Hey y'all!!

So I got my 10k service coming up, which i have every intention on doing myself and following the service manual to the T. There is one topic of discussion on the 10k list thought that I'm unfamiliar with. Other than the critical fasteners, but i'll find em, I'm just new to my Dyna

... and thats this Steering Head Bearing adjustment. I've watched a few videos floatin around the interwebs, and also I read the manual about 40,000 times. And this is the first time i'm a lil hesitant on doing any part of the service myself! On my Sportster, I never had to do this. I wouldn't have had to until the 25k service. Has anyone undertaken this? The reason I ask is i'd love an opinion on if i should skip it or not and have a pro do it. I noticed there's a few tools involved that I don't currently have (but could MAYBE finagle something in a pinch) and I'm NOT willing to buy because I'll pretty much use it once, TWICE maybe depending on how many bikes i'll own in my life. Not to mention, messing with the front fork kinna gives me the heebee-geebees...and the LAST THING any biker needs is paranoia that the front end of the bike will collapse. HAH!

Everything else on the list is cake, done it before and will do them again!

And ANOTHER question while we're on the topic... WHY THE HELL does the Dyna require this adjustment at every 10k when the Sporty doesn't need it til 25?

 

and when is this FRICKIN SNOW GUNNA MELT!!! DAMMITTTT!

 

If you are referring to the "fall away" adjustment, I have done it a couple of times on my bike. I'm sure there are some tutorials floating around on it, but it's not that difficult to do. If you have the tools for the steering stem, you can "create" the specialty stuff with some household items. Obviously, you will need a bike lift/jack system so you can get the front end in the air. What I have done to take the fall away measurements is to take a pencil and firmly attach (Tape) it to the front fender extending out the appropriate distance. Then get another item that you can sit in front of the bike that you can affix a ruler to that sits perpendicular to the bike just in front of the pencil. Find center, then tap the front wheel to one side and see how far it goes before it "falls" away. Repeat this procedure back and forth until you have the desired amount in each direction. Don't rush it and keep playing around with the bearing adjustment until you have it where you need it. Also, don't forget to remove any cables on the hand controls so that they don't put any pressure on the bars and give you incorrect readings.

I'm sure others will chime in with probably better methods, or flaming me for my simplistic system, but this is my "can-do" way of getting it done. Like I said, I've done it a couple of times and I don't have any high speed wobble and the bike rides hands free right on down the freeway. Good luck!

 

It's easy to do just lift the front off the ground and snug up the nut until you start to feel a little resistance in the steering, then back off a bit, tighten the clamp screws and ride. Not rocket science no special tools required. Takes half an hour, do it once a year and you're golden.

 

yes easy to do. construct a pointer in the center of the wheel, I use the front fender as a gauge as it is 4 inches wide. off the ground with cables off tapping the bars till they free fall. The release point is the edge of the fender.
Tighten and recheck , had to loosen mine.
Better a shade loose than tight.
Move your bars all the way after and make sure your throttle works right.

 

At the very least, put the bike on a jack, and pull the forks forward and back to see if you can feel any play. Steering head bearing races aren't always seated tight at the factory, so quite a bit of play can develop as they seat during use.

Whether you go beyond that is up to you. Harley's version of a steering damper is to adjust the bearings a little too tight.

My bikes work fine without the bearings being that tight, but one sometimes reads of people having stability problems when they aren't adjusted to have some resistance.

 

+1

I prefer mine to be a hair on the tight side. Bike feels more stable that way.

 

I tackled this last fall. I never liked the books way of doing it. I checked out the resistance before messing with anything, then did the 'by the book' adjustment and it felt too loose. Ultimately I said screw it and adjusted by feel. It's on the tighter side and I see nothing wrong with that.

Keep in mind you won't see the actual fall away resistance until the stem nut is torqued. It gets a tad tighter after torque is applied. So adjust the star nut, torque, see how it is. .rinse repeat.

If you think it's some sort of scientific measurement it isn't. Go look at the Touring SM. Their book calls for them to grab the forks and swing them left to right and look for it to bounce around 3x.

 

Yup same here. Hates the way the SM instructions were and after doing a few times I ditched that and went by feel. Rides straight as an arrow.

 

Holy crap AWESOME tips everyone! Thanks a mirrion times!

I'll definitely give this a go on my own even if loosening that stem nut makes me nervous. hah!!

This is why i love this damn forum!