89 Venture Front axle

As some of you might know, I have recently acquired an 89 Venture and am in the process of getting it going to my satisfaction. On the few rides I have taken so far, I have the dreaded steering head shake. It was quite violent at 30-40 mph if I let go of handle bars, but one hand on the bars and did not notice it. At 65 mph I could let go, but if the tire hit a bump or something, then the shake would start, slowly getting worse if not corrected. Driving with one hand it was not noticeable. Since I needed a new tire I thought that would be part of my problem

OK, remove wheel from bike...but noticed that bearings seemed rough. Took the wheel to old biker friend, yup something not right here; both bearings seemed to move at same time. Replace bearings with new ones, replaced with new tire, but when static balancing noticed the wheel would not turn freely. It appears that the spacer that occupies the space between the two bearings was a bit too long. Took 2/1000's off and things looked great, and everything turned freely. Has anyone else experienced this? We measured the depth of a few different bearings and noticed there are a few thous differences...maybe this could be the problem?

Anyway, installed wheel and torqued to 72 ft lbs. With no brake calipers on, the wheel would barely get one revolution for a strong spin by hand. I did not like this, and loosened torque to 50 lbs and get about 2.5 revolutions for a good hand spin. I did make sure that the pinch bolt is VERY tight as I did not want things to every come apart.

SO, did I do right or wrong?

One good thing, most of the steering head shake problem has gone away. There is a bit at 30 mph but nothing like it was, and there is none at highway speeds. Probably new tire helped a lot, but I can't help wondering if that spacer being too long caused a bunch of problems with the bearings...it sure made for rough feeling bearings.I feel good about turning the spacer down a bit but opinions are more than welcome. Sorry for the long post

You might need another Set of Bearings or an another Spacer.

If you Pinch the inner Races of the Bearings with the Axle they get pinched out of Place and thereby stuck. One Side of the Bearings is set to tight fit into the Rim, the other Side is made to have a somehow looser fit. You might need Force to move both Bearings but it very important that the Spacer is LONGER than the Distance on the inside of both Races.

Maybe while mouting the new Bearings you pressed the outside Races too much and thereby the Bearing were stuck.

What you can do now is to remove one Bearing, replace the Spacer and remount a new Bearing, carefully watching the Contact between Spacer and inner Race of the Bearing, Don't press it in too deep.

Ah, forget to tell you, if you plan on keeping the Bike for a longer Time, consider both new Bearings as shot ... I know, sad News.

I guess I am a little confused. In the wheel hub there are machined lips or steps against which the bearing is seated. Are you saying the spacer should be longer than the inside lip to lip distance? Are you saying I should not have set the bearings as deep to touch that lip? I do not think that the bearings and inner spacer should turn all at the same time...we could not even balance the tire in that condition. I think you said I should have left one bearing not seated as deep (say just off that lip and not touching the new spacer) and then after balancing and torquing, they would then be touching and turning together? Thanks.

You might Have to add a small amount of Torque to the Steering Head Nut.

On my 89, I added about 5 degrees of CW rotatation. That seemed to cure the

head shake. Mine started at about 50 MPH.

Also, have you Greesed the Steering Head Bearings ???

Also, check the bolts that hold the Tubes into the Steering Head. Loosen them, and Check for alignment, Retorqe to proper amount.

Is there Any chance that your Axel is bent or deformed in any way ?? Also, when Installing, rotate the Axel, see if you can find a point of " least resistance to rotation" Leave it in this position.

Thanks GeorgeS for the reply. I had planned to get to the steering head bearings next, but this axle thing has me going at the moment. I have not checked or looked at the st bearings. PO has added a grease zerk there. Aren't these supposed to be sealed bearings? Not sure why a grease zerk would be beneficial in that case.

I guess I am a little confused. In the wheel hub there are machined lips or steps against which the bearing is seated. Are you saying the spacer should be longer than the inside lip to lip distance? YES Are you saying I should not have set the bearings as deep to touch that lip? Not with all the Force your Shop Press can provide I do not think that the bearings and inner spacer should turn all at the same time...we could not even balance the tire in that condition. I know, because you seated the Bearings a bit too deep and the got locked down by the Spacer on the Outside Areas of Balls and Ball Path. I think you said I should have left one bearing not seated as deep (say just off that lip and not touching the new spacer) and then after balancing and torquing, they would then be touching and turning together? Thanks.

The Spacer should be longer than the inside Lip to Lip Distance. That's because by this Design, they ensure that the inner Races make up one compact Piece. When you look from front to rear of the Bike at the Wheel, there is from left to right, outside Spacer, Bearing Race, Spacer between the Bearings, Bearing Race and Speedo Pickup. The Axle goes through all these Parts and once you tighten the Axle down, all this Stuff is like on Piece of Metal. This assures that only the Balls inside the Bearings and the outer Races of Bearings move when the Wheel is turning.

So, what happened when you shortened out the Spacer is, that the Distance between the inner Races and the outer Races of the Bearings is not the same like it should be and the Balls and the inner Races were pressed out of Position by the Torque you applied through the Axle. Then the Wheel locked. This Pressure has left a Lot of Marks on the Balls and the Bearings and they will fail sooner or later.

We talk here only about minimal Distances, 1/1000 of an Inch makes a huge Difference.

To answer you Question, it doesn't matter if the inner Races move together while balancing the Wheel, because they do not move at when the Wheel is mounted.

How do i know all this Stuff ? I'm modifying FJR 1300 Wheels to fit in Vmaxxes and have payed some Price for these Informations. On the rear Wheel, the Design is easier to handle, because there's one Ball Bearing and a Needle Bearing which Race can move to left and right without causing Damage.

I know, my Explanation might be hard to understand. Easiest Way to explore the Setup is to sit down and make a Sketch of each Part. If you overdue the Dimensions on the Lips and the Spacer you see what i try to explain.

It doesn't matter if the outer Races touch the Lips or not, Priority One is that the inner Races touch the inside Spacer and the Bearings can turn freely.

Second Try .... imagine what would happen when you tighten the Axle without any Spacer between the Bearings. The inner Races would move towards another, because you force them into that Movement by through the Axle. Now, if you don't stop to tighten the Axle, the Balls will collapse and the inner Races will fall out into the Hub. That's was happened when you tightened the Wheel down. But dued to the, only, shorter Spacer, the Balls didn't collapse but only locked up the Wheel.

Thanks GeorgeS for the reply. I had planned to get to the steering head bearings next, but this axle thing has me going at the moment. I have not checked or looked at the st bearings. PO has added a grease zerk there. Aren't these supposed to be sealed bearings? Not sure why a grease zerk would be beneficial in that case.

Nope, these are taper Roller Bearings