Hey guys, Was wondering about steering head bearings. How do you know without looking at them that they are shot? What does it feel like in the handling? If I replace them should I get tapered bearings?
Forget the handling. Raise the front end, not on a front stand or the lower triple will be bound up. Now, turn the bars back and forth, if you feel anything other than perfectly smooth travel, replace them. Next (or first) while the front is in the air, grab the bottoms of the fork legs then push and pull. If there is any play, adjust the nut under the top triple clamp.
I had mine replaced at Daytona in March last year. GMD said they were shot so I wanted to see what they were talking about before I threw another $100 their way. It was barely noticeable but they were shot. It was like a small flat spot when you are turing from side to side. Do it slowly and you will feel it.
Did you replace them yourself, or had GMD do it? I know some special tools may be required for this job to make things easier. Just want to know how much it costs to have GMD do the job (excluding the part cost). I do want to pay dealership price to have mine replaced.
GMD did them. It was a $100 including the bearing IIRC. They installed a tapered roller bearing instead of the ball bearing that was in there before as well. $100 probably because I was having the forks rebuilt and this was an issue that came up during installation.
Cool. I was going to say, that's very cheap. Hopefully they can hook me up for like $50 for the replacement job with me removing the wheel/forks, and providing the OEM ball bearings. The problem is I don't remember seeing them at any of the NC rounds (excluding VIR/Nashville).
