I am about ready to tear down my 93 Heritage softail's front end and change the steering neck bearings, does anybody have experience doing so and are there any recommendations for the new ones? Are the stock ones good or is something like the aftermarket timken tapered ones better?

Thanks

 

Pretty sure the stock bearings were Timken back in the day. Don't know what the MoCo uses today, or where Timken manufactures their bearings.

 

Timkens are what myself and a good many I know prefer.

Now what OEMs are today I'm not sure either

WP

 

I just bought a set of timken bearings for my 1995 flstc. I'm gonna say that I like the 'feel' of them if that makes any sense. They seem solid.

 

Thanks, I think I'll order a set of the tapered timkens and try them.

 

Just out of curiosity, how many miles on your original (I assume) bearings? My first set of steering head bearings started "notching" at 80,000 miles. The replacement set is still good at 121,000 miles. Since they've been in, I grease the bearings (through he grease fitting) at every 5K service.

 

Its really low, the bike has 21k original miles...its possible they aren't worn out - maybe I just need to tighten the neck bolt - I haven't torn it down yet, but I suspect they are in bad shape as the previous owner rode it around dry and then let it sit in the elements. It had that loose feel to it where it rattled a little, and the slight weave when cornering/decelerating and the tires are balanced well/trued well.

 

This is one of those things where my "may as well" attitude kicks in.

Given the negligible cost of a new set of bearings/races, and the total PITA nature of getting to them (particularly on a faired bike), I'm planning on replacing mine as part of my winter maintenance this year.

Big Red will be around 27k miles by the time winter kicks in. AFAIK, the bearings have never been opened up from the factory.

"May as well".