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Forks Loose?


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I FINALLY took the time to check the steering stem nuts and once again they were loose, barely finger tight.   I do not have the spanner or pin wrench, so I just tap the nuts with a drift pin until I thought they were tight enough.  But appears that I am not getting them tight enough.   Time to try again.

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Okay, got them tightened-up.  Went for a short ride and can sure feel the difference.  I think I got them too tight, so will try again and loosen them up a bit.  Problem is trying to hold the bottom nut still when tightening the lock nut down and getting the notches lined-up....need another set of hands....or the proper tool.

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Nailed It!

Made the nuts a tad bit looser and got it!  Sooo much nicer now.  I would say the tightening of the stem bearings is the same as the chain....a bit loose is better than too tight.

Anyways since air temp is going to be over 100°F today and for the upcoming week, VFR is going to be parked.

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On 4/9/2018 at 4:28 PM, Terry said:

I don't disagree that steering heads never get any maintenance, I'm certainly guilty of ignoring mine until something felt amiss. At that point I've found that the lower head races are dented slightly and that leads to the notchy feel and lack of smooth transition from side to side. I can't say whether more frequent greasing would have prevented that but I suspect not. Longevity is one area where a tapered bearing is likely to be superior to a ball bearing, as the contact area of the rollers is much greater than that of the balls, so I expect it would be much harder to cause any denting.

 

I've consistently used AllBalls bearings in my last 4 bikes without any issues at all. They certainly need a fine touch when it comes to adjusting the tension, and I can speak from personal experience that too tight makes for an "interesting" ride experience...

 

I do most of my own maintenance but it’s getting that too many bikes in the garage leave some unattended to. My VFR is still one of my favorite and I’ve had 2 over time. I’ve a brand new chain and sprockets as well as new SS brake lines sitting in a box but after cleaning and adjusting the old chain, I think I’ll wait a bit. As for adjusting steering head bearings, the factory manual has the best method and works well. I like the idea of the tapered bearings but I think the spacing is a bit off and they don’t seal out dirt and water quite as well.

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