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.

 

I don't want to burst your bubble, but torquing the head isn't the right way to do it. There is a 'fall away' test to properly set that. That being said, if it feels ok then you'll probably be fine. The steering head is a serious thing to do right, you might want to get a FSM and check out the procedure.

Ride safe dude.

 

I think 65 lbs might be a wee bit tight....good for straight road riding...bet

 

Appreciate the input but did a lot of research on this.

After reading several post on here about the fall away test and how subjective it is in addition to having to remove the cable to correctly do it I went this route.

There are several post on here about tightening your head bolt to remove the clunking and front end wobble as well as HD releasing a update to the torque spec for the head bolt.

This did not effect the easy of turning at all as the handle bars turn as freely as before.

 

Fair enough. I don't do the test exactly as prescribed either, I'll turn the bars with the bike off the ground and tighten until it feels good to me. In the end, it's your life, do it whatever way you're comfortable with.

 

Yeppers the torque on the steering head bolt is all over the place.....

I've even seen several who posted in that its been revised to tighten to 105#'s ??. that seems like a lot.

I've done the fall away and it sucks BIG TIME... with the clutch and throttle cables its neat impossible to get a real feeling doing that way..

At least I don't have any wobble or clanking in the front end...but I often wonder where the bearings are actually as far as torqued...

Ive also read the manual and its not really clear to me on how to do the pinch bolts as on our heritage thinking I'll have to remove the covers behind the headlight to get to them.

Wondering Where did U get Ur info on how to do it...????



.

 

FSM and reading online about it. All 3 pinch bolts have to be loose first. Then setup the fall away test. But like you said, it's a pain in the ***. So I leave the cables hooked up to just get a feel for the bearings while moving the steering back and forth, taking into account the slight resistance the cables will also give. I can definitely feel it while riding when it has loosened up. I never have had the clunk, just gets squirrely.

This is a serious enough topic that I'm not gonna argue with anyone about how 'they' should do it. Just trying to provide my experience and what the FSM says. To each his own on this one.

 

GUYS>> there is a star adjuster UNDER the steering head nut that you are tightening to 65 lbs. The adjuster nut needs to be set to the proper fallaway, then tighten the top nut. And the lower pinch bolts do need to be loose. This is a standard adjustment on all HD's. It is in the book.

 

This is not what I'm reading ?????

and

Where are you guys getting the Tighten the Fork Stern Bolt to 65 Ft Lbs ?

FWIW, I have not done this to my bike "YET" ( so I don't claim to be the expert ) but I'm doing my 1k service this week and this thread has my interest.

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .........................


From the 2011 Service Manual Softail Models

Steering Head Bearings: All but FLSTB
Bearing Adjustment ( Fall away )

I'm just gonna go to step 6 but...
( With bike on stand, no windshield and no cables in the way : Tap the fender on the right side toward the the left steering stop until the front end begins to fall by itself and measure the distance on the tip of the fender. )


6. The distance between the fall away must be 1.0-2.0 in
a. if the the distance is more than 2.0 in proceed to step 7
b. if the distance is less than 1.0 proceed to step 8


7. Distance is more than 2.0
a. Loosen the upper fork stern pinch bolt
b. Loosen the lower fork stern pinch bolts
c. Loosen the fork stern bolt slightly
d. Tighten the upper fork stern pinch bolt to 25-30 ft lbs
e. Tighten the lower fork stern pinch bolts to 55-60 ft lbs
f. Repeat procedure to determine if fall away is within specs.



8. Distance is less than 1.0 in
a. Loosen the pinch bolt
b. Loosen lower fork stern pinch bolts
c. Tighten the fork stern bolt slightly
d. Tighten the upper fork stern pinch bolt to 25-30 ft lbs
e. Tighten the lower fork stern pinch bolts to 55-60 ft lbs
f . Repeat procedure to determine if fall away is within specs.

 

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.