steering head bearings

There nothing special about it.
The claw will fit most Yamaha models ie. it fits my FJR 01, RD350B 75 and RD400C 76 so you should be able to get one cheap.

Also I would be surprised if they need replacing, repack and torque first.

Thanks Woody, but if you felt what i felt turning the bars when the bike was jacked up getting new tyres fitted, you would also think something is very wrong.

But i hope you are right about the re pack

Aussie Johnno

Aussie Johnno said:

Thanks Woody, but if you felt what i felt turning the bars when the bike was jacked up getting new tyres fitted, you would also think something is very wrong.

But i hope you are right about the re pack

Aussie Johnno

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What are you feeling? Every other bike that I've ever owned for any length of time with balls and races beat little dents in the races over time. My 'oldwing got so bad I could push the front wheel just a little right or left on a stand, and it'd self-center itself.

Aussie Johnno said:

Hi Guys,
anybody have that special spanner for the steering head that I could borrow.
Seems my bearings have seen better days
Aussie Johnno

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Aussie Johnno,

Sorry, no spanner here, but if you are planning to replace the steering head bearings, you might consider getting tapered roller bearings, which would be a great improvement over stock bearings, for little extra cost. Somebody here had a number for the excellent Timken bearings, but even the lesser brands are better than stock. You should find some good procedures for removing the old races, also, because they can be trouble, without some good tricks. COPY and PASTE each one of these two lines (complete) into your Google search engine:
steering bearings site:http://www.fjrowners.com
steering bearings site:http://www.fjrforum.com
to get all the links you want. (Google will search only the one web site, for each line.)

Cheers,
Red

Mr_ Ed, yes the steering Self Centres, but is also not a smooth arc from side to side.

And the bike has an unbelievable vibration so much that I was within an inch of trading it in this week.

My hands go numb after 20 kilometres, yes 20 not 200

And I though stupidly new tyres would make a difference, was I wrong.

And so to the bearings this weekend.

Aussie Johnno

Aussie Johnno said:

Mr_ Ed, yes the steering Self Centres, but is also not a smooth arc from side to side.

And the bike has an unbelievable vibration so much that I was within an inch of trading it in this week.

My hands go numb after 20 kilometres, yes 20 not 200

And I though stupidly new tyres would make a difference, was I wrong.

And so to the bearings this weekend.

Aussie Johnno

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Sounds like it's time.

Aussie Johnno said:

the bike has an unbelievable vibration so much that I was within an inch of trading it in this week. My hands go numb after 20 kilometres, yes 20 not 200.
Aussie Johnno

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Aussie Johnno,

Chances are, a Throttle Body Sync (TBS) will cure most of the vibration problem. Do the job at idle speed, and at 3000~4000 RPM, then check back here. Once that is done, you may want to add Bar End Weights, to polish out the last little vibrations which may remain. Throttlemeister makes a bar end weight and throttle lock assembly, with a heavyweight option. There are several makers of plain bar end weights and generally. heavier is better.

Steering bearings are very important, of course, but I doubt they will help much with a vibration issue.

Cheers,
Red

http://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/shb/shb.html

My first Wing (used GL1100) had races so bad you had to push past the detents.

Just google "fjr tapered roller bearings".

Plenty of hits on where to get and how to install tapered roller bearings.

bounce said:

My first Wing (used GL1100) had races so bad you had to push past the detents.

Click to expand...

And that makes for really crappy-feeling handling.

Where can I get this spanner? My 1st 600-mile service is coming up and I like to do it myself. The owner manual did specify 'check for steering bearing looseness'. I haven't got my FSM yet. Is this easy to do to retorque the bearing? I have the torque wrenches and other metric tools.

The head stem bearing is a easy job. I bought a set of tapered bearings but did not install because I was not happy with them not sitting flush with the top of the stem.

Cleaned and repacked the OEM bearings and now very smooth

Also did the throttle body sync and they were way out, bought back into balance, now just need to test ride

Aussie Johnno

Yamaha and K&L part numbers are shown on the photo of the tool on the referenced web link in post #9 of this thread.

Well took her for a shake down ride this afternoon, nearly feels like a new bike, the severe vibrations nearly all gone.
New tyres (angel gt's) throttle body and head stem.
But I still think I will invest in some heavier bar end weights

Aussie Johnno

The heavy bar ends made a difference for me. I used throttlemeister but you may want to consider another non-locking brand as you don't need it with cruise. I suggest heavy ones as they took out my bar vibration.

Just as an aside, I had the equivalent bearings/races get all shot in the propeller of my airplane about 5 years ago. This is what's known as a constant-speed prop, where there is a governor to keep the speed constant as you increase/increase throttle. Well, the blades would pop between detents and overspeed or react to every throttle movement with a change in power, like a fixed-pitch prop. Cost me $6 K to get repaired.

And I've driven a bike with this malady. I don't see how anyone rides a bike like this, with those built-in click-stops. What a hassle.

Rich Doyle said:

Just as an aside, I had the equivalent bearings/races get all shot in the propeller of my airplane about 5 years ago. This is what's known as a constant-speed prop, where there is a governor to keep the speed constant as you increase/increase throttle. Well, the blades would pop between detents and overspeed or react to every throttle movement with a change in power, like a fixed-pitch prop. Cost me $6 K to get repaired.

And I've driven a bike with this malady. I don't see how anyone rides a bike like this, with those built-in click-stops. What a hassle.

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It comes on so slowly that sometimes you just don't realize it. I've had that happen a time or two, and after changing the bearing I realized how bad it had been.

Aussie Johnno said:

The head stem bearing is a easy job. I bought a set of tapered bearings but did not install because I was not happy with them not sitting flush with the top of the stem.

Cleaned and repacked the OEM bearings and now very smooth

Also did the throttle body sync and they were way out, bought back into balance, now just need to test ride

Aussie Johnno

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Repack & Torgue normally does the job.
That the problem with Tapers they are generally taller when fitted so there will be less of the stem thread sticking out to use. Also the rake & trail is slightly altered which quickens the steering.

I'm glad you got sorted Johnno.