Steerer Bearing/headset/ Tightness

So a month or two ago i put in new tapered roller steerer bearings as my old ones had developed quite a center notch.

Love em.

However, a few weeks ago, i noticed a wobble of some sort while cornering.

The wheel is true and balanced, so I ordered up some front wheel bearings as I had no idea when the last time they were replaced and they were pretty cheap.

Got those in tonight, and yet the wobble is still there.

When i had the wheel off, i noticed the bars turn pretty easy.

How much drag/friction should one expect to feel? Len had said in the instructions that tapered rollers can be tightened a bit more than your standard ball bearings, but I'm not sure how much that is.

Obviously its one of those collared thingers, so a torque wrench is out of the question for me.

I'm assuming that its just gotta be to loose, otherwise I'm clueless to where this wobble is coming from.

Thanks guys!

 

I believe the spec is to just tighten until there is no play in the steering head. Jack the front up and feel for any play. If there is they're loose.

I just did a set on a Royal Star Tour Classic. They have a torque spec. - 28 inch-lbs. In other words not much more than finger tight.

 

Generally the steering head/forks should just move under their own weight. In any event, err on the loose side rather than the tight otherwise you will have a weaving effect felt through the steering. In your case I would be looking very closely at a worn front tyre (tire)

 

hmm. see thats what i thought, right now they turn under their own weight and theres no play that i can see or feel. maybe ill try to find a stethascope and try rocking it with that on it.

 

I had the same thing when I first installed my tapered bearings. I figured they were too loose as well. I believe I later tried to tighten them a bit, and that it still was there--but that over time, it went away on its own. (Can't confirm that, as the bike was hit by a car and is since gone, but that's what I remember.)

His instructions also note that the bearings loosen over time, and need to be tightened again, so that doesn't quite make sense... But whatever it was, it sorted itself out for me. And I'm quite sure it did, I had one wide sweeping turn on the highway where I could always get the wobble to start if I wanted, and in the end I couldn't get the front to wobble anymore.

I will say that I miss that upgrade more than anything except for maybe fitting a rear rack on... With a bunch of weight on the bike and a notch in the center, the nimbleness of careful slow maneuvers is seriously compromised, which is a big deal when you're in a country that requires weaving and filtering in crowded city traffic at times.

 

yeah, get that siht fixed dawg, that notch is no good.

hopefully i can sort this wobble out, i dont like it. its not terrible riding by myself, but when i have a passenger i like knowing everything under me is rock solid.

 

You may also have simply uncovered a different issue.

Loose swingarm bushings or even worn out rear shocks can cause "steering" issues. There's a lot of physics involved with a 2-wheeled motor vehicle.

 

I had the same thing happen to me. I installed the roller bearings and started driving on the highway this year. I never had any problems until two weeks ago. The bike got what seemed like the tank slap death wobble starting at around 80 mph. It got worse at 85mph while trying to get around traffic. If I held the handle bar grips as tight as I could, the wobble would go away. It was not a problem at all from 75mph and under. The steering was really light feelig so I tightened up the bearings about 12th of a turn(think of the numbers on a clock dial) and while doing that I noticed the big bolt that holds the handlebars to the fork had come loose and backed out a few turns. Thepinch bolt was tight so I don't know if this had any effect on the death wobble but after tightening the bearings and that big bolt, I think it was a 22mm, I can easily take my hands off the handlebars at 85mph and the bike goes straight and is smooth as glass.