Steeringhead bearings.

[Klikoo]

I will be replacing the steering head bearing in a while. I am going to install a tapered roller bearing. Now I can mount a really expensive A brand bearing. The right bearings are offered on AliExpress for a fraction of the price. Are these also good quality? Or go for an expensive A brand?

 

[rbentnail]

AllBalls brand have been working fine in FJRs for 20 years. No need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[infrared]

Klikoo,

If I did that work, I would want the best possible bearings, with the best grease available. I (one time) had a steering head bearing failure on my GL500 Interstate, and to the best of my ability, man, Never Again. Confidence is priceless.

 

[MotoMike]

I will be replacing the steering head bearing in a while. I am going to install a tapered roller bearing. Now I can mount a really expensive A brand bearing. The right bearings are offered on AliExpress for a fraction of the price. Are these also good quality? Or go for an expensive A brand?

I went with AllBalls tapered roller bearings. They work fine. I have no experience with anything else for comparison.

 

[RossKean]

I haven't had to replace steering head bearings on either of the FJRs I have owned. (Had the '07 for 186,000 miles and currently just shy of 90,000 miles so far on the 2011). If it is required, I would go with tapered roller bearings but likely Timkin or SKF. AllBalls are a popular choice but often perceived as lesser quality according to stuff I have read - I have no direct knowledge of issues with any of them... Any will probably do just fine but I am not planning to change them until it is needed.

 

[Klikoo]

I don't think the bearings are worn out yet. But I suffer from the complicated phenomenon: Shimmy. Now I'm going to replace both tires for Pirelli Angel GT2 (A). The fork oil is also changed. Now I thought: The front is completely open, so why not put tapered roller bearings in it right away? I know that shimmy can have many causes, the wheels are always dynamically balanced. But I can also just leave them alone.

 

[wmadoty]

I don't think the bearings are worn out yet. But I suffer from the complicated phenomenon: Shimmy. Now I'm going to replace both tires for Pirelli Angel GT2 (A). The fork oil is also changed. Now I thought: The front is completely open, so why not put tapered roller bearings in it right away? I know that shimmy can have many causes, the wheels are always dynamically balanced. But I can also just leave them alone.

I don't want to derail the thread, and it is your bike and I am sure you know more about it than I do, but I doubt your shimmy has anything to do with your steering head bearings. I have seen guys throw parts at tire wear problems (shimmy) for years.

I have noticed that I will get a wobble in my front end around 40 - 55 mph when my tires are 3/4 of the way finished. Every FJR I have ever road wore the front tire in a weird trapezoid pattern and all seemed to wiggle a little as the front tire got close to end of life. Some shimmied more than others. Improper tire pressure seems to make it worse. I have a friend with a 2009 that seems to shimmy when the rear tire is worn badly. I am no suspension expert, and I can't really explain it but new shoes have always fixed mine right up.

I have inspected the steering head bearings on my bike several times. Even purchased the proper tool to retorque after cleaning, inspecting, and repacking. I have never found anything wrong with the steering head and decided to leave the factory setup alone. Mine does not jiggle as long as I keep the front wheel on the pavement and a few fingers on the bars.

Good luck and I hope you get it sorted. Let us know what worked for you.

 

[rbentnail]

On my '07 nothing suggested by any forum- loosening/bouncing forks, special sequence of tightening & torquing, new/different tires, all the other stuff- absolutely nothing made my shimmy permanently disappear until I replaced the steering bearings with AllBalls brand. Sure, some things, particularly a new front tire would help for a little while. But why should I repeatedly replace a partially worn front tire when replacing the bearings is a one time permanent fix? That makes no sense to me. Maybe others have deeper pockets than I.

My recently acquired 2013 had the wobble too. A previous owner tried everything too, all with no permanent fix until he installed AllBalls bearings. He did the job right before I purchased. I retorqued them to reseat after a few hundred miles (just as I did on my '07) and all is good.

As to the bearing quality- if I were replacing bearings in a motor or gearbox, ones that rotated fully and at speed sure, I'd choose something other than AllBalls. But these are more than adequate for what they do. To each his own but to me the AllBalls have performed better and lasted longer than the OE ones in my bikes so once again IMHO some folks may be overthinking just a tad.

 

[infrared]

This has nothing to do with front tire wear-pattern issues, but if your handlebars oscillate at any speed, hands off, the first and best fix is replacing the ball bearings in the steering head with tapered roller bearings. Beyond that you may need to balance or replace the front tire. I have heard of rare cases where the worn rear tire was part of the "oscillation" problem, but that is very rare, and even then, not the sole cause.

 

[RossKean]

Yes, I find that dual compound front tires always wear in a trapezoidal profile and handling goes to shit before the tires are done (especially Michelins, in my experience). People have reported that it sometimes results in shimmy or head-shake; especially during deceleration from 50-30 mph. I only ever had serious head-shake once in a quarter million FJR miles - Pirelli Angel GT (A spec) on the front and it went away as soon as I replaced the tire. Keeping the tire pressure up (40 to 42 psi in front) seems to help with wear pattern and handling.

I won't argue that the tapered bearings are not a better idea but I haven't found them necessary (yet).

I wonder why some people have issues and others don't. Perhaps some subtle difference in geometry from manufacturing?
Other variables are tire pressure, tire brand, tire wear, front suspension problems and bearing torque but people have looked at these things and some still have problems which may be cured with the tapered bearings...

 

[TomInPA]

I bought a set of AllBalls bearings and have never installed them. I was having a lot of problems with a loose, knocking feel in the steering and deceleration wobble. All I had to do was properly tighten the crown nut over the bearings to re-seat them. I have upgraded fork springs, and maintained the oil and seals, but it turns out people are probably changing bearings needlessly.

A change to Bridgestone T30/T32 tires in the front instead of Michelin solved the problem with tire wear and handling.

 

[Klikoo]

I know that shimmy is a complicated phenomenon and can have many causes. Usually occurs around 80 Km/hr. The fact that I have the idea to replace the bearing is, to be honest, that I have everything apart anyway. What is wisdom? I also think that tapered roller bearings do not so much remove the cause of shimmy, but rather are able to mask the phenomenon. I myself have the idea that dynamic imbalance of the wheels and tires themselves are the 1st cause of shimmy, whether or not enhanced or weakened by other boundary conditions. I think I'll stick with the tire change and fork oil change in the first instance.

 

[TomInPA]

Replacing the stock ball bearings with the roller bearings provides more "stiction". This is the ability to resist small inputs from the wheel, resulting in a more stable steering feel. The OEM bearings are fine, but the roller bearings have a lot more surface area on the races. Tire condition greatly affects turn-in and stability, and uneven cupping can also result in wobble. The bottom line is, with tires that don't wear into sharply sloped trapezoids like the PR2, and properly torqued steering head, you will probably be happy. A stiffer, tuned front-end is huge in curves and hard stops (performance riding).