Steering head bearing story '86 K75S

[35634]

My steering developed a notch in the straight ahead position last year. Somewhat intimidated by all the presses and drifts mentioned in the manual I put off doing anything until the end of the riding season, figuring if I screwed it up I'd have all winter to fix it.

I dived into it last week, and happy to say it wasn't so bad. Only special tool I bought was a $12 Harbor Freight heat gun to heat the new inner bearings. Used the dremel to notch the old race on the stem, whacked it with a hammer and it cracked right off! (saw that trick in IBMWR tech section) The outer races in the frame punched out easily with the big Irwin screwdriver. Froze the new outer races before installing, went in easily. Froze the steering stem and heated up the inner bearing, it dropped on perfectly. Re-greased the fluidbloc with stop cock grease and put it all back together. Success! Now it looks like we're going to get another week of decent weather to enjoy my notchless steering.

My advice to anyone pondering whether to tackle a repair job, read up on it, take stock of you abilities and if it seems at all feasible go for it. The money saved is almost a good as the satisfaction in a job well done.

Here is a shot of all the exotic tools I needed.

 

[sleeper]

Thanks for the info

Very nice that you are proactively sharing your experience. I've got a little over a year's experience with my very first bike, K75RT, and have been slowly wading into ever deeper water out in my garage. Through curiosity and/or necessity, this forum has helped me get through a clutch and drive spline lube, remove-mount-balance new tires, battery replacement, fix an annoying hi-beam situation with the headlight switch, make an easy fix to what seemed to be a serious problem with the cooling fan, and replace the brake pads / fluid. This spring I expect to do my first coolant change and replace all the rubber associated with it. Also, will probably do the fuel pump damper proactively as well after reading too much about that problem on this site. Usually it is either a cry for help (me or someone else) that brings the info. I like your approach of sharing immediately what works for you.

 

[tourunigo]

I got the same sense of personal achievement when I did that job on our 1992 K1100LT. Lots of Tupperware, tubes and wires to put back but it all worked just fine. Used the same tools as you did. Did the job in the winter so shop was quite cold (as useful in some aspects of the job). Saved a bunch of $ in the process. In my 'mind's eye' I envisioned the BMW shop and said . Magic is no longer magic once you know how it works eh? - Bob

 

[lostandwandering]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am contemplating doing the job with mine in the next couple weeks but it has remained warm & dry enough to keep riding. I don't notice any particular problem with mine but figure at 23 years they could use some attention.
How long did it take you to do the job? What was the condition of your fluidbloc damper? Did you use bearings from BMW or get them from a bearing supply?

 

[35634]

Got the bearings from Chicago BMW. Working leisurely, about 3 hours taking everything apart, maybe 4 hours cleaning, doing the bearings, & some misc. maintenance, then about 5 hours putting it all back together, bleeding the brakes, and chasing down nuts and washers intent on running away. The fluidblock seemed to be in fine shape. Cleaned all the old grease out it with a small flat screwdriver and a toothbrush. If you need grease for it PM me, used Dow Corning Stopcock as recommended and it only takes about a teaspoon to pack the block.

 

[deilenberger]

Please ADD the year/model of your bike to the thread title. It makes it easier to spot threads people may have something to contribute to - and easier in the future for people to spot threads that may have something of use to them in the thread. I've added it to your thread.. I'm assuming it's an '86 K75S from your sig.