Steering Head play

pollo · May 12, 2009

Hello all,
I thought I would share with you today my new cool tool. It's a Snap on
adjustable 3/8 crows foot wrench. It's got inch and mm settings for a maximum
opening of 1 1/8. Good enough to adjust the steering head nut on our Husabergs
which is 27 mm or 1 1/16. I just did a minor snug up recently as it had a little play. Only the second time in 2 years. And then it was just a slight turn of the adjuster.
Of course I didn't tighten up the lower adjuster. Just removed a little play.
You all must know that the handle bars cover the nut partially to prevent getting
a socket on that nut. So instead of taking off my Scotts Damper and bars I use the
crows foot to finish up the tork setting on the nut. I must not be the only one
t do this as it saves a lot of time.
So here's the pic. The part # is ADCF8. Made in Spain for Snap On.

Pollo

awilksch · May 12, 2009

Yep, my old man has made them from spare spanners for special purpose jobs, but instead of the square drive hole being cut in, you weld a half a socket onto the stub end so that your ratchet or bar extension fits.

Azza

Sutto's · May 13, 2009

Did you know? Your rear axle spanner supplied in your genuine tool kit fits this nut, normally without removing bars etc.
Regards
Sutto

wildman · May 13, 2009

Hey Pollo, when I got my FE550 it had seized steering head bearings at 20hrs. I put this down to the lack of of grease supplied from new & bad pressure washing technique. Once you have a spare hour, drop the forks & pull it completely apart & re-grease the bearings as they may be wearing out prematurely, thus creating the play.

pollo · May 13, 2009

Thanks Wildman,
In fact I will probably relace bearings this year with new. I have 96 hours. I had replaced them on my CR 500 before.
They had developed a click and started hanging up as a result of dry bearings.
For now, all seems well and smooth again, but I don't want to keep snugging them up.
If they go loose again anytime soon, their coming apart.

Pollo

SuperMotoMike · May 13, 2009

I think my bearings are shot or getting there anyway. I have some play in the stearing head and I have snugged down the top nut. How difficult is it to replace them?

pollo · May 13, 2009

From what I remember it is relatively simple. They do make a special tool to tap in the races evenly. I didnt use one. After having the forks off and steering stem out I just used a hammer and long steel punch to tap out the old races. I then greased up and very carefully inserted the new ones evenly from what I remember.
It's been 5 years. I may get the tool for the Husaberg.
One thing I did notice from the Doc was that tightening the Steering Stem nut was noted as (Difficult).
It went on to say pinch the nut down and then back off 1/4 turn or to 20nm. Interesting. Can we get some feedback here. How do most of us do this?. I happened to follow the Doc on this one and pinched it down not super tight and then backed it off and left it a little tighter than the 20nm.
Why is this noted as difficult? Can someone say? I have some ideas.

Pollo

awilksch · May 13, 2009

The tool for removing the bearing cup is nothing more than a piece of steel tube with one end cut into quaters with each piece flared out slightly, you pull the tool in through the opposite side of the steering head and the flared parts of the tube open out, locking behind the bearing cup, then you drive the cup out with a hammer.

you can make the tool out of some scrap steel pipe in a couple of minutes witha hacksaw or small angle grinder.

to drive new bearing cups in, you just use a equal or slightly larger size socket and tap them in gently, with some retaining compound or never seez.

Azza

wildman · May 15, 2009

When I removed mine & took the shaft out of the triple clamp & used a dolly ( copper or soft metal rod ) to gently tap the inner race off the shaft working around it in small increments. Everytime I have to replace any bearings ( especially wheel ) I keep the old outers & grind them down until they slip into the where they came form very easily & then use them to tap the new ones into place. Saves buying or making any special tools as you've already got them there. My toolbox is full of outer cases from all sorts of bearing so I just sort through until I find the one I'm looking for. Hope this helps.

bushmechanic · May 15, 2009

I would call it difficult cause the blooday things take about 15 hours to settle in properly

from new my bikes lower head stem bearing wasn't seated properly I just kept nipping it up till I lost the ally nut off the top one ride took it apart and gave the bearings a good thumping with a drift it was about 1.5mm off being installed properly, found the nut on a berm a few days later.

awilksch · May 15, 2009

Yep, what your referring to wal is the drift im talking about, but you dont have to tap around the outside of the race outer (what i referr to as the cup, you just get it in place and drive it out. The accurately machined (im sure) bearing race remover tool pushes on 4 sides of the race cup all at once when you drive it out, so theres no chance of a knucklehead going too hard with a brass drift or the like going too hard on one side of the race and stretching the head stem tube.

Bushie, how did you loose the nut? the bearing constantly snugging up and the nut coming loose as a result? crazy?! but i love using loctite threadlock on most things (i admit to being slack with locktite on the Berg, only cos I ran out).

Azza.

steve · May 15, 2009

I have yet to replace my Berg ones, but a brass drift will normally get the old outers out of the frame. On some frames there is no bearing 'lip' exposed to tap so in this case I weld some scrap steel across the race and tap it. The welding also tends to shrink the race so it comes out easy. I've even had them fall out after just welding a bead around them. The inner on the steering stem tends to get attacked carefully with a small angle grinder and cold chisel. I install like Wal, use an old bearing.

Steve

SuperMotoMike · May 16, 2009

Are the steering head bearings the same as KTM?

pollo · May 16, 2009

Just as a reminder Mike. There are 2 nuts to deal with here. I didn't know if you have followed the procedure, but as in my first post here it is for any to see.
After loosening top triple clamp screws and top steering stem nut you snug up the lower notched nut to remove play without torquing it down. Then you torque the top nut back down to 20nm along with the top triple clamp screws at 20nm.
It's similar to a typical bicycle. Most of us can remember tightening that lower adjuster
by hand on our bicycles when we had play and then the upper stem nut with a wrench.

Polo

SuperMotoMike · May 17, 2009

Thanks pollo, I did snug up the lower nut and there is still some play. Looks like I'll be replacing the bearings. Anyone ever use All Balls brand bearings? The kit is pretty cheap compared to oem.

wildman · May 18, 2009

I've used them to replace the ones in my 06 FE550 & they worked fine. Make sure you order the right ones as they're different from the 07 onwards. ID was different if my memory serves me correct ( memory not that good so check :roll: )

SuperMotoMike · May 18, 2009

Thanks, I've ordered the All Balls kit, part # 22-1032 which their website says fits my 2006.

SuperMotoMike · May 22, 2009

Anyone know how/where to get a replacement rubber seal that goes under the bottom stem bearing? They are not listed on the parts list and didn't come with the bearing kit I ordered.

SuperMotoMike · May 22, 2009

I just replaced mine and it was very easy. I used one of these

to get the old bearing off of the stem and used a 1" piece of pvc pipe to pound the new one on. Took about 10 minutes. For the races I used long piece of aluminum rod to knock the old ones out and one of these

to install the new ones. Steering is nice and smooth now :greenjumpers:

pollo · Jun 7, 2009

Im getting a play click when I grab the front brake suddenly.
Everything seems ok except a very small amount of play with
the steering stem.It doesn't seem enough to match the
feel when I grab the brake, but then again those brakes are
strong. Anyone else experiance this?
Might be time for new bearings as they won't snug much more.
I was even thinking it was fork springs at first because the head
play seemed minimal

Pollo

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