Stiff Steering Head Bearings

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Iron Head
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Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Iron Head »

I'm currently recommissioning a ‘54 G80CS which has likely stood and baked in the Arizona sun for many decades. The steering head is stiff and I have pumped in what feels like pints of grease to the top and bottom races and it is getting better but not ideal. Pretty sure there is no corrosion involved but will a strip down be the only answer to investigate?

Another random thought. The bike was home to Dauber Wasps who build funny tubular nests from very fine silt. So far I have removed nests from down the exposed ends of the fuel pipes, under the magneto plate, within the folded section of the brake levers and on top of the rocker box. I hope/assume there is no way they could have gone up the steering head tube and got to the races with their silty glue?!

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alanengineer
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by alanengineer »

Head races are hard to get at the moment so i would not bodge around with them hoping they will free up.Its not a hard job to take the front end apart as long as you have the big spanners. Pumping grease in the frame will do very little.
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Rob Harknett
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Rob Harknett »

You may be able to slacken of the adjustment a bit. With a syringe, inject some oil to loosen the race up, then correctly adjust the bearings
Mick D
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Mick D »

Hi

Lubricating the steering head from the grease nipples relies on the frame being full of grease first ;)

With care you can gain access to the bearings by removing the wheel and top yoke but it's easier if you also remove the forks from the bottom yoke - but you will need an assembly tool to get the forks back into place.

Either way I'd tear it down and have a look, as Alan says, accurate bearings are unobtainable at the moment, you need to preserve what you have if they are correct.

Regards Mick
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Iron Head
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Iron Head »

Thanks for the advice guys. Rob I had thought of slackening the top nuts off tonight and seeing how it felt and your idea of injecting oil in won't do any harm.

Mick I had suspected that grease was likely filling the frame tubes. Reminded me of what an Engineer at a certain Filton-based aircraft company told me when they stripped down a main landing gear and discovered 30kgs of grease pumped into the bogie beam. Ironic when they were talking to our company about lightweighting components using our materials?!

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Rob Harknett
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Rob Harknett »

Its the centre stem steering nut the needs to be undone a bit ( after first slackening the lock nut ) Not forgetting to read adjust the bearings & tighten the lock nut when done. With the bike on its stand you should perhaps just see the top race. Take off the stand, the gap should then be seen on the bottom race.
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Iron Head
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Iron Head »

Well your diagnosis was correct Rob and I am lucky the solution was so easy. Undid the dome nut and slackened the lock nut about half a turn, worked the handlebars from lock to lock and then tightened the lock nut back up about a quarter turn and all is good. I suspect the new grease is probably now coming into effect. I did find a Mud Dauber Wasp nest in the dome nut and steering head tube!

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Rob Harknett
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Rob Harknett »

Did You notice if the bearings were clean. They may have got a bit rusty. If so this rust may clean off with use, but, this will cause the adjustment to need tightening up a bit more. It could also leave the grease mucky. Which would have been the reason why one member suggested you should dismantle and inspect. I am not sure what you saw. You may be lucky all you needed was lubrication. The same could apply in all areas of your bike. So check out your manual and service all lubrication of parts.
Dave T_LAPSED
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by Dave T_LAPSED »

Mud Daubers' daub + grease = fine grinding paste!
I think I would dismantle, clean, re-grease and mantle just for peace of mind. :)
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GOLDSTAR
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Re: Stiff Steering Head Bearings

Post by GOLDSTAR »

when I replace, clean head bearings I wipe the faces with Wynns friction proofing, or similar then use moby grease, the stuff is used for c/v joints and doesn't harden. kind regards
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