Ever reuse steering head bearings and races??

[beemerguru]

Got a call for a rider in the middle of nowhere...literally. His steering head bearings are badly notched..no shop for a couple hundred miles. Usual response is
'call a dealer and have a new set shipped in.
'

But then we started talking about what people in REALLY out of the way places like Africa or the bush country in Australia would do..or have to do.

When head bearings get notched, is the notch specific to ONE set of opposite points on the races? And if so could one knock out the races, rotate them 90 degrees and reinstall? Clean, grease the bearings and have no notch? Or would the bearing also suffer from the notch...and if so, could you also rotate them.

I know the right answer is always replace...but this question kept bugging me so I want to ask the group and see if someone with the expertise can answer the question....can head bearings be rotated and reused for a medium/long term fix is necessary?

 

[wecm31]

Without giving this too much thought regarding loading and so forth...

Yeah, rotating the races would solve the notchiness in the handling......

..............................for a while!!!!


We had a large (and very old) air intake fan at work start hammering away with a bad bearing on the shaft between the belt drive pulley and the squirrel cage in the ducting. The millwrights rotated the races and the bearing lasted a few more months until it got bad again and was replaced. Now this shaft was rotating at ~90 rpm, the steering stem isn't. But the force of the tight belts on the pulley is kinda the same 90 degree push/pull that the steering bearing gets from fork load. So its the same but different???

Having changed my steering bearings this summer in the comfort of my shop with the proper tools....I am more impressed that this job would be attempted with tools and supplies at hand, middle of nowhere and all...

 

[patiodadio]

Whats the life of the Airhead steering head bearings ?



.

 

[PGlaves]

Whats the life of the Airhead steering head bearings ?



.

If well cared for they will last a very long time. If neglected the life is very short.

Most damage is done when they are just a little loose and can pound a very little bit. That will dent the races quickly. If kept properly snug and cleaned and re-greased occasionally they will outlast most riders.

While I do realize it was not an Airhead, by K75 with the same type bearings and comparable loads still had sound original bearings when it was wrecked at 370,000 miles. I have also seen them need to be changed at 25,000 miles.

 

[Anyname]

The real reason most people replace the bearings is that dismantling the front end and putting it back together takes long enough that replacing the bearings (fairly inexpensive) seems like a reasonable precaution.

 

[Polarbear]

Paul ditto;

They don't wear out, but service is paramnount to keep'em flying. My 377000m R100/7 has originals still in place, but I have kepot them serviced throughout its life. Most never check'em until they are indeed toasted. I have found many are still servicable, even when slightly notched, becasue the dry grease causes the feel of bearings going bad. A good cleaning and fresh grease makes a huge difference. The weight of the bikes front end goes through these bearings so a lot of weight bearing takes place in the triple clamp and even a little loose is a killer to the life of the bearings. Once a year is a good practice, servicing these or at least knowing the feel! Lots of grease today is much better than previous years grease, so shop wise. Even waterproof grease is available, many use in wheel bearings on boat trailers. It works nice too. Randy

 

[barron_williams]

I think the problem with maintaining the steering head bearings is that it is such a labor intensive task. Given a choice to pick my poison, I would rather do the spline lube.

Maybe that is just because I do the spline lube more frequently, so have the process somewhat optimized.

Randy, lubing the steering head bearings every year sounds great. Any tips you have discovered on taking all the stuff off to get to them and then putting it all back together and lining it up right that makes it easier and quicker?

Barron