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I've found the preload on the stock fork/frame bearings sloppy loose on 5 of the 11 Triumph Cruisers I've owned since 2008. I set the preload with the tank off with a mag base dial indicator atop the spine setup 90 degrees to the top tree plate. With the front elevated pushing the forks from front to back registers actual runout. Zero runout as book recommends is too tight, .001" + - 00025" total read is as close to right as I've found. I set up The aftermarket bearings the same way.



Sorry Ryk I meant to respond to your post earlier and got sidetracked.
I've just had the bike serviced by what's definitely the UK' s most knowledgeable and well respected Triumph dealer ( Jack Lilley)
Given they did the 12000 mile service, this includes a check on the steering head bearings.
I know things sometimes get missed, but if I've ever trusted any shop, it's these folks.
In the past they've gone way beyond ' going the extra mile ' in sorting things out.....with my Thunderbird LT , even though I wasn't a customer of theirs at the time, they rode it and wrote, for free, a report which persuaded the factory that it needed a free rebuild.
Again though it will go on my list of possibilities if other avenues come to dead ends.
Al

I took the Road Less Travelled. Now where the ****** am I?