Steering Stem Lower Nut

[hppants]

It's time to check, re-grease, and re-torque my sterring stem assy. I don't have any notchy feeling in the bars, but at 11K it's never been done to my knowledge, and that makes it past due.

Buying the Yamaha spanner wrench for the lower nut will be both expensive and time consuming. Surely, someone has bought this tool from a readily available supplier? If so, would you share your source?

I've read the "How to" on FJRinfo.com. Seems pretty straight forward, but any other tips/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Bounce]

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/shb/shb.html

 

[Jetpilot5]

Available on Ebay too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VMax-Steering-Head-Ring-Nut-Wrench-Stainless-Steel-Service-Manual-Specified-/170728841804?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D170712198672%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5722854420333712119#ht_799wt_1396

 

[rickysnickers]

If you are going this far, I'd also suggest upgrading to the roller bearing, to replace the ball bearings on the steering shaft. Many have done it. It makes the steering noticeably smoother. In my case, it got rid of the "clunk" that some have complained about as well.

Rick

 

[PhilJet09]

I never liked the spanner wrench for torquing the steering nut, so I made my own "Just Roy" style socket. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=139053

 

[hppants]

Thank you for the replies and the suggestions. $32.00 for the tool seems simple enough. Since I'm not having any problems, unless I find a bearing defect or issue when I take it down, I'll just re-pack and re-assemble. Driving the races out of a triple tree is a PITA.

 

[hppants]

Ordered the spanner from ebay. Ships Monday, so next weekend, I'm getting into the stem. I may have mis-judged how hard the FJR is to work on. I'm getting a bit better at removing the plastics, and in the case of this job (sterring stem work), it appears to be easier than other bikes I've owned. One thing's certain - if it wasn't for the detailed technical write-ups you people have done before me, I'd be in a world of trouble - even if I had the shop manual (which I STILL CAN'T FIND!!!).

Mods - please don't move this to the NEPRT board for this question... but.....

Would anyone please opine on the grease used to lubricate the steering stem bearings?

 

[ionbeam]

Just be aware that the spanner that you are buying can be put on the torque wench in many different angles. To get a true torque value the spanner must make a 90° angle "L" shape. If the angle is less or more than this then the torque value will be wrong. If this is not clear without a picture LMK, we can link you to a thread that discusses this and I think I've got a picture someplace.

Edit: The following picture is a clickable link to the thread.

 

[Denver_FJR]

Ordered the spanner from ebay. Ships Monday, so next weekend, I'm getting into the stem. I may have mis-judged how hard the FJR is to work on. I'm getting a bit better at removing the plastics, and in the case of this job (sterring stem work), it appears to be easier than other bikes I've owned. One thing's certain - if it wasn't for the detailed technical write-ups you people have done before me, I'd be in a world of trouble - even if I had the shop manual (which I STILL CAN'T FIND!!!).

Mods - please don't move this to the NEPRT board for this question... but.....

Would anyone please opine on the grease used to lubricate the steering stem bearings?

Double NEPRT alert! FSM and grease!

Service manuals are here - https://www.yamahapubs.com/ Create login account and have credit card ready.

Bearing lube - Per dealership recommendation I went with Bel-Ray waterproof grease. Makes sense to me since this is a bearing (vs bushing) and ultimate low friction lube probably won't make much difference. More worried about the stuff staying in place for 12k + miles and not washing out. Also, in my limited experience, most of the steering friction comes from the seals and not from the bearing themselves.

 

[Bounce]

Since electronic pubs have not been a Yamaha thing since the FJR first hit the US, I did a WHOIS. yamapubs.com resolves back to Yamaha Corp in Cypress, it's kosher.

Seems that this is a(nother) place to buy paper manuals if I read it right. It's MSRP for "print-on-demand".

 

[hppants]

Thanks for the additional help and tips. The 90 deg. torquing tip is especially useful, as I was concerned about altering the lever arm length. How did you make that picture "clickable" - that is really cool. I'm kind of computer -challenged.

Picked up a 36mm socket today from autozone - $20.00, and a tub of Bel-ray grease from Cyclegear - $7.00. My spanner gets here tomorrow, so looks like this weekend, the job gets done. After that, I'm totally caught up on all preventative maintenance for the bike. Good thing, cause I'm planning to ride the wheels of her this year!

I really like my bike.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

Thanks for the additional help and tips. The 90 deg. torquing tip is especially useful, as I was concerned about altering the lever arm length. How did you make that picture "clickable" - that is really cool. I'm kind of computer -challenged.

Picked up a 36mm socket today from autozone - $20.00, and a tub of Bel-ray grease from Cyclegear - $7.00. My spanner gets here tomorrow, so looks like this weekend, the job gets done. After that, I'm totally caught up on all preventative maintenance for the bike. Good thing, cause I'm planning to ride the wheels of her this year!

I really like my bike.

Damn...gonna have to make you my personal FJRmechanic® now that you are getting all the trick tools!

 

[weekend rider]

First, you do not need to grease it. It is no where in need of regreasing.

Like said before, get the tapered bearings and put in big time improvement.

Use grease that is also rated for water like wheel bearing grease. The bearings are in an extreme operating enviroment, (water) that is what I use.

 

[hppants]

Interesting update to this thread:

I bought the spanner from the ebay source listed above - it was shipped priority mail (free) that day and I received it in 3 working days. The wrench is very well made and fits the castle nut like a glove.

Since my torque wrench is a "rachet-spring" style, I decided to see just how tight the nut was. Turns out, it was perfectly torqued. At 13 ft-pounds, the wrench clicked, but would not move the nut. At 14 ft pounds, the nut moved.

I pulled down the rest of the stem following the FJR info thread method and disovered the radial roller bearings were in great shape with tons of grease. So, I put it all back together and torqued everything down to spec.

While riding last weekend, I started to feel a very slight front end shimmy at irregular speeds mostly while the power was neutral (not accellerating, nor deceleration). I was surprised to find my sterring bearings still tight - I was convinced that this was the cause. I pulled my front wheel to check the balance - with the axle on jack stands it was dead on. So then I checked my front suspension adjustments - BINGO. The preload was set to the softest setting - when I changed my fork seals a month or two ago, I neglected to re-set the preload. Cranked that one down a turn at a time until it felt better (3 1/2 turns in is right for me). I also added a little rebound dampening and it made a huge difference.

As a side note - the Mich. PR3 tire ROCKS!!!! :yahoo:

 

[ionbeam]

...Since my torque wrench is a "rachet-spring" style, I decided to see just how tight the nut was. Turns out, it was perfectly torqued. At 13 ft-pounds, the wrench clicked, but would not move the nut. At 14 ft pounds, the nut moved...

Tightening torque is accurate, breaking torque (the point that a nut or bolt breaks free and starts to turn) is absolutely not accurate. Most torque wrenches are accurate from 30% to 75% of min/max scale. Most non professional, not recently calibrated torque wrenches are not accurate to 1 ft/lb. I hope you re torqued the steering head bearing to 37 ft/lb then loosened the nut and re torqued to 13 lb/ft.

 

[Jetpilot5]

I bought the spanner from the ebay source listed above - it was shipped priority mail (free) that day and I received it in 3 working days. The wrench is very well made and fits the castle nut like a glove.

Nice to hear the wrench is decent. I'm thinking of getting one to have on hand for future service work.

 

[hppants]

I hope you re torqued the steering head bearing to 37 ft/lb then loosened the nut and re torqued to 13 lb/ft.

Yep - I followed the correct procedure.

While I don't want this to turn into a NEPRD, I know how a torque wrench works. The spring is calibrated against a traceable NIST standard. That's the limit of the tool. I unspring the wrench every time I use it, and cross my fingers. Granted, my results might have been coincidental, but it was what it was.

On a semi-related note, I've had a good time over the last 6 months learning how to maintain my bike. I'm not so anal as to distrust ANYONE from working on my bike, but I find satisfaction from doing it myself. I recently called my stealership for some maintenance advice. When their answer seem totally bogus to me, I further questioned them. I then learned that they have NEVER sold an FJR, much less worked on one. Big time clue there. Regardless, I never would have tried 1/2 of what I've done without the great help of you people.

Thank you.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I hope you re torqued the steering head bearing to 37 ft/lb then loosened the nut and re torqued to 13 lb/ft.

Yep - I followed the correct procedure.

While I don't want this to turn into a NEPRD, I know how a torque wrench works. The spring is calibrated against a traceable NIST standard. That's the limit of the tool. I unspring the wrench every time I use it, and cross my fingers. Granted, my results might have been coincidental, but it was what it was.

On a semi-related note, I've had a good time over the last 6 months learning how to maintain my bike. I'm not so anal as to distrust ANYONE from working on my bike, but I find satisfaction from doing it myself. I recently called my stealership for some maintenance advice. When their answer seem totally bogus to me, I further questioned them. I then learned that they have NEVER sold an FJR, much less worked on one. Big time clue there. Regardless, I never would have tried 1/2 of what I've done without the great help of you people.

Thank you.

I've got all you need for the TBS (if you dont already) when you are ready to tackle that.