fall have the best riding weather! That's no time to have the bike torn apart in the middle of the garage!

We've been meaning to insulate the garage for some time now, anyway. Riding season is nearly all year round for us, between owning fuel-injected bikes and heated gear.
We tend to do about 50% of our riding time off-road as well, and I find it easier if we can keep up on maintenance and repairs on days where there's snow on the ground, and ice in the alley. That way when we get that one day in February where it reaches 50-60 degrees, we can just go ride without worrying so much about mechanical failures.

I do have access to a heated garage, but I really hate having to load up and truck my bikes over to my dad's to get the work done.....
So until we win the lottery and can buy a house with nicer, temp-controlled and better lit garage, I feel it would benefit us to make that space a little more comfortable to work in.

 

[jeadra]

The first one will most likely be your best bet then. Insulation isn't critical. It's much less of a fire hazard than the salamander type (you don't want anything in front of that one). It's not advisable, but we used the standup one (it uses a wick, like an oil lantern) in our house when we lost power due to an ice storm back in 1994.

The nice thing about it is that you can set your tools on top of it to warm them up, just don't leave them there too long or they'll get HOT.

With respect to the bearings, you'll need to replace the races too. Doing one without the other is a waste of your time and money, honestly, because you'll just have to go back and do it again.

I don't' know if you've mentioned what bearings you're replacing them with, but I'd highly recommend going with the All Balls roller bearings over the OEM ball bearings. Doing that will most definitely require new races. Getting the old races out/off isn't bad at all as long as you have a decent brass drift (you can get them at Sears). You'll spend more time getting the new ones installed. Take your time.

All good info to know...Thanks!

I was planning on ordering the All Balls roller bearings, since they seem to be the recommended type around here. I will need to find a decent drift, however. It'll be a good excuse to run over to Harbor Freight or Sears.

I've also been considering checking my TW's bearings as well, since it seems to have quite a hard clunk over trails lately, even after repairing a fork leak. They're both Yamaha, could have similar issues. But it could just be various and sundry loose hardware on the front end, too. *shrug*

Off to check the TW forums on that one....Thanks again!

 

[bob808]

I had to replace mine a second time in September or so. The All-Balls worked for about 2 seasons. There's a design flaw with wind pressure around that area and it forces water in (if riding in the rain). First replace I made sure to completely fill the new bearings with proper bearing grease. Still the bottom bearing rusted like crazy. Good thing I recognized the steering issue from the first season.

 

[HiGGz]

All good info to know...Thanks!

I was planning on ordering the All Balls roller bearings, since they seem to be the recommended type around here. I will need to find a decent drift, however. It'll be a good excuse to run over to Harbor Freight or Sears.

I've also been considering checking my TW's bearings as well, since it seems to have quite a hard clunk over trails lately, even after repairing a fork leak. They're both Yamaha, could have similar issues. But it could just be various and sundry loose hardware on the front end, too. *shrug*

Off to check the TW forums on that one....Thanks again!

Did u find some of this bearings around there?

Some people say they are better than the roller ones for some reason but can't figure out why.

 

[Pplater]

I've logged 80000km over 6years and never replaced them. My mechanic checked them yesterday and still finds no reason to replace them. The previous owner covered 66000km over four years before i bought the bike. It could be a 10yr old bearing. Think i'll change it anyway before the next long distance tour just in case. No stability issues at higher end speed on the highway by the way. Rains quite a bit in Singapore, much like London's weather, but bike's always parked under shelter

Do the steering head bearings really get shot so quickly for some folks?

 

[FIZZER6]

Since this thread has been bumped.

I just replaced my 2006 head bearings at 25,000 miles. Original bearings were fine.

I ride on the east coast of the US.

Unless you park your bike in the rain or power wash the steering head all the time I'm not sure how your bearings get so rusty!

 

[nivag]

I replaced mine at 43K as they weren't good. Lots of speed bumps and pot holes around here, surprised they lasted that long!

 

[Pplater]

My regular mech told me not to replace it since it's still working fine. He said to wait till it fail. I'm unsure since it is possibly a 10yr old bearing with 90k miles. I've used the bike 6 years myself. Would u wait till its wobbly or change them early? Stability could be affected at high speeds correct?