Loose steering

Howdy all.

I'm still a newbie with a lot of this stuff, so please hear me out (but feel free to point out any mistakes.)

The steering on my XJ is loose. I've had the bearings replaced, repacked, and torqued to spec, but the steerer tube still seems to move around in the head tube, getting worse over time.

I'd like to get a full new set of cups, bearings, cones, and whatever else I'll need to get the front end sorted out.

Any idea where I'd be able to find such a set, and what I might expect to pay?

Thanks.

 

Replacing the bearings with a set of tapered-roller bearings is a common upgrade for our bikes.

You want the SSY-500 kit from All Balls -- that's for the majority of XJ's anyway. It's about $30.

If you've had the bearings serviced as mentioned above, it could just be that they've worked loose over time and need to be tightened again.

 

Thanks. Looked it up on goallballs.com but I was prompted for a Dealer Login.

Found it at
http://shop.wemoto.com/index.dyn?oid=2147947
Top and bottom seperately come out to $35.

Question: my bike is an 81 XJ Maxim.

The wemoto site's closest match is "Spare parts and accessories for the Yamaha XJ 650 G/H/J/K Maxim (import) 80-83".

I'm not sure what the G/H/J/K or (import) means. Anyone know if these bikes are significantly different from eachother as far as the steering is concerned?

Also: after the mechanic adjusted the bearings, the steering got dodgy after 1/2 an hour on the bike. He said that he'd install new parts free. I'd like to replace as much of the bearings stuff as possible so I won't have to revisit this issue again.

You guys are going to laugh, but I'm a home bicycle mechanic and familiar with bicycle headsets. They're usually composed of crown and lower head races, bearings, and cups, as well as some method of compression. Let the bearings get contaminated or leave the headset out of adjustment long enough and you'll wear notches into the cups (brinelling). Sometimes the wear isn't easy to see.

I'm not sure how this applies to motos. For a bicycle, there's a few tricks you can use to extend the life of a headset if it's not too far gone, but I'd rather spend a few more bucks and get this problem fixed once and for all.

Thanks!

Scott
Learning the hard way....

 

I believe they are very similar to the bearings on a bicycle.

1980 XJ650 Maxim is an XJ650G. They're all imported.

1981 = XJ650H
1982 = XJ650J (I was not used)
1983 = XJ650K

Order the set - $26.50

 

I believe that the FJ "89 has Yama OEM tapered bearings.. at least the crashed frame sitting in my garage does. These Fit MUCH better than the AllBalls ones, being not nearly as tall. Dunno re price though.