Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech steering head bearing lube job at 18,000

has anyone had the steering head lube job at 18,000?
how much was it and or is it hard to do?

thanks for any info,

cat

I think Moe has done his... it looks like you need some special tools to do it. I check mine every oil change, they're not loose yet so I figure they must be okay.

I did mine at 36,000 miles, and posted a couple of pics in this thread. It's a straight forward job that's fairly easy. Just make sure you have a big enough wrench to loosen and then tighten the steering head nuts. I used a big Crescent wrench, but Airguy says in the other thread that the nuts are 38mm. So if you want to have the proper tools on hand, that's the size you need.

I have 3 of the "special" wrenches for this job if you need to borrow one. But, as stated, a big cresent wrench and a pair of channel locks does the job just as well and $38 less than the tools cost.

Listen to you guys using adjustable hammers.... For shame!

Hey I'm all for buying proper tools, but when you might only use it 3 or 4 times over the life of the bike, that's when I'll make do....especially at 9 o'clock at night when all the stores are closed.

Hey I have two adjustable hammers myself. Handy buggers in a pinch. I find they work better the bigger the object. It's the little ones where they round too easily.

So Derek, I adjusted mine about a month ago (at 16K). I was getting a "click" type feeling when I stopped just when I released the front brake.
Anyway, I couldn't break the top locking nut loose as I didn't have a thin enough wrench to hold the adjusting nut. What did you use? I just grabbed both with a channel lock and tightened a little bit, but I want to take it apart to lube and properly adjust.

My top nut broke loose with just the crescent wrench. Didn't have to hold the bottom nut.

Damm . Guess I'll have to make one, should be pretty easy .