I don't see the connection to chrome lowers and clunking. Could be that when the tech had it all apart and during the reinstall he actually adjusted the bearings correctly.It would take a lifetime of riding to wear those bushings out in the lowers to produce any clunking.
Ron

 

Ron,
I rechecked my parts manual's drawingsand your right about the bearing "ADJUSTING NUT, upper"being under the top triple tree on FXST and FXSTB's (no mention of the FXSTC). But the odd thing is that its called a "SEAT, upper head cone",with a different PN on FXSTD's (Deuce). Theydon't show one at all in the FL style front ends.
As for what the connection between lowers and play is I don't know but I can make a semi-educated guess. While I don't believe itsrequired to pull the legs off to replace the lowers, I'm sure its been done by a few people without. I am also sure its a lot easier and faster to do if the are off on and laying on a bench.
Given that my "guess" is that with the legs off any head bearing playwould be fairly hard to miss, so he took a minute or two to adjust it. Likeyou say its not something that would take a lot of time to fix the rigt way. Especially with the fork legs already off the bike.

 

Citoriplus: In my service manual on page 2-86 item #6 , it's called an adjusting nut. Used on fxstd, fxst fxstc fxstb. Other models use the fork stem bolt at lower torque to adjust bearings. Must be conflict between parts and service manual? Could also explain why some improper adjusment techniques are applied to some models from the dealer.
Ron

 

rbdaos,
I found it, your right its got to be that.
Funny thing is that on page 1-36 it shows the adjustment procedure for the bearings and nowhere is there any referance to a torque setting for that adjuster.
The required bearing "tension" is done by measuring the"fall away", and like you said, part of the procedure is toloosen the fork tubes BEFORE attempting theadjustment.
There is also anote in italics print stating that if the adjustment doesn't seem to have any effect. The fork legs may be stuck in the lower tree and recomend you use adead blow hammer on the legsto knock them loose.

So now that we have disected the entire front steering head assembly. What do we know?

1. We know that tightening up the nut under the chrome screw on cover on FXST models will do absolutly nothing to tighen or fix a steering head clunk problem.

2. We know that if you try to tighten the adjuster nut without loosening the fork legs in the lower tree you may not do anything, or worse make a minor problem into a bigger one later.

And lastly number 3,
GET A COPY OF THE FREEKIN SERVICE MANUAL AND READ THE DAMN THING,
BEFORE YOU SCREW AROUND WITH YOUR BIKE.
If you expect to do any kind of quality work on your own bike that is.

How's that, did I cover it all, or did I miss anything?

BTW for those of you just tuning in, we are NOT, NOT, NOThaving an argument here.
We're just trying to educate ourselves and anyone else who may be listening.

Have a nice day and ride safe my friends. [sm=biker2.gif]
Frank

 

Citoriplus: Yup, pretty much covers it except there's a little more to it.
When the bearing adjusting nut is snugged up and you then torque the upper nut it will in effect make the setting on the bearing nut slightly tighter. This is caused from the natural slop in the threads. When the bearing adjuster nut is tightened the threads are pulled. When the upper nut is torqued there will be extra pressure put on the bearing because the threads on the bearing adjuster are now pushed. It's only a few thou, but it adds up. The upper nut plays a part in the bearing adjustment, but only with the effect of taking up thread clearance in the actually bearing adjuster. This thread effect can often be seen when adjusting solid lifters, clutches, and the true clearance is not shown until the locknut it tightened.Same rule applies for thesesteering head bearings.
Ron

 

Yea, I'm "familiar" with the effects of lockor jamnut setups. I grew up in the bad old days of the 50's and 60's and got very familiar with them. Especiallyworking on old car engines and the like.
I haven't "thought" about it in years, you do that kind of thing long enough and you learn to automatically back off some amount based on a feel for how the nuts fit the thread on the shaft.
Tryadjustingsloppy rocker assemblies on an oldChevy small block with solid lifters a while and you'll catch on real fast.

Ride safe my friend,
Frank

 

I checked the headlight on my Custom and found the that the lamp housing was hitting the mount as you described. I cut off the front of the mount leaving about 1/8 inch in front of the rivets. No more clunk. Thanks for the tip.

My only remaining problem with the front end is that when braking hard and putting my weight against the handlebars, they will move in the rubber riser mounts with an audible click. They return once the pressure is released.

 

See if you can find a set of the poly bushings to replace the soft rubber ones that the factory puts in.

 

What he said[sm=signs007.gif]. While at it use some silicone dilectric greese form your friendly GM dealer and apply some on the bushings. It is rubber/ uerethane friendly and will stop that uglycracking on the exposed areas due to ozone attack, plus things will go together easier.
Ron