Steering head bearings check

[Totti]

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility what so ever about these instructions. Everything you do to your bike is at your own risk.

 

You need one special tool, a steering head ring nut wrench (part number 90890-01403), torque wrench that can handle from 20 to 150 Nm. For those living outside the metric system it's something like three quarters of an inch multiplied by six of eights plus tax. And of course some normal tools.

 

You should download the service manual find here in the forum. In case I misspelled something.

 

Put on some music, I chose some Finnish Death Metal: ”Havukruunu” and ”Ajattara” and also some good old ”Megadeth” and ”Ozzy Osbourne”. You can choose your own. But not rap, it's made by the devil himself.

 

Remove both side fairings and the left and right wind shields, just to get some room to work.

Remove the fender, brake calibers and the front wheel. The fender can be removed as a whole if I you remove the hose holders from both sides of the fender.

 

Remove the front forks. Loosen the pinch bolts and pull the fork downwards and twist and turn. Note that they are different on both sides. I put a mark to the fork, so it's easier to get them back to the same position.

 

 

Remove the handle bars. I did put a mark here also. Later on I noticed that this was in vain. As was the removing of the handle bars. You can remove the whole things as one unit.

 

 

Remove the handle bar holder. The nuts are bit though to get to. But no match if you have good tools. Find out that there are washers under the holder. Drop one washer somewhere around the engine and use a good ten minutes to find it. At this point you realize that it was pointless to remove the handle bars from the handle bar holder. Note the arrow inside handle bar holder. It should be facing forward.

 

 

Remove the steering stem nut and the upper bracket. Here is where you need the special tool for the ring nut(s). Remove both ring nuts, note that there is a lock washer and also a rubber washer. Hold the lower bracket so that it won't hit the floor (or your feet) when you release the lower ring nut. Remove the upper bearing.

 

 

Check both bearings and bearing races. Mine where in decent order and had even some grease left in them.  The orange stuff on the lower bracket and bearing is factory grease, not rust. Lubricate the bearings and the bearing races with soap based lithium grease (as said in the service manual).

 

 

Install the the lower bracket and the lower ring nut. First tighten the ring nut to 75 Nm. Loosen it 165 – 195 degrees and then tighten it to 7 Nm. Check that the bracket moves smoothly to the left and to the right. Install the rubber washer, upper ring nut and lock washer. The upper ring nut needs only to be finger tight.

Install the upper bracket and temporarily both fork legs (only to the lower bracket). By installing the forks you make sure that both brackets align perfectly. Tighten the steering stem nut to 148 Nm. Check that everything moves smoothly.

 

Remove the forks and install the handle bar holder and the handle bars. Install the forks. Note the position of the bleeding screw. Upper bracket pinch bolts are 23 Nm and lower 20 Nm. The tightening sequence for the pinch bolt is: Upper – lower – upper – lower.

 

Install the front wheel, brake calibers, abs sensor and the front fender. Add a new sticker to your bike.

 

Search your keys for fifteen minutes, walk home and don't forget to buy some milk.

[TimmyTheHog]

Thanks for the write up and good choice with Megadeth!

[Louis]

Hi, nice write up. Just a few questions 

1, how much is the  current tax rate?

2, is Rage Against the Machine suitable? 

3, should I get full cream milk? 

4, could you please include some details of the special tool, diameters and width of the lands and the  like? I often make my own special tools or I  may already have one but the serial numbers mean little. 

Merry  Cluster and a socially distant new year. My you spend lockdown with  a group of attractive models,  with a gender of your choice.

Edit,  you forgot to mention, wash your hands! 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Louis
Extra information

[TimmyTheHog]

Hate to ask but I am gonna...

 

What soap based lithium grease you used 

[Totti]

18 hours ago, Louis said:

Hi, nice write up. Just a few questions 

1, how much is the  current tax rate?

2, is Rage Against the Machine suitable? 

3, should I get full cream milk? 

4, could you please include some details of the special tool, diameters and width of the lands and the  like? I often make my own special tools or I  may already have one but the serial numbers mean little. 

Merry  Cluster and a socially distant new year. My you spend lockdown with  a group of attractive models,  with a gender of your choice.

Edit,  you forgot to mention, wash your hands! 

 

1. 24% here in Finland 

2. Quite okay

3. For this once 

4. Here is the picture of the special tool. Can't get any measurements now, because the tool is at the garage and I'm at home. Try to remember get them the next time I'm at the garage.

 

And also, in once in a while, collect your tools from the floor back to their original places.

[Totti]

11 hours ago, TimmyTheHog said:

Hate to ask but I am gonna...

 

What soap based lithium grease you used 

This is the grease I had at hand. Any similar will do. Going check these bearings every two years anyway.

[Oldhorse]

Did the bearings have a decent amount of grease from the factory or were they "dry"?

Thanks for the write up!

[Alpenschrauber]

On 12/24/2020 at 9:38 AM, Totti said:

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility what so ever about these instructions. Everything you do to your bike is at your own risk.

 

You need one special tool, a steering head ring nut wrench (part number 90890-01403), torque wrench that can handle from 20 to 150 Nm. For those living outside the metric system it's something like three quarters of an inch multiplied by six of eights plus tax. And of course some normal tools.

 

You should download the service manual find here in the forum. In case I misspelled something.

 

Put on some music, I chose some Finnish Death Metal: ”Havukruunu” and ”Ajattara” and also some good old ”Megadeth” and ”Ozzy Osbourne”. You can choose your own. But not rap, it's made by the devil himself.

 

Remove both side fairings and the left and right wind shields, just to get some room to work.

Remove the fender, brake calibers and the front wheel. The fender can be removed as a whole if I you remove the hose holders from both sides of the fender.

 

Remove the front forks. Loosen the pinch bolts and pull the fork downwards and twist and turn. Note that they are different on both sides. I put a mark to the fork, so it's easier to get them back to the same position.

 

 

Remove the handle bars. I did put a mark here also. Later on I noticed that this was in vain. As was the removing of the handle bars. You can remove the whole things as one unit.

 

 

Remove the handle bar holder. The nuts are bit though to get to. But no match if you have good tools. Find out that there are washers under the holder. Drop one washer somewhere around the engine and use a good ten minutes to find it. At this point you realize that it was pointless to remove the handle bars from the handle bar holder. Note the arrow inside handle bar holder. It should be facing forward.

 

 

Remove the steering stem nut and the upper bracket. Here is where you need the special tool for the ring nut(s). Remove both ring nuts, note that there is a lock washer and also a rubber washer. Hold the lower bracket so that it won't hit the floor (or your feet) when you release the lower ring nut. Remove the upper bearing.

 

 

Check both bearings and bearing races. Mine where in decent order and had even some grease left in them.  The orange stuff on the lower bracket and bearing is factory grease, not rust. Lubricate the bearings and the bearing races with soap based lithium grease (as said in the service manual).

 

 

Install the the lower bracket and the lower ring nut. First tighten the ring nut to 75 Nm. Loosen it 165 – 195 degrees and then tighten it to 7 Nm. Check that the bracket moves smoothly to the left and to the right. Install the rubber washer, upper ring nut and lock washer. The upper ring nut needs only to be finger tight.

Install the upper bracket and temporarily both fork legs (only to the lower bracket). By installing the forks you make sure that both brackets align perfectly. Tighten the steering stem nut to 148 Nm. Check that everything moves smoothly.

 

Remove the forks and install the handle bar holder and the handle bars. Install the forks. Note the position of the bleeding screw. Upper bracket pinch bolts are 23 Nm and lower 20 Nm. The tightening sequence for the pinch bolt is: Upper – lower – upper – lower.

 

Install the front wheel, brake calibers, abs sensor and the front fender. Add a new sticker to your bike.

 

Search your keys for fifteen minutes, walk home and don't forget to buy some milk.

Many thanks, Totti, great post. Do you think it would be possible to grease the bearings without removing the fork legs? Just removing the upper bracket and disassemble the ring nuts? Thanks in  advance and Merry X-Mas, Olli

 

[Totti]

23 hours ago, Oldhorse said:

Did the bearings have a decent amount of grease from the factory or were they "dry"?

Thanks for the write up!

They had some grease in them. I think that enough for two years or so. Just get through the warranty time. But as we have seen the differences in the amout of grease in the linkage bearings, I think it's the same here, some have grease and some don't.

[Totti]

59 minutes ago, Alpenschrauber said:

Many thanks, Totti, great post. Do you think it would be possible to grease the bearings without removing the fork legs? Just removing the upper bracket and disassemble the ring nuts? Thanks in  advance and Merry X-Mas, Olli

 

It is possible. You need something (maybe a mirror and small wrench) to get to the nuts holding the handle bar holder. Then you can remove the upper bracket and after that the lower bracket and the forks as a whole. But I think that it is faster and much easier when you get the forks out of the way. The handle bar holder nuts were a bit pain in the a&& to get to even with the forks were out of the way. 

Edited December 26, 2020 by Totti
typo

[ADVUSA]

On 12/26/2020 at 12:13 PM, Totti said:

It is possible. You need something (maybe a mirror and small wrench) to get to the nuts holding the handle bar holder. Then you can remove the upper bracket and after that the lower bracket and the forks as a whole. But I think that it is faster and much easier when you get the forks out of the way. The handle bar holder nuts were a bit pain in the a&& to get to even with the forks were out of the way. 

Gents,  if I'm riding light and 90/10 road and don't feel comfortable doing the bearing maintenance say around 9k  (only 2k now)

 

1) Do I really need to do this ?

2) can I want until some day when the bearing 'might twitch'

3) If you say I really need to do this, can I trust the dealer to not mess up my bike?

 

[whisperquiet]

2 hours ago, ADVUSA said:

Gents,  if I'm riding light and 90/10 road and don't feel comfortable doing the bearing maintenance say around 9k  (only 2k now)

 

1) Do I really need to do this ?

2) can I want until some day when the bearing 'might twitch'

3) If you say I really need to do this, can I trust the dealer to not mess up my bike?

 

1.  It won’t hurt…..going to do mine shortly around 13,000 miles.

2.  Yes, then you can install new races and bearings at an inopportune time.

3.  Absolutely not.

[w_popov]

Quote

Tighten the steering stem nut to 148 Nm

This is not very much for aluminium nut?

Edited January 9, 2023 by w_popov

[wb22rules]

Did mine today, was surprised to see the factory had greased them well, unlike the rear suspension linkage and wheel bearings I repacked last winter.

I tried to leave the fork tubes in the lower clamp, and after removing the nut and upper bearing and having set them aside I went to lower it out. I had forgotten the brake line holder on the bottom clamp, I could not get the assembly back into place to put the bearing and nut back on with just one hand, luckily there was someone else in the garage who I called over or I am pretty sure I would have  fubared a brake line.

So I would remove the tubes just to make things easier for removing and installing, both tubes weigh a bit much for one arm to completely control.

The only "problem" was trying to remove the 27mm nut on top without having removed the handlebars, a normal socket was too tall, but I used my Rally Raid Axle tool and a 19mm open end for leverage which worked well.

[Revy]

I really dont want to pack grease into brand new bearing on a brand new bike. I plan to use it mostly for on-road sunny days as a I do have a dedicated offroad bike. 

I've had to replace every bearing on my ktm 300, except the steering stem bearing, so hopefully this one of those jobs I'll never have to touch