| Author | Message | ||
     Skifastbadly |
The problem with riding with earbuds is on the occasion you don't have them on you notice all the noise the Uly makes. Like the engine sounding like a monkey shaking a pail of nuts and bolts. Yesterday I had a quick ride and left the earbuds at home. I noticed a distinct "click" coming from what sounded like the left side while breaking...a single "click", repeatable every time. Because I'm lazy and you guys are so knowledgeable thought I'd ask here before I tore into it too much. My initial suspicion is that the front brake shoe 'spring' is misaligned. But is there any other obvious thing for me to look at? Thanks Ski | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Steering bearings may be a bit loose. | ||
| Teeps |
I doubt what you're hearing is from the brakes... A single click sound heard from the front end during moderate to hard braking is most likely the steering head bearings. Adjusting the stem nut torque might stop the noise for a while. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Interesting.... Teeps, your comment "might stop the noise for awhile" indicates that the bearings are likely worn and need replacing. Am I reading you correctly? The bike, by the way, has about 30K on it. | ||
| Hootowl |
Lift the front end off the ground in such a way that the forks move freely. Grab the forks from the front, then push and pull on them feeling for slop. If you feel any, adjust the nut to take up the slack. Once that is done, move the forks through their range of motion, feeling for roughness or notches. If they're notchy, they may need to be lubricated, or replaced. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Mine's got ~49k on the original head bearings with no issues so they aren't necessarily worn out. I'd tighten them per the shop manual. As long as the steering doesn't feel "notchy", you should be good to go. | ||
| Teeps |
Ski, You are correct. My Ulysses had the "click" for a year before I replaced the bearings, at 28k miles. | ||
| Terrycoxusa |
Steering head bearings, wheel bearings, clutch, drive belt, forks, shocks, engine life. They are all greatly affected by your riding style. If you 'ride it like you stole it' you will be doing a lot more repairs. Also, if you use a pressure washer to clean, you will not be doing the bike any favors. I tend to favor the 'protective layer of road dust, oil, and grease'. | ||
| Etennuly |
I usually ride my Uly like someone else stole it, I occasionally pressure wash it, it has stood out in the rain many times as well as being ridden thousands of miles in the rain. I had to re-torque the steering head one time at about 10,000 miles. It was making that annoying click every time I put on the brakes. I have not done it since, now at 62,000 miles, the original bearings still in place. | ||
| Arcticktm |
I also had the click on my '06 Uly. I lived with it and re-torqued head bearings (after verifying it was nothing under the flyscreen like the brake house) for about 1 year. I would guess this was about 25k-28k miles. I did the front end raised fork play check, but could feel no real play (I am used to this check from years of dirt bikes). Clicking got worse, so I took front end apart and steering head bearings were shot. Mainly the lower one was very sloppy. Top one not too bad. Used the All Balls tapered kit. Not fun to install the races (for me at least), and you really have to use a VERY light torque after switching to tapered bearings, but it solved the problem. No stunting, no pressure washing, not many wheelies (but yes, some of course). | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Well I bought the replacement bearings but haven't yet touched the bike as I've been traveling for business. Being a lazy SOB, my first attempt will be to re-torque to original specs and see if that fixes it. If it does, I'll toss the bearings into the box where I have the spare wheel bearings, sparkplugs, brake pads, etc. If not, I'll tear into it. I'll let you know how it turns out. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Used the All Balls tapered kit. Not fun to install the races (for me at least), and you really have to use a VERY light torque after switching to tapered bearings, but it solved the problem. So you're saying the torque values in the manual are for the non-tapered bearings and the tapered ones use different values? If so, where are the specs found? | ||
| Teeps |
There are no torque specs for taper bearings, for XB. If you torque the taper bearings to Buell specs, the forks barely turn. The top nut on my Ulysses is set at 7ft/lbs. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Wow, glad I read that. Thanks! | ||
| Djohnk |
When I installed the All Balls tapered kit I had to re-tighten after riding for a few days. Absolutely no problems after that. I probably installed them a little loose to begin with because I just tightened them by feel. Installing the races I froze the bearings first and heated the steering column a little (was a little nervous about heating the steering column too much because it was attached to the fuel-in-the-frame). (Message edited by djohnk on October 22, 2014) | ||
| Etennuly |
I would think that if you set the tapered bearings to the same turn load spec it would be fine. That is where you gage how much pressure it takes to turn the bars from stop to stop. | ||
| Xbimmer |
What he ^^^ said. The end result is what you're after. Also Teeps warned me before about the lighter spec which also makes sense, two completely different designs for the bearings. I have a set of Timkens ready to go but I've been too busy lately battling other issues... I know on my Airhead it was a pain to get the tapereds just right but once you do you're golden for a LONG time. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Sorry Ski, been away from board for a while. What Etennuly said - try to match the steering turning force. Did this using a "fish scale" type with hook inserted into the fork leg at the axle. Make sure to use the same reference point before and after, since the distance from what you hook the scale on, to the bearing axis, will make a difference. There is a spec in the SM for what the force should be. It is not much at all. SM says to do it with clutch cable disconnected, but on my bike with my cable routing that did not make a measurable difference. I actually went a bit heavier on pull effort than the SM, just because I felt more comfortable with a bit more torque to make sure everything stayed put. I did re-check them after ~1000 miles and did not see any change, so have left them alone for about 2 seasons now. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Thanks, Arc I've been traveling and the bearings and SM are sitting on the seat....I'm really hoping I can just re-torque the existing bearings because tearing the front end apart appears to be no fun. I do have a question on the fish scale thing...can you torque the bearings with the forks in? That would make life easier. One more thing, I probably confused everyone with my confusion because it turns out I didn't get tapered bearings, I got the OEM ones, so I'll defer to the SM. | ||
| Etennuly |
can you torque the bearings with the forks in? That would make life easier. Yes, usually the bars will be in the way of the allen head bolt that is in the hole of the stainless lock nut on the top fork/ bar mount. Raise the front tire off the ground. Take the bolts out of the bar mount/ risers, have an assistant hold the bars or use towels or such to pad the instrument panel to lay the bars there. Loosen the big nut, tighten the allen head center bolt. Temporarily reinstall the bars. Check the turning force by pulling on the end of the bars with a scale, one side then the other. Should be about6 to 7lbs of pulling force. I don't bother unhooking the cables and stuff because if they are routed correctly they don't add much resistance at all. If you can feel that they are hanging up, fix that or unhook them first. Then tighten the big nut and reassemble. Then drink a beer realizing how easy that actually was. Don't forget to share with the assistant you may have used.  | ||
| Teeps |
Skifastbadly Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2014 can you torque the bearings with the forks in? That would make life easier. With the appropriate length 3/8" extension and Allen bit. Yes, the nut can be accessed from the bottom of the steering tube. That's how I adjusted the preload on my Ulysses. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Ok now I am completely lost. I removed the handlebars. I removed the chrome nut with the allen wrench. I assumed that the chrome nut was a dust cover, but now it appears to be the only adjustable bit on the assembly. Once that's off, all I see is the axle. I see no nut accessible from the bottom of the steering tube. What am I missing? Thanks. | ||
| Etennuly |
That'd be my fault that you got lost. I did this adjustment seven years ago and confused it with other things that I have done. You have my apologies. From the SM; 1. detach clutch cable 2.jack up the front wheel 3.check by turning left and right 4.wheel straight- grab forks wiggling front to back to feel for slop. 5.inspect for resistance turn to right 6.spring scale hooked in to axle hole, pull wheel from right to center should read 1 to 7 lbs next step is to adjust determine proper resistance remove steering stem pinch fastener at upper triple clamp loosen steering stem cap nut(big one you took off) remove lower triple clamp pinch fasteners,two per side tighten steering stem cap nut to 38-42 ft lbs turn wheel to right pull to straight to measure resistance 1-7 lbs. if good. Otherwise new bearings are needed If resistance is good install steering stem pinch bolt to 17-19 ftlbs with locktite lwr triple clamp bolts 13-15 ftlbs with locktite install bars and clutch cable. and lube the farrel on the clutch cable end at the lever. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Thanks, man. It's mostly my fault for not sitting down and thoroughly reading the SM. But man, that's some hard reading, reminds me of my Partial Differential Equations book from back when Carter was in office. So the chrome cap is indeed the thing that's adjustable. That makes sense, and it should be very easy to adjust and see if the click's eliminated. From what I can see, replacing those bearings is going to be a bit of work if I have to go that way.... Here's another puzzler...I looked at the two front forks and they weren't aligned. On the right, the clip that's supposed to stop the fork from going up any higher into the triple tree was right below the tree. But on the left, the ring was actually pushed up into the tree...I assume that snap ring is supposed to be snug right up against the bottom of the tree and the left was incorrectly installed. No wonder I always lean to the left. | ||
| Etennuly |
No wonder I always lean to the left. When I had that problem a buddy of mine was following me one day and noticed I was sitting off center on the seat.  That was the simplest fix I ever had. If those bearings have not been adjusted before I would bet that getting a proper adjustment will fix the problem. Mine clicked an amazing amount when it was doing it, I was surprised adjusting it fixed it, that was over fifty thousand miles ago.  I think it is a matter if it gets adjusted soon enough, before it kills the bearings. | ||
| Tootal |
Here's another puzzler...I looked at the two front forks and they weren't aligned. On the right, the clip that's supposed to stop the fork from going up any higher into the triple tree was right below the tree. But on the left, the ring was actually pushed up into the tree...I assume that snap ring is supposed to be snug right up against the bottom of the tree and the left was incorrectly installed. No wonder I always lean to the left. Actually Ski the left was correct. The forks should be as far up the trees as possible. There is a shoulder inside there that will stop the retaining ring. Since the ring is covered it is trapped and can't come off. So shove them both up until they stop and tighten the clamp bolts. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Actually Ski the left was correct. The forks should be as far up the trees as possible. There is a shoulder inside there that will stop the retaining ring. Since the ring is covered it is trapped and can't come off. So shove them both up until they stop and tighten the clamp bolts. Man, I love the internet. Thanks, Tootal, I will get that sorted. By the way, what tool do you guys use for getting proper torque on the steering cap nut? I assume there's some allen wrench that fits a socket for use with the torque wrench? | ||
| Tootal |
You are correct. They make allen sockets that snap right on your torque wrench. With the forks all the way up tighten the lower fork clamps. Then torque the bearings to spec. Tighten the clamp bolt for the bearing nut and then tighten the upper fork clamps. Good to go! If you don't want to buy the allen sockets you can cut off an allen wrench and put a regular socket over it. | ||
| Etennuly |
I use a Torx bit that fits, don't recall the size, 40 or 45 maybe. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Getting back to this thread late. Vern - are you sure about 6-7 lbs force at the HANDLEBAR end? I thought that SM spec was for using a fish scale at the bottom of the forks, in the axle ends. Certainly the handlebar ends are much farther outboard, so they will have a big torque arm effect, so 6-7 lbs on the bars would be a lot more effort than 6-7 lbs at the forks/axle. Don't have my SM here with me, but I thought the SM and the spec were for the forks location. I recall I had to remove my axle sliders to take the measurement. | ||
| Etennuly |
No, I was wrong. I corrected that when I paraphrased the SM. Seems like I get wronger as I get older.....at least sometimes BUT, that is how I did mine when I first did it. Then I did it some more after reviewing the instructions. No mental issues here!  | ||
| Arcticktm |
OK Vern. Sorry, I must have skipped over your later post that used the SM procedure, same as I have done. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
So, an update: I bought the proper allen tools to fit the torque wrench, and tightened it to spec. I *think* the clicking went away. Before tightening, it clicked every time I braked hard. After, it certainly decreased. I'm not entirely sure that I don't hear a small noise, but it could be my imagination. The biggest problem was the bolts that secure the handlebars...they seem rather 'soft'. |
