Influenced Steering

[Guest hougy]

Yo.

While riding, I notice that my steering has a minor influence to be straight. What I mean by that is, when I lift of the front end (in my garage, mind you) and turn the steering left and right, I feel a little hesitation when the steering is straight. This worries me a little because I don't have true freedom of movement if I go from left to right, and vice versa.

My mechanic said it is a washer that Honda is known for, that causes the hesitation when the steering is straight. He stated he has to take off the entire steering column to get to it, and take it out and replace it with one that won't have that hesitation.

Is this a valid cure for the slight hesitation I am getting?

[Tightwad]

Sounds like the head bearings have worn a detent, or low spot, in them. Fairly common in general, as most of the pressure is on this point, not sure how common with the VFR.

[vfrcapn]

It sounds like the steering head bearings, original are ball bearings, are worn. Over time little impressions are made in the races that cause the symptom you describe. Replace them with some roller bearings, upper and lower, from a company like All Balls. The kit is around $40. I'm not aware of any 'washer' that causes that unless he means the dust seal and I don't know how that would cause the straight ahead drag. The procedure is the same, remove the front end and steering stem, replace the bearings, races and dust seals, they're all included in the kit.

[HispanicSlammer]

how to install tapered roller bearings

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...;showarticle=36

[SEBSPEED]

All Balls tapered roller bearing kit is $29.99 from Dennis Kirk. :dry:

[Guest]

All Balls tapered roller bearing kit is $29.99 from Dennis Kirk. :dry:

It all looks pretty simple for me to do myself, I'll hit it up after I move back to Georgia and have my full tool chest at hand.

Thanks!

[Baileyrock]

All Balls tapered roller bearing kit is $29.99 from Dennis Kirk. :dry:

It all looks pretty simple for me to do myself, I'll hit it up after I move back to Georgia and have my full tool chest at hand.

Thanks!

Easy fix and thanks for your Service! :fing02:

[enzed_viffer]

It's definitely the head bearings - mine was exactly the same, which made it reluctant to turn into corners - there was a slight hesitation before the bike tipped in.

Note that after you've fitted the new bearings, you may need to check and re-adjust them after you've put a few miles on the bike and they've bedded in.

[Guest]

A word of caution: I had this situation happen years ago when I raced Superbikes. It can cause a wobble at speed than can result in a very nasty tank slapper. Totalled out my race bike because of this.

That is why I hate ball bearings in the steering stem. I was really disappointed when I learned that Honda still uses them. I've replaced the ones in my VFR and ST1300 both with the All Balls tapered roller bearings. Peace of mind as well as tightens up the handling.