Steering Head Bearings Hint

Here is a shortcut to check the amount of grease in your steering head bearings.

 

The problem here is that the service interval for re-greasing the steering head bearings is every 16,000 miles, but on the RSV, the amount of work it takes (and therefore, MONEY it takes) to access these bearings is HUGE! And it gets exponentially worse if someone has added a bunch of accessories and new wiring inside the fairing. The entire fairing, both outer shell and inner shell, must be removed before the top triple tree can be removed to access the bearing lock nuts. And to remove the inner fairing, you have to totally disconnect every single wire, plug and component inside the fairing! In fact, this whole process is supposedly required to simply ADJUST the steering head bearings, but thankfully we have documented a quick and easy shortcut to sneak underneath and adjust them without removing a single part.

 

But back to the problem at hand - it is a full day's work to properly strip everything to drop the forks out of the steering head and inspect/de-grease the bearings. But I think I have found a relatively easy way to at least check the top bearing without going through the entire process. After splitting the fairing, the inner fairing can be unbolted by simply removing two nuts behind the top of the headlight and two socket-head bolts, one on either side of the bottom of the headlight. Once these are removed the fairing can be pulled several inches forward without disconnecting any of the wires, enough to fully access the top triple tree. With someone to hold the fairing, you could remove the triple tree and the top bearing without much more effort. Certainly the top bearing can be inspected and greased in this way, and if it looks like the bearings really need to be serviced, you could then just put the inner fairing back on the two studs and proceed to disconnect all the stuff needed to properly remove the forks.

 

It seems possible that with enough care (and probably three people), one might even lower the forks enough in the steering head to access and grease the lower bearing this way. I think I am ready to try and make a video of this process if I can find a couple of folks willing to spend a day helping me through it.

Goose

Has anyone came up with a substitute to for the steering head wrench, other than the Yamaha special tool ?

 

Gary

There are lots of options for that special tool - they are most commonly called C-spanners. Unfortunately I cannot give you a source - I have collected several of these over the years. The most useful is a universal type with a hinge in the middle that will work effectively on just about any size of ring nut. Other options include strap wrenches, chain wrenches, large water-pump pliers, or simply a punch and a hammer. The biggest drawback of most of these is that they cannot be used with a torque wrench, so you have to be able to appropriately judge both the initial bearing pre-load and the final light torque settings. This is not difficult if you have the experience, but it is not something you should just guess at!

Goose

Goose after things settle from Debs Mom passing I will help you do whatever to learn how to do it. Give me a month or so..Thanks,Tom

I need to at least lubricate my head bearings this spring on my 88VR. Does anyone have similar advice for lubricating or replacing these bearings on a 1st gen?

I remove the outer fairing, unbolt the inner fairing and let it hang with a rope from an eye-bolt in the garage ceiling. You can pull it forward and let it hang and have room to do the job. You can also drop the forks low enough to inspect and grease the lower bearing. Works fine.

I remove the outer fairing, unbolt the inner fairing and let it hang with a rope from an eye-bolt in the garage ceiling. You can pull it forward and let it hang and have room to do the job. You can also drop the forks low enough to inspect and grease the lower bearing. Works fine.

 

Are you saying that you can inspect and apply a bit of grease without unplugging all the wires ?

 

Obviously this would not be pulling the bearing off and inspecting them properly, correct.

 

Brad

Goose, I will help with the video.

Are you saying that you can inspect and apply a bit of grease without unplugging all the wires ?

 

Obviously this would not be pulling the bearing off and inspecting them properly, correct.

 

Brad

 

Yes, you can completely remove the top bearing and also drop the front enough to get to the lower bearing and repack it in place without unhooking any wires.

I remove the outer fairing, unbolt the inner fairing and let it hang with a rope from an eye-bolt in the garage ceiling. You can pull it forward and let it hang and have room to do the job. You can also drop the forks low enough to inspect and grease the lower bearing. Works fine.

 

Pictures or more detailed decription??

How big a job is it? Let me know how long it would take for you to do it so I can double (or triple) that time to figure how long it might take me.

 

Ross

Sorry, I don't have any pictures. I did at one time but have lost them over the years. Rick Butler and I did mine in my garage when I lived in Dallas almost 10 years ago. It is a pretty big job though. Even doing it my way, hanging the fairing and not unhooking any of the wires, it was still a 5 to 6 hour job if I remember correctly.

I did what Don did. A big PITA sorry no pics from me either. 5 hour job give or take. My fairings are apart for my speed-o replacement so will try to get pics this week. Rod

Yes, you can completely remove the top bearing and also drop the front enough to get to the lower bearing and repack it in place without unhooking any wires.

 

Thanks. I would prefer to remove the bearings completely but depending on how much time I have this may be a pretty good alternative.

 

Brad

I remove the outer fairing, unbolt the inner fairing and let it hang with a rope from an eye-bolt in the garage ceiling. You can pull it forward and let it hang and have room to do the job. You can also drop the forks low enough to inspect and grease the lower bearing. Works fine.

There ya go.

If ya not sure, you should always consult the boss!

(If'n he don't know - knobody knows!)

Thanks. I would prefer to remove the bearings completely but depending on how much time I have this may be a pretty good alternative.

 

Brad

You can take out the top bearing either way, and you are not going to get the lower bearing off the shaft without destroying it. But fully removing the forks certainly makes it easier to properly clean and re-grease the lower bearing. On the last one I did, there was plenty of grease and dirt built up under that lower bearing that needed to be carefully removed before repacking the bearing - that would have been near impossible to effectively do if the shaft was just lowered a bit in the triple tree.

 

Despite my original post in this thread, after doing a couple of these, I really do not think removing the inner fairing is that much more work on a stock RSV. All the plugs are unique, so the only thing even remotely difficult about it is remembering which wires to route to which side of the fairing. It would be much more involved and difficult to rig up a mechanism in the garage to suspend the fairing and forks after just lowered them a bit. Now if the fairing is full of custom wiring and gauges, that might change my opinion a bit.

Goose

Edited January 26, 2010 by V7Goose

Goose absolutely this is the best way and that was one concern I had, but I also had the impression that removing the fairing was a lot of work.

 

Liked this thread as this is one thing, I definitely wanted to complete before riding season.

 

Thanks

 

Brad

Don't get me wrong, this is a big job that takes many hours, but once you are in there to the point you remove the nuts and bolts securing the inner fairing, the only thing that keeps it form just coming off is all them wire bundles, so it is not too much more to cut a bunch of zip ties and unplug the wires. It seems worse than it is, especially the first time.

Goose

I remove the outer fairing, unbolt the inner fairing and let it hang with a rope from an eye-bolt in the garage ceiling. You can pull it forward and let it hang and have room to do the job. You can also drop the forks low enough to inspect and grease the lower bearing. Works fine.

 

Don, good to know!!! Thought about trying this while we were lowering the front end of my scoot at the TX MD, last weekend, but no one knew for sure that the steering bearings are caged.

We decided if they weren't, we didn't wanna be chasing 2 dozen BBs.

 

BTW, with the quality help that was there, it only took 3+ hours to lower my bike. It may be 10% mechanical and 90% between my ears, but the bike REALLY handles and corners better at slow speed. Thanks Squid, Gunboat, Donde, Thom and anyone else that was involved!!!

The best tool to tighten the steering head bearing is a Plumber's basin wrench with a square handle, that way you can use you torque wrench.

 

Darryl

(AKA) Brick

The best tool to tighten the steering head bearing is a Plumber's basin wrench with a square handle, that way you can use you torque wrench.

 

Darryl

(AKA) Brick

This seems like a really great idea. I had never seen one with a square handle beofre, but a little search of the internet just turned up this one: Mintcraft 5547609 for $7.

 

I see one potential problem with this tool - since these wrenches are intended for a max nut size of 1 1/8" (which seems to be maybe a little smaller than the bearing ring nuts), and they do not have a pawl to engage one of the ring nut notches, it's quite possible the wrench will not grip well enough to apply the initial 36 ft lbs of torque needed to pre-load those bearings. But with a welder it might be a simple job to add a pawl to the end of the jaw - I think that is worth a try if you want one of these tools.

 

And here is another thought if you cannot find one with a square handle - take one of the more common round-handle wrenches, cut the handle short and use a file or grinder to make it square. Or better yet, use a die to cut threads on the round shaft and put on a couple of large nuts (you will need two to lock them in place). The benefit of this last option is that you can use a six-point socket on the shaft instead of a 12-point, greatly improving the contact area and lessening the chance that you round off the square points with 36 lbs of torque. I think the risk is high of rounding a square shaft, even at that relatively low torque, since I doubt if the handle of a plumber's wrench will be made of hardened tool steel.

Goose

In reality, are you guys checking this every 16000 miles? It appears to me that for this much work, Yamaha would have put in a grease fitting like Harley does. But then again, why don't they have hydraulically adjusted valves so you don't have to check them every 26000 miles...

UP DATE I had a problem with the 3 RSV I tried this on see page 3 for details

 

 

 

well I put a grease zerk in mine left side in the middle just like I have done on all bikes I have owned(last one was a goldwing 110,811 and never had the bearings out),It took about 45 minutes (Yes I verified it the same bearing and seal set up as used on Harley's, and goldwing also the same set up used on S-CAMS on the brakes of large trucks and buses which go 300,000 -500,000 miles before rebuild).

 

The Pos is that I can lube mine in 5 min, less chance of damaging the faring and paint.and most important more riding time

The Neg a little messier to clean up and you can not inspect the bearing but a well greased Bearing really does not need frequent inspection.

 

Also put Zerk's in the long bolts of the rear shock absorber relay arm pivot (they handle the most load). You can not do this in the short ones as they are a sleeved bearing.

Edited January 30, 2010 by short-haul
Found a problem

well I put a grease zerk in mine left side in the middle just like I have done on all bikes I have owned(last one was a goldwing 110,811 and never had the bearings out),It took about 45 minutes (Yes I verified it the same bearing and seal set up as used on Harley's, and goldwing also the same set up used on S-CAMS on the brakes of large trucks and buses which go 300,000 -500,000 miles before rebuild).

QUOTE]

I was wondering about lubrication before I saw your post. My bike is a 1st gen - 88VR. Any reason why this would not be possible and work on a 1st gen? Where should the grease fitting be located for best results?

UP DATE I had a problem with the 3 RSV I tried this on see page 3 for details

 

 

 

 

I do not know for sure but all I have torn down: Honda, Kawasaki ,Triumph ,and Norton were set up the same the seals are dust and moisture seal meant to kept stuff out so the grease will push out with out damaging the seal

 

I locate the Zerk in the middle on the opposite side of the serial # so I do not damage the #

on Harley's I put it in fount and use a high pressure hose about 6" long with the Zerk on the end on the Goldwing it was a 9" hose the faring was mounted to the frame and had to pull it once then I could grease it through the hose

 

on my 04 RSV I did not need the hose as I have axes to the frame I will post some PIT this weekend

 

when you grease them add grease till it come out at top and bottom around seal wipe off axes the first time it will about 6 oz after that it will only take 2-3 pumps of the grease gun

Edited January 30, 2010 by short-haul
found a problem

I do not know for sure but all I have torn down: Honda, Kawasaki ,Triumph ,and Norton were set up the same the seals are dust and moisture seal meant to kept stuff out so the grease will push out with out damaging the seal

 

I locate the Zerk in the middle on the opposite side of the serial # so I do not damage the #

on Harley's I put it in fount and use a high pressure hose about 6" long with the Zerk on the end on the Goldwing it was a 9" hose the faring was mounted to the frame and had to pull it once then I could grease it through the hose

 

on my 04 RSV I did not need the hose as I have axes to the frame I will post some PIT this weekend

 

when you grease them add grease till it come out at top and bottom around seal wipe off axes the first time it will about 6 oz after that it will only take 2-3 pumps of the grease gun

That sounds good but to install a Zerk fitting don’t you have to drill and tap a hole and won’t that drop metal filings inside the frame and on the lower bearings??