Steering head grease
Road Master
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 0
From: McHenry, IL
my 04 leaked all over the place, even left a small puddle with the HD stuff. This lasted for about 2-3 years. Now its stopped... maybe. Maybe I am out of grease. ask me if i care. When it starts squeaking I will address it then. Untill then, I will enjoy not wiping off the left side of the scoot.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,466
Likes: 5
From: Alabama
well that bearing is supposed to be packed at the factory. but I know it calls for it to be greased until full at 1000 miles. No more than that bearing moves one would think that it would last forever if it were dry. But I grease mine every so often anyway.
Last edited by Mathews2; Mar 12, 2009 at 07:21 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 827
Likes: 5
From: Ohio
my 04 leaked all over the place, even left a small puddle with the HD stuff. This lasted for about 2-3 years. Now its stopped... maybe. Maybe I am out of grease. ask me if i care. When it starts squeaking I will address it then. Untill then, I will enjoy not wiping off the left side of the scoot.
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 659
Likes: 2
From: Lansing
I think if one greased it once he would be fine for the life of the bike. We have a lubrication program at work and the relubrication of bearings tends to vary based on the rpm. Given the fact that there is no rpm, I would guess the only thing that would cause one to relubricate it would be the rain or washing. I think I will find another reason not to sleep well tonight.
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 87
Likes: 0
greese the monkey
had my bike serviced first and last time ever from harley they claim they go through the bike with fine tooth comb lol i checked my front end fitting never greesed it i pumped it in there after buying hd stuff and all i do is wipe greese that melts down the fork on left side of road king what a joke i actualy thought i had a fork tube seal let go till i wiped way up under narcell to completely narow it down to where oil was comming from it was spashing all over bike left side it ended up being the dam harley greese, that crap will never go in there again its like water in the summer if i wanted to wash my bike in oil id buy a quart and put it in a windex bottle and spray it . junk course i found everything harley suggest you use usualy is! they make a dam good lookin bike but as far as maintenace
and keeping one healthy , you better learn real quick to use common sence and use products that you were brought up on . bikes havent changed its the dealers and big buisness thats changed. ill fill mine with
wheel bering greese same thing! cheaper too cuz it dosent say HD
and keeping one healthy , you better learn real quick to use common sence and use products that you were brought up on . bikes havent changed its the dealers and big buisness thats changed. ill fill mine with
wheel bering greese same thing! cheaper too cuz it dosent say HD
Banned
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,036
Likes: 67
Special Harley grease
Once I used Harley grease on the front end of my bike and it dripped all over like any other grease does on a hot day.
In order to clean it up I had to go to the Harley shop and buy one of those little orange wash buckets you see there. It was twenty bucks. Because of the Harley bucket I had to buy a Harley rag for $13.00 too. When I was about to leave the parts department somebody hollered to me "Don't forget to get some Harley bike cleaner to use". I thought "What the hey is wrong with me", so I got a bottle of Harley stuff for $19.00.
Rushed home to clean the grease off the front forks. Throwing all caution to the wind I used warm tap water to clean up the mess.
Low and behold the next day when I went out to ride my Harley I noticed that both the front and rear tires were flat. The tank had a big rust spot that covered the entire top. My chrome derby cover was scratched beyond belief and even had a small dent in it. To top it all off, the bike would not even turn over. I was sick. Sick I tell you.
I loaded the bike on a trailer and tied her down best I could. When I pulled up to the service entrance at my local Harley dealer, the service manager saw me an rushed outside.
The first words out of his mouth were painfully true. "See, he said, what happens when you wash your Harley without buying Harley water"?
In order to clean it up I had to go to the Harley shop and buy one of those little orange wash buckets you see there. It was twenty bucks. Because of the Harley bucket I had to buy a Harley rag for $13.00 too. When I was about to leave the parts department somebody hollered to me "Don't forget to get some Harley bike cleaner to use". I thought "What the hey is wrong with me", so I got a bottle of Harley stuff for $19.00.
Rushed home to clean the grease off the front forks. Throwing all caution to the wind I used warm tap water to clean up the mess.
Low and behold the next day when I went out to ride my Harley I noticed that both the front and rear tires were flat. The tank had a big rust spot that covered the entire top. My chrome derby cover was scratched beyond belief and even had a small dent in it. To top it all off, the bike would not even turn over. I was sick. Sick I tell you.
I loaded the bike on a trailer and tied her down best I could. When I pulled up to the service entrance at my local Harley dealer, the service manager saw me an rushed outside.
The first words out of his mouth were painfully true. "See, he said, what happens when you wash your Harley without buying Harley water"?
Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 564
Likes: 48
Hi I used grease for my 99 ultra that wasn't what Harley recomended and when the bike sat in the sun in the summer it melted and ran all over the forks and made a huge mess. It took a couple months before it quit. I used the recomended grease on my 08 ultra and its fine no mess at all. I think its 6 or 7 bucks to avoid a mess .... well worth it to me.
I used the recommended HD grease that the sevice manual said to use on my 07 Road King and it got hot and ran down the forks for several months also. The HD grease will make a mess as well, dont know the right answer. Don't know what I am going to do yet on our 09 SG.
Take Care & Ride safe,
Bill G
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,621
Likes: 1
From: Matthews, NC
I had that grease added by my service department during my 20K service. When I picked up the bike, the grease leaked all over the bottom triple tree. They said this normal and ittook about 15-20 minutes to clean up the mess.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,032
Likes: 9
From: Alabama
For my 10k service, I did everything myself but grease those bearings. Didn't have an adapter to get on the zerk fitting and didn't have the recommended grease. Didn't feel like hunting up a new zerk & dropping 8-10 bucks for a tube of grease I'd use once a year, so I
rode to the dealer & asked the mechanic to squirt some grease in it for me & he did, no charge. That was 4000 miles ago & I've seen no leakage or run-out at all with the H-D grease.
No more often than these bearings need to be greased, this seems the best approach for me. Don't have to change zerks, buy grease, etc. I just let the dealer do it every 10k miles.
Even if they charge a couple of bucks it's still worth it not to have to fool with it...
rode to the dealer & asked the mechanic to squirt some grease in it for me & he did, no charge. That was 4000 miles ago & I've seen no leakage or run-out at all with the H-D grease.
No more often than these bearings need to be greased, this seems the best approach for me. Don't have to change zerks, buy grease, etc. I just let the dealer do it every 10k miles.
Even if they charge a couple of bucks it's still worth it not to have to fool with it...