Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech steering

took my bike in for some tires, of like always my bike seems to mess with dealer that specialize in HD or those long fat tire log wagons,(choppers, special bikes builders)
anyway he pointed out that my steering when you turn the bars from side to side it seems to have a catch spot in the middle(tire straight) but he said and he was not familar with triumph, so his HD was sitting beside mine so i sat on it ad tried his steering and his did not have a this spot on his, i told him that i have put about 25000 mile on this bike with no problems. so does this sound like a bearing issue or what also he said for him to look at it because of th tripple trees it would be about 250 to just look at it, i told him i would take care of it.

The headset race has 'wear bearing notches'. You can rotate the race or replace. Sometimes repacking will help. The bearings will wear into the race due to the lack of rotation.

Thusly:

thanks for the reply is this a easy fix? does the whole fork need to be taken apart or can i just remove the top of the tree and get to the race?

Replacing the bearings requires removal of the triple tree. There is a set on the bottom and a set on the top. Aftermarket sealed bearings are available. If and when I need to do this job again, I'll go the sealed bearing route. The bearings now are loose balls in cages. Something to consider is this, when the bearings are in a cage, they may be replaced with free bearings, i.e., no cages. One would use more bearings due to the lack of a cage, thus allowing the bearings to ride on a different part of the race. I have always used free bearings when working on bicycles. In addition to the benefits of having the bearings ride on another surface of the race, the elimination of the bearing cage affords more bearings. More bearings means longer life and more fluid movement. Keeping the bearings in place when going the way of eliminating the cage is more arduous when reassembling. If you are not versed in changing out races or even in repacking bearings, please find a mechanic who is. Although the headset isn't as critical as say a wheel, the result of not properly pre-loading then adjusting the headset bearings can be a violent headshake at speed commonly known as a tank slapper event. No fun.

You could simple inquire from your triumph dealer how much they would charge you. Or make the inquiry from any motorcycle shop as the headset bearings are all basically the same. Any good shop should be able to change out your headset bearings. The oem bearings are like 45 bucks for the uppers and lowers (bearings in a cage with races). Therefore you are looking at about $100 for the parts and most likely about two hours shop labour.

My motorsickle, Vera, had the headset symptoms your sickle has. Vera's steering would settle into a forward position. This condition lasted for oh say 20,000 miles give or take and several years. Not really a problem for our cruisers. The problem does beg the question, "Are the bearings properly packed?" At the least I would suggest repacking the existing bearings. If you pay someone to do it for you, then by all means have them replace the bearing sets. If you do it, simple repack and readjust. Another thought, should you repack the headset bearings, you might as well change out the fork oil in each tube, yes and upgrade to the progressive springs also.

Whew. my fingers are tired.


Bottom line, be more worried about proper adjustment and lubrication, than the fact that the headset settles in a forward position.

man you got the info. looks like i can do this myself just find the time to park her and tear down, any ideas on tork spec. or tighten forks for free movement?

the service manual has the procedure. Either Haynes' or Triumph's. Look in the tech vault for torques and do a search for lots of threads concerning this. Here's a couple to get you started:

Steering stem bearings lube

Torque Specs for Steering Head

All Balls steering head replacement bearings

I cleaned and repacked mine at 15,000 miles. Now at 21,000 still no problems. However, in thinking about it, an 80% solution for about 10% work effort and 50% of the cost, might be:
1) replace the upper bearing and race
2) Leaving it in place, "wipe only" and repack the lower bearing and race. Then rotate the race if possible.

All this can be done without loosing the lower fork clamps, removing the forks, wheels, etc., etc. and should take one half to one hour. If it does not solve the problem, you have lost no money, and only one hour of your own time, and you might have learned something also.

Good luck,

thanks you also are over flowing with knowledge, i guess i could ride the dust old sporters in my garage

well did the steering last night pretty easy just like a bike but bigger and heavier, but in the process of doing this my bike fell off the stands and banged the tank, not to bad but just ****** me off, so now i guess a paint change is next.