XJ650J, Changed steering head bearing, strange sound.

Hello everyone. I just changed the steering head bearings in my 82 XJ650J. I converted from the loose ball bearings to tapered roller bearings. After I reassembled everything and tightened it down I went riding.

For the last two days it has been fine but now anytime I go over ten miles an hour it starts to make a noise that I can only describe the following way: has anybody ever had one of those emergency crank flashlights with the electromagnet inside. It sounds like the whirring noise that one of those makes when you crank the handle.

I have put the bike on its centerstand and checked for play in the bearings and cannot feel any. The handlebars fall from side to side with only a bit of resistance so I'm fairly sure I have the preload set correctly.

Any enlightenment? Thanks for the help.

 

Sure. You need to lube your speedo cable or possibly the instrument itself.

Temporarily disconnect the speedo cable from the bottom of the instrument to confirm.

You're being hoisted on the horns of pure coincidence (well not really, when you had everything apart and then put it back together, you "disturbed" 30-year old relationships.)

Bet me.

Either that or you've gone and pissed off a wheel bearing. I'm still betting speedo. $5?

 

If I had any idea what else it could be, I'd take that bet, but I trust your word.

 

Sorry to take so long to reply back. I had some family issues causing me to travel in order to fix them. Bigfitz you were right, greased the speedo gear and the problem stopped. Thanks for the help.

 

Fitz wins again! We need a tally converted to beer currency. Like everyone who asks a question puts in a beer, and the correct answer gets that beer.

Maybe it's 9am on a Thursday, and I have a problem because I'm thinking about beer...

 

Hey Fitz would the lack of grease also affect the speedo not reading properly? I had disconnected the speedo when i purchased the bike to replace the plastic shiny covering and noticed right after that that it was not reading correctly, should i grease it and what type of grease is recommended?

 

The speedo not reading properly is more an issue up at the needle end of things. All this stuff requires very fine grease. The cable should take regular cable lube-or i use silicone lubricant, and the tack assembly should take like rem-oil for firearms.

It's not sticky like WD and won't throw off the reading. You only need a very small drop.

Mine was bouncy, and a bit over reading, and now its smooth and under reading (like 2-5mph).

They're not usually right on.

 

Yamaha Mechanical Instrument tech: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15303.html

Since you can get to the "guts" easily on the 550s, this should get you fixed up.

 

Hmm, sadly the problem returns. It is much quieter now but still there. What's odd is I can get the sound to get louder or softer depending on how hard I counter-steer back and forth. If I move the handlebars left or right when I'm going along the whirring sound will increase, then decrease as I stabilize the steering.

 

Is your speedometer cable routed correctly?

 

Yeah, an incorrectly routed cable would definitely do that. The other option is a bad wheel bearing that got a shot of oil when you lubed the cable. Or an improper alignment on the wheel speedo drive teeth.

 

How can I tell if the teeth are aligned correctly? I will check the wheel bearings as well.

 

There's two tabs that stick out and engage the wheel. I once installed my wheel and tightened down a wheel I THOUGHT was seated correctly. I was wrong, though. Similar symptoms to what you have came up. Bearings are more likely I think if it's not in the speedo cable.