Steering head bearings

[gazza]

Hi to all

I recently had my bike to a Ohlins suspension workshop who reconned the front shocks. He also said at the time i should do the steering head bearings and i'm guessing he looked at the KM's which i had done being 108,000kms. I have since had the bike at the Yamaha dealership and asked the guy there to check the steering head which he said there were no issues and don't worry about it. So, the question is do i go ahead and do them anyway?? based on the KM's or just carry on riding.I can't feel any thing down the steering(minor vibration) but it's very hard to notice over time as you would expect.

Regards to all

Gaz

 

[SkooterG]

You do the steering head bearings when you feel there is a problem. No problem, don't mess with them. That's what my 40 years of experience wrench told me. On my first FJR in 226,000 miles I never did them as there was never any issue with them. Don't fix what ain't broke!

 

[yamafitter]

As long as the steering head bearings are properly adjusted and lubed they should be fine. Yamaha uses ball bearings in the steering head and with all the forces being applied by the front end some consider this to be a weak area in the design. The best way to check is to support the bike so that the front wheel is off the ground and attempt to move the forks back and forth. If there is any movement detected you need to adjust the steering head bearings. Yamaha also has a bad habit of not applying enough grease to the bearings when the bike was assembled in the factory which can lead to premature wear.

Some have gone to a tapered roller bearing kit that offers more surface area to carry the loads being applied and are therefore less likely to require adjustment. There is some discussion about this already on the forum and All Ballstm is one company that makes a replacement kit.

Steering Head Bearing Kit

 

[Fontanaman]

As long as the steering head bearings are properly adjusted and lubed they should be fine. Yamaha uses ball bearings in the steering head and with all the forces being applied by the front end some consider this to be a weak area in the design. The best way to check is to support the bike so that the front wheel is off the ground and attempt to move the forks back and forth. If there is any movement detected you need to adjust the steering head bearings.

I agree with Yamafitter. If your bike is not garaged or subject to adverse riding conditions it may affect the life of the bearings.

An excellent method to grease the steering head bearings is here.

 

[rocket rick]

As long as the steering head bearings are properly adjusted and lubed they should be fine. Yamaha uses ball bearings in the steering head and with all the forces being applied by the front end some consider this to be a weak area in the design. The best way to check is to support the bike so that the front wheel is off the ground and attempt to move the forks back and forth. If there is any movement detected you need to adjust the steering head bearings.

I agree with Yamafitter. If your bike is not garaged or subject to adverse riding conditions it may affect the life of the bearings.

An excellent method to grease the steering head bearings is here.

the bearins on my 2008 were really dry at 6000 miles iserviced the bearings once in 4 years and no play or noise at all

 

[GPRIDER]

You do the steering head bearings when you feel there is a problem. No problem, don't mess with them. That's what my 40 years of experience wrench told me. On my first FJR in 226,000 miles I never did them as there was never any issue with them. Don't fix what ain't broke!

I feel the same. Some of the maintenence here is a little on the anal side. These bikes are well made with the exception of the obvious problems that have been documented.

GP

 

[RaYzerman19]

As long as the steering head bearings are properly adjusted and lubed they should be fine. Yamaha uses ball bearings in the steering head and with all the forces being applied by the front end some consider this to be a weak area in the design. The best way to check is to support the bike so that the front wheel is off the ground and attempt to move the forks back and forth. If there is any movement detected you need to adjust the steering head bearings.

I agree with Yamafitter. If your bike is not garaged or subject to adverse riding conditions it may affect the life of the bearings.

An excellent method to grease the steering head bearings is here.

the bearins on my 2008 were really dry at 6000 miles iserviced the bearings once in 4 years and no play or noise at all

Agree also. At minimum, I would have them greased and properly torqued. This should last you a good long while, but I would recheck for play and retorque if necessary once a year. Yamaha says check every 4,000 miles and regrease every 16,000 mi (25,000 kms) or 2 years. But really, there's nothing much to go wrong if they were properly greased and torqued in the first place. Mine were loose from the getgo.

 

[ahchiu]

As long as the steering head bearings are properly adjusted and lubed they should be fine. Yamaha uses ball bearings in the steering head and with all the forces being applied by the front end some consider this to be a weak area in the design. The best way to check is to support the bike so that the front wheel is off the ground and attempt to move the forks back and forth. If there is any movement detected you need to adjust the steering head bearings.

I agree with Yamafitter. If your bike is not garaged or subject to adverse riding conditions it may affect the life of the bearings.

An excellent method to grease the steering head bearings is here.

the bearins on my 2008 were really dry at 6000 miles iserviced the bearings once in 4 years and no play or noise at all

Agree also. At minimum, I would have them greased and properly torqued. This should last you a good long while, but I would recheck for play and retorque if necessary once a year. Yamaha says check every 4,000 miles and regrease every 16,000 mi (25,000 kms) or 2 years. But really, there's nothing much to go wrong if they were properly greased and torqued in the first place. Mine were loose from the getgo.

Along with checking grease and torqued check if there is any notchiness in the steering, have the front wheel off the ground and turn you handle bars slowly left to right and see if you feel anything, if your headbearing is even a little loose it will cause the bearings to start putting a dent in the race and you will feel it when you pass center of the steering. My other bike had it I can really feel it riding in slow traffic it felt like I was riding in a grove and took a fair amount of pressure on the bars to steer, I checked my other bike forks for play and felt nothing, so it does not take much play to start indenting your races.