Originally Posted by pococj

My input: 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 found I usually end up at about 15-20 ft-lbs on the adjuster, and sometimes more.

Originally Posted by Totally Bored

Great info pococj.

So I'm a little confused on what to do for my 1k service. The bike rides nice and there is no wobble, shake or whatever. I'm wondering if maybe I should just leave it alone ?



If I did do what you posted above, let me get this correct.

I loosen the lower pinch bolts (but NOT the upper pinch bolt ) and Torque the Fork Stern Bolt to 15-20 ft-lbs then retighten the the lower pinch bolts and be done with it maybe ?

or

I would think that you would need to loosen the upper and lower pinch bolts, torgue to 15-20 ft-lbs and tighten the the upper and lower pinch bolts ?????

I ask cause I don't know

Originally Posted by jdunn01

Well finally had a buddy over to help get the bike up on blocks (no lift yet) to lift the front end.

I was able to get a 5/8 box end wrench under the Front Fork tin to loosen the two lower fork pinch bolts.

Also loosened the the upper pinch bolt on the top of the steering head. You have to screw off the head bold chrome cover by hand to get to the bolt.

Man the head bolt was only hand tight! Torqued it to 65Lbs and re-tightened the three pinch bolts.
You can't get a torque wrench on the lower pinch bolts so I put the torques wrench in the vice to get the feel for 35 ft/lbs and went with it.

Huge difference in ride. nor more clunking and no more wobble.

Thanks to everyone who provided insight on how to perform this task. It seriously only takes about 10 minutes and is well worth checking.

Ride safe.

Originally Posted by pococj

Problem with the fall away test is that it is subjective. What level of force constitutes a "tap" to get the forks moving? To me that is an unacceptably vague procedure. Many moons ago the procedure called for tightening the bearing head nut until you felt a slight draw then backing it off until you had a smooth motion when moving the trees from side-to-side. While that is still a bit vague your fingers are sensitive enough to easily feel bearing drag, while a tap of the fender does not provide any real feedback. That said, here is what I learned from an older HD mechanic who has since passed on.

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 9 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.

By Alpha Samuel (from MSN Harley Tech Tip Message Board)


My input: 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 found I usually end up at about 15-20 ft-lbs on the adjuster, and sometimes more.

Originally Posted by jreichart

Not sure what year your bike is, but do a search regarding bulletin M-1215A. It's a hardened replacement steering head washer for the POS sheet metal one that comes stock on certain '06 (?) and earlier bikes. Had the infamous front end clunk, bought the $6 washer (p/n 45740-07), properly re-torqued to about 90 ft lbs per the new specs, and it rides great. The fall away is pretty ambiguous, so I just went by feel.