| Author | Message | ||
     Ratbuell |
I have the shop manual and can borrow the race removal tool - but how much of a PITA is it to replace the bearings in the steering head? I've had an annoying "flop" right off-center and tonight did a proper check with the front end off the ground, and found a notch at center. 'splains that. So, new bearing time. Just trying to decide if its worth hacking myself, or paying my employee shop rate of $30/hour to have one of the pros do it. I just had the fairing off to replace the headlight - what a pain that was. Glad I installed a Hella HB2 conversion light, so I never have to do that again! Does it all have to come off again (and make me realign my PIAAs again), or can I pull it apart without pulling the nose? The book (of course) says pull it, but there are usually shortcuts... Lastly, any tricks that aren't in the book? | ||
| 1313 |
The head bearings race come out easily enough as there is 'meat' to get a drift on the bottom of the race. If you tap them out moving around the diameter of the race and work them out evenly it is easy - the tool just helps for those less than mechanically stellar. But if you can borrow the tool, I'd say go for it. Installing the new races could be fun without having a tool that mates up with the top surface of the race perfectly or without clearance for the head tube bore. One thing to be careful on is to make sure that the races are fully seated when they are pressed in. If they are not fully seated when pressed in, believe or not (I can site at least one example to prove this, but it won't be posted), coming down hard from a wheelie or even doing a stoppie provides enough load to push the race (at least the bottom race) further towards being seated. If you use a press with a pressure gauge, watching the pressure increase without any movement of the tool/installer should be sufficient to judge that the races are fully seated. As for the headlight adjustment, there is a trick from the S3 that can be used so you don't have to remove the fairing to adjust it. If you take a 1/4-20 (IIRC) nut and red loctite it on the back side of the adjusters, you can use a wrench to adjust it from the back side without removing the front fairing. It's one of the great improvements on the S3 that can easily be done on the S2. 1313  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Wow, great tips. Fortunately my old sealed beam was pretty well focused, and before I reinstalled the fairing I tested the aim of the new Hella. Spot on, just a hair high like I like it (more visible to oncoming cars), and a couple degrees into the woods on the right. Now all I ever have to do is pop the boot off the back and change a bulb. Love it. I even took the time to wire my PIAAs "correctly" so the relay is only fed by the lowbeam instead of by the ignition being on. Flash to pass *really* gets their attention now!!  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well, it came apart easily enough...removed the clip-ons and laid them on the gauges with the windshield off; removed the brake and wheel, and reinstalled the axle; loosened the upper triple clamp pinch bolts and dropped the lower clamp and forks out as an assembly. The neck shaft has a chip (a *large* chip) out of it at the steering lock notch, but I think I'm just going to live with it. Not like I have a key for the lock anyway, LOL. Perhaps that large chunk bouncing around the lower bearing had something to do with my notchiness... I have it supported on rear axle stands, a floorjack with a 2x4 under the rear shock front mount and the muffler clamp, and a rafter-supported ratchet strap to the frame spars that hold the front fairing on (the frame side of the joint, not the fairing side). I'm guessing it'll be OK that way for a day or so until my bearings come in... I didn't want all the weight on the bottom of the engine and exhaust header, nor did I want it all on the roof truss of my garage...so I have it split between the two. <sigh> one of these days I'll get a motorcycle lift. | ||
| Olbolt |
I just changed the steering head brgs. on my S3. I manually tapped out just the bottom race first, and using my new $41.00 bearing installer tool from Dennis51harley on e-Bay pulled the new race in - positioning the tool with the nut on the top - worked great, nice precision tool. Then I tapped out the top race pulled the new top race in by positioning the tool with the nut on the bottom. The tool is interesting, in that bearing guide by the bolt head is integral (fixed) with the bolt, and the bearing guide by the threaded end (moving) is a close slip fit on the threads. Doing the pulling this way, it really draws straight. I felt very comfortable with the tool, the installation method, and the end result - the precision location of the races in the neck. (This is not just a threaded rod with loose guides being drawn with 2 nuts.) Next I installed new exhaust gasket rings using the moving bearing guide from the neck bearing tool above with a 1/2" dia ~ 4" long bolt with a nut on each side of the bearing guide close to the start of the threads. (The HD gasket is very close to the dimensions of the head bearing race). The exhaust port on the cylinder head has a slight taper which helps guide the gasket in, but I was unsucessful trying to freehand tap it in to the gasket recess. But by tapping on the head of the bolt, the bearing guide applies uniform, even force on the graphite / wire gasket. The unused length of the bolt gives you something to hold, and to guide it straight, while you are tapping. It went in beautifully. (Message edited by olbolt on February 05, 2008) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well, with the HD tool it was a snap. Races out, 90 seconds. Races in, about 3 minutes (out is always easier, don't have to be as "careful"). Tink, tink, tink, thunk. Well, that one's in Much better than before on my ride in this morning, still a little sudden on the steering tip-in. IIRC, if you lower the rear of the bike a smidge you reduce the initial tip-in, and if you raise it you increase tip-in? I just want to get this last little bit of off-center twitch out. And it could be my front tire, I noticed it's shaped much like this: ^. Methinks my cornering style has made it a bit wedge-shaped, with a sort of knife-edge on center. Ah well, it's all worth it |
