steering head spanner..where do I get one??

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smitty141

smitty141

My name is Smitty.. And I have a motorcycle proble
Joined
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Tryed the search with no luck. I know I seen it somewhere on this forum. Looking to to a bearing job on my 05. Going to order a taperbearing kit from All Ball's. Anyone else tryed this bearing kit?? Thanks Smitty

 
smitty141 said:
Tryed the search with no luck. I know I seen it somewhere on this forum. Looking to to a bearing job on my 05. Going to order a taperbearing kit from All Ball's. Anyone else tryed this bearing kit?? Thanks Smitty
Click to expand...
Why do you need one? If you are going to change from the ball bearings to a tapered style bearing any OEM torque spec is completely non-applicable. I have had excellent luck tightening the steering head beaings by hand/feel and I would be even more comfortable doing that approach with tapered bearings in that position.

Curious why you would want to change it over to a tapered bearing? The ball bearing setup seems to work fine and have plenty of load capacity.

 
Jestal's considered point notwithstanding, I found with Search fairly quickly on +steering +nut +wrench this link. Adding the part number to my Bin-O-Facts.

 
Thanks guys, I thought Universary Motors was closed on mondays... Well, I thought I would call anyway and there open. Talked to FJR #1 parts guy Gary McCoy and he had a wrench in stock. He was getting ready to ship a order to me that I place last week. He said he would open the box and put it in with it and ship it today. Price $33.00 to do the job right. That Gary McCoy's a great guy to deal with. Smitty :)

 
jestal said:
Curious why you would want to change it over to a tapered bearing? The ball bearing setup seems to work fine and have plenty of load capacity.
Click to expand...
The ball bearing setup does work just fine, and does have plenty of load capacity.

However, the tapered bearings most definitely make a difference in overall front end feel, and some believe it has some amount of effect in addressing the headshaking many people experience when decellerating down from 55-40-ish mph range with worn front tire.

While I'm not all that sure about the latter, I can say with good assurance that tapered bearings do make a difference in front end confidence (though I don't know if I can specifically tell you why... suspect the overall greater surface area between rollor and race has something to do with it).

I will be doing this mod to my FJR this winter. It is definitely worthwhile mod..... here's a small write-up on how I did this on my Blackbird:

Alright, then.......
Installing the tapered steering stem bearings proved to be a piece of cake. You need three items to do this: 1) a 10” steel or brass drift 2) a 5lb mallet or heavy-duty hammer 3) a foot-long section of 1 ¼” I.D. steel pipe.

Here are the OEM ball-bearings... the top race had a significant detent in it; these puppies should've been replaced long ago... :glare:

repack1.jpg


Below is the part number of the AllBallsRacing.com tapered beariong kit that I installed:

AllBallsKitNum.jpg


Using a nice Harbor Freight 10" hardened steel drift and 5lb mallet, I popped the old races out easy as could be. As you look down the steering neck opening, you will see there are two large opposing notches near the bearing races. These notches provide an ample perch oportunity for your drift. You'll be able to place a large section of the drift directly on the bearing race you’re driving out. The two races popped out with no issues.

Below are the OEM ball bearings after they are removed. The set on the right is the lower bearing; the race on top is what you'll use to drive the new tapered bearings (lower) into place. And the others you'll use to drive the new tapered bearing races into their respective recesses:

oemballs.jpg


Here's the upper stem tapered bearings on a test fit prior to the grease packing job:

uppersteering_dry.jpg


And here's the first of many grease-packing strokes (<insert gay-ass joke here>... :rolleyes: ) Below, I am using the trusty Mobil One Fully Synthetic Universal Grease to pack these tapered babies:

packingm1.jpg


On the right you see the three main hand tools needed: 10" drift, 5-lb mallet. 1 1/4" I.D pipe approx 12" long. Using the OEM lower race as a drift, here I have just finished driving the new lower tapered bearings onto the bottom of the steering stem.

tools.jpg


At this point, the steering stem is wiped free of excess grease, and re-inserted into the frame neck. I am happy to find the Blackbird takes the exact same steering torque tool as my old ST1100, so I am blessed with already having the correct tool for the job. A lock-tab washer is inserted before the final locknut is snugged up and locking tabs aligned.

Here is that spendy-ass Honda Steering Stem Socket p/n: 07916-3710101 seen here sitting atop the steering stem just before I moved it to install the upper triple-tree:

finaltorque.jpg


All done!

toptripletree.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Great......another mod I'll have to have....LOL.

Certainly the tapered roller bearing will have more load carrying capability but I wonder if it is really needed at all.

Wonder why your top race had a dent in it? The lower bearing and race takes all the suspension loads and the upper bearing is very lightly loaded.

I suspect the tapered bearing set is adding more "feel" to the front end due to the larger bearing area moving around more lube when it moves. Sort of a built in hydraulic damper. It does take some force to move the grease around as the rollers roll so that would add damping and a little more latent effort to the steering which would feel more positive.

The other thing is that the tapered bearing will accept more preload without binding or brinelling the race which would also add some dampening or "feel" to the front end without creating the stiction associated with a "too tight" bearing.

I was sort of surprised to see ball bearings in the steering head of the FJR given it's mass and performance capability. Seems that the tapered bearings would have been a more logical choice so I wonder why yam decided to use balls. Probably cost as the ball set certainly has the absolute load carrying capability.

Is the red Mobil synthetic grease you are using water proof? I have used some red Mobil synthetic grease in the past that was a clay based grease (as opposed to a soap based grease) and it was surely NOT waterproof and failed rapidly when exposed to moisture. Many of the synthetic greases are clay based to handle the very high temperatures that synthetic greases were designed and spec'd for and clay based greases do not fare well when moisture contacts them. I have had much better luck with something like Bel-Ray "salt water proof" grease that is in most any dirt bike shop. Excellent performance and excellent water repellency and resistence. A steering head bearing is neither running at high speeds (rotationally anyway) nor running at high temperatures so a synthetic grease with the pitfalls they entail might not be the best choice.

 
Just spoke to Kevin at All Balls Racing and ordered a taperbearing kit for my 05. We talked for a few minutes about the head shake on the FJR. He told me the tapered bearing has more contact area, and you can add about 10 ft pounds torque on top of the stock setting. He said this will give it a little more damper effect. Should have them installed by the weekend. I will let you guys know how it works out... Smitty

 
smitty141 said:
Tryed the search with no luck. I know I seen it somewhere on this forum. Looking to to a bearing job on my 05. Going to order a taperbearing kit from All Ball's. Anyone else tryed this bearing kit?? Thanks Smitty
Click to expand...
Make one.

Old socket + grinder + 15 minutes = done deal.

edit - wow, for some reason I thought you were looking for the bearing socket, not the bearing kit number. ignore my obviously screwed up post.

 
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smitty141 said:
Just spoke to Kevin at All Balls Racing and ordered a taperbearing kit for my 05.
Click to expand...
Hey, now... a real 'bro would tell us the part number for the FJR tapered kit from All Balls Racing.... :p :lol:

Is the red Mobil synthetic grease you are using water proof? I have used some red Mobil synthetic grease in the past that was a clay based grease (as opposed to a soap based grease) and it was surely NOT waterproof and failed rapidly when exposed to moisture.
Click to expand...
Mobil One Synthetic Greases contains a "a lithium complex soap thickener", so if this is the "soap-based" grease you're referring to, I guess it is lithium soap based. And while I dunno if I would call it waterproof, I know from real-world experience that it is damn resistant to water. Here a marketing blurb from their web site:

Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease is an NLGI No. 2 supreme performance grease that combines a polyalphaolefin (PAO) synthetic base fluid with a lithium complex soap thickener. The thickener system provides a high dropping point, while additives impart optimum extreme-pressure properties and excellent resistance to water wash, and outstanding protection against rust and corrosion. Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease has excellent structural stability and low-temperature pumpability, making it an outstanding automotive grease.
Click to expand...
I will admit that using the Mobil One Synthetic Grease is probably way overkill for this particular application, it's what I had handy when I stalled the tapered kit in my Blackbird. I have used the blue Bel-Ray "Marine" Grease in the past, and you're correct, it is really, REALLY good stuff itself.

 
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Warchild said:
Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease is an NLGI No. 2 supreme performance grease that combines a polyalphaolefin (PAO) synthetic base fluid with a lithium complex soap thickener. The thickener system provides a high dropping point, while additives impart optimum extreme-pressure properties and excellent resistance to water wash, and outstanding protection against rust and corrosion. Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease has excellent structural stability and low-temperature pumpability, making it an outstanding automotive grease.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Yes, that would be good stuff to use. There is some even higher temperature red Mobil syn grease that looks just like what you used that is NOT very water proof. It is formulated for very high temperature situations so the lithium complex soap is replaced with a clay base to hold the grease together. Not what you want in things that get even remotely exposed to water.

 
Hey, now... a real 'bro would tell us the part number for the FJR tapered kit from All Balls Racing....
Click to expand...


That would be part # 22-1003

$31.97 plus $4.00 shipping. Fits 2003-2005 models.

Phone: 888-228-3323 or 610-473-0505

In stock and shipped today.... Smitty

 
Last edited by a moderator:
smitty141 said:
Hey, now... a real 'bro would tell us the part number for the FJR tapered kit from All Balls Racing....
Click to expand...
That would be part # 22-1003
$31.97 plus $4.00 shipping. Fits 2003-2005 models.

Phone: 888-228-3323 or 610-473-0505

In stock and shipped today.... Smitty
Click to expand...
Excellent! Now I can put that little job off a bit longer. No use repackin' those old bearings if they're just goin' away in a couple weeks.
What's this about some kinda special spanner?

chornbe said:
Make one.
Old socket + grinder + 15 minutes = done deal.
Click to expand...
ttiwwop.gif
 
Wh y tapered bearings instead of the flat ones used? Simple, more surface area and the bearing to carry the load instead of the frame and bearind. should be a good set up when done

weekend rider

 
weekend rider said:
Wh y tapered bearings instead of the flat ones used? Simple, more surface area and the bearing to carry the load instead of the frame and bearind. should be a good set up when done

weekend rider
Click to expand...

But if the roller bearings have sufficient capacity to carry the load what advantage does the tapered bearing set have? Agreed that it has more absolute capacity than the ball bearings due to the increased surface area but if it is not loaded that high to use the extra capacity of what use is it???

The issue of better fell due to the rollers creating some damping feel from the greater amount of grease movement causing a sort of hydraulic steering damper effect might be real and worthwhile but the load bearing capability is simply not needed so the tapered bearing would have no perceiveable advantage then.

 
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I've replaced ball head bearings on five older bikes with tapered roller sets. Couple reasons to do so-the ball bearings were all loose style, difficult to reassemble, were rusted and the races were also, as well as brinneled from loose hammering or over tightening over their lives, so rather than replacing all the balls, or balls and races with same, decided to improve the contact area with roller sets. All five bikes benefitted from the change over, but this was as much due to nice tight headstocks as well as the rollers characteristics. It did eliminate headshake on one bike that had a healthy front bearing set to begin with-an XS650 that was famous for speed wobbles. One caveat-they all needed to be re-tightened after a few hundred miles as they settled in.

 
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