- hi.

- had some time today , so decided to adjust the head bearings
(loose , and when braking hard , can feel movement).

- the factory manual's instructions are wrong. Ie , the manual
doesn't advice to loosen the UPPER triple tree's single pinch bolt.
Its the one near the head's main adjustment bolt.

- the manual only says to loosen the LOWER triple tree's two
pinch bolts.

- wrong. If you follow the manual and then try to tighten the
head adjustment bolt , nothing will happen. The head adjustment
bolt cannot defeat the upper tree's single pinch bolt.

- in actual fact , you'll need to loosen 3 pinch bolts , ie , the
two at the lower triple tree and one at the upper triple tree.

.

- anyhow , there is a flat spot (in the usual dead ahead position)
in the head bearing's movement. Shoot.

- is replacing the head bearings difficult ?

cheers and thanks in advance.

.

 

Top one is easy. Bottom one can be a bit of a pain to remove, but since you're replacing there is no worry about damaging the old bearing during removal.

I gave up trying to do the factory method. Found another one that an old HD mech recommended.

From an old thread in the Softail section:

Jack the front end of the bike off the ground. Tighten the adjusting nut until the front end is hard to turn. Next turn the handlebars back and forth, from stop to stop, through several cycles. Notice the front end becomes easier to turn. Back off the adjusting nut to a slightly loose fit, then tighten to about 15 ft-lbs torque. If the front end still wobbles after this (tire pressure good and tire in good condition, with no cupping, etc.) and the wobble occurs during deceleration, tighten the adjusting nut a bit more.

If you get a shimmy and more tightening does nothing to help, then suspect that the steering head bearings have shifted and the races are no longer parallel to the axis of the steering head. This is not unusual in HD bikes as they are relatively heavy. Modern bike head bearings tend to shift back and forth in the frame, especially on the heavier bikes, and this causes the bearings to become non-parallel. Any free play in the head bearings will compound this situation. This sets up torque forces that constantly try to correct themselves resulting in a shimmy, or head shake. The cause is not looseness; the bearings have shifted, and things ain't parallel. Pull the front end off and try to reseat the races in the frame neck.

Check the head bearings frequently IAW the service manual. Since these bearings do not move around like those on an axle, they tend to stay in one spot in relation to the race. Therefore every blow on the front end from road conditions tends to flatten the individual rollers or ***** ever so slightly. Over a period of time these flat spots can cause a condition whereby you point the forks straight ahead, and they tend to fall back onto the flat spot, causing a weave as you go down the road. If tightening the preload does nothing to correct the situation, suspect flat spots in the neck bearings.

With much respect to the late Alpha Samuel (from MSN Harley Tech Tip Message Board)


If you loosen the pinch bolts on the lower triple clamps and then do the adjustment on the steering head this will allow an even tightening and the bearings will stay even or parallel. Reason for this the triple clamp will slide up or down the forks so nothing binds.

Also, I've been told that some of the new models have races that are part of the frame. Is this so? Hope not 'cause it'll bite us ol' farts who buy old bikes and then do what we will to get 'em back into society.

 

Got to thinking about this after I posted my other. The manual isn't wrong as you don't need to loosen the top bolt. By loosening the bottom bolts you free the lower triple tree from the tubes. This allows the lower tree to be drawn upward as the adjustment bolt is tightened. Drawing the lower tree upward effectively "squeezes" both the upper and lower bearings tighter, as the bearings are free to move on the steering stem, or rather the steering stem is free to move inside the bearings, pulling the lower tree closer to the upper tree.

I suppose the top pinch bolt might be over-tightened and not allow the stem to move, but if it was that tight, and the adjusting bolt was tightened there are only a couple things that can/must happen -

1. The bolt is tightened and gouges into the flat washer, then stops turning as it can't move further into the top tree.

2. The bolt is tightened and then strips the threads in the stem and/or bolt.

Rehashing what is s'posed to happen if the top pinch bolt is correctly torqued - The adjusting bolt is tightened and pulls the bottom tree/stem assembly upward, over the tubes and inside the bearings, drawing the lower tree closer to the top tree, and increasing pressure on the bearings.

Hope this helps, 'cause it's something I've done a few times here and there, and I've never loosened the top pinch bolt.

 

- hi poco.

- thanks for the tips.

- the upper single pinch bolt needs to be loosened because the
lower triple tree's incorporates the shaft which comes up and is
caught by the upper tree's pinch bolt.

- its alot of words here , but if someone can post the schematic,
it'll be clearer.

cheers
.

 

Never found it to be a problem as it shouldn't be tight enough to prevent the lower tree from sliding up. Only thing I can see that might be a problem with loosening it is the "feel" when tightening the adjusting bolt compared to doing it the other way. Won't make a difference in actual torque, just would feel different if one normally did it the other way.

Have you taken yours apart? Find any flat spots on the races, or feel/see any bad spots on the bearings? Used to find flat spots on the outer race, especially if the regular maintenance wasn't done. Really neglected ones would have out-of-round ***** (old Sporties) or flat spots on the rollers (Big Twins). I drilled and tapped my neck and installed a zerk so I can shoot some grease into it without having to tear it apart.

 

- hi Poco.

- the neck on my FLSTC already has the grease nipple and I have
been duly pumping in the grease regularly.

- but after tightening the neck bearings , the flat-spot in the dead
ahead position is noticeable with the front end off the ground.

- am considering whether to get to work on the bearings. Would it
need special tools , or can they be hammered off ?

thanks.

.

 

The top bearing just lifts right out. I am not sure what year bike you gots. For the bottom bearing the manual says to turn the tree upside down and heat the cone until it falls off (after removing the rack and rollers). I tried this for quite a while with no success. I ended up using a Dremel and a cold chisel to get that puppy off. This bike is 16 years old though so the bearing was on there for a long time. The races are a little tougher. You kinda gotta make your own drift to get them off. If you have the flat spot you must replace the races too. JMO

 

Hotop Designs has a tool designed to remove the lower triple tree bearing. The J&P part # is 230-380. $43.99. Might find it cheaper elsewhere.

 

05 HERITAGE I just attempted to adjust the steering head bearings. What a pain in the ***. Why didn't Harley put the lower triple tree bolts facing the other direction for easy access. Why didn't they put an easy disconnect on the headlight wiring so you could easily remove the entire headlight housing. Regardless, I adjusted mine by loosening the upper pinch bolt and lower two bolts. Thought I had it right, but couldn't get my road lamp brackets back on because the spacing between the nuts shifted. Ended up tightening the steering head nut until I could get my lights back on. Didn't have a problem that I know of in the first place, just trying to do recommended maintenance. Half a day wasted IMO.

 

Just replaced both of mine, its a pain. They werent loose but had flat spots. Felt like you had to over steer a little going into a corner. The factory manual is wrong in the parts breakdown in relation to the adjuster nut. The picture in the manual shows the adjuster nut upside down. The large taper should go up not down as the manual shows. the long side goes up through the top tripple tree for a 99 fxstc. Dremel tool to cut the bottom bearing off. 1" x !2" piece of galvenized pipe to press the new one on.
PEACE!