steering head bearings and fork seals

[98valk]

well hitting that 4x4 wood beam in the road last yr, must of notched the bearings. I do have a centering notch of the forks. noticed it when changing the front tire. It was more pronounced without the wheel on then with it, this must be why I haven't noticed it until then. Even now with the tire on, i realy have to pay attention while moving steering left to right just sitting on the bike to feel the notch.
will a slight re-torque of the bearings help of do they need to be replaced? any other suggestions?

did a search, didn't really see any agreement on what bearings to use, allballs or oem or other?
one post stated allballs are using china bearings now, true?

which fork seals are best to use? allballs or oem?

Thanks everyone! 

[Daniel Meyer]

Even now with the tire on, i realy have to pay attention while moving steering left to right just sitting on the bike to feel the notch.
will a slight re-torque of the bearings help of do they need to be replaced? any other suggestions?

If you can feel it, it is *really* bad. The valks are pretty picky about this. It probably "hunts" a bit and may also begin to feel unstable in wet weather (like the front wants to slip out from underneath you).

Re-torquing them at this stage will just make the symptoms worse (or if you can't feel them, you sure will after re-torquing!).

Time to change 'em.

I went back with stockers on the head bearings, I wasn't aware of any others at the time. Lube 'em well, torque to the instructions in the owners manual, and retorque 10-15,000 miles later and they'll go 100,000 before needing attention again.

On the fork seals, I have no preference...I've used both, they seem to last just under 50,000 miles or until I go offroad (hard) to miss something (usually a big fricken deer)...I order stock now simply because I like to replace the bushings in the forks at the same time and I've not seen those available aftermarket...(could be though).

Hope that helps!

[Warlock]

I would change out the head bearings. I also recommend oem parts. A lot of people like all ballbearing stuff, but most of their stuff comes from China. I have a set of the all ball fork seals and the workmanship don't look as good as the oem parts. JMO
David

[sandy]

OEM fork seals come as a 2 pc set(oilseal and dust seal). You need 2 sets at $20 each. The dust seals don't do much and some shops reuse them. K&L seals are sold with 2 oil seals for $20, but no dust seals. At 120K miles, I've only rebuilt the forks once.

[Gerard irl]

Same for me over the winter I changed fork seals and head Berings with oem
Same prise in ireland as S/P the dif was like I had just got power stering fitted
Like A new front end

[98valk]

checking the parts list, I don't see the bearing races listed. are they provided with the bearings?
what other parts are required?
thanks

[Daniel Meyer]

checking the parts list, I don't see the bearing races listed. are they provided with the bearings?
what other parts are required?
thanks

Yes, the races come with the bearings.

[98valk]

checking the parts list, I don't see the bearing races listed. are they provided with the bearings?
what other parts are required?
thanks

Yes, the races come with the bearings.

Thanks
I also see a dust cover listed. Do I need a new one also?

thanks again

[Ricky-D]

You can reuse the old dust cover if you like!

***

[98valk]

You can reuse the old dust cover if you like!

***

thanks R-D

[5_19]

Well I am going thru the same thing. Noticed it when the bike was on the lift  and no weight on the front. That made me think it was the top bearing............. wrong  on that (just don't tell my wife  ) The more stuff I removed from the front the more profound the issue became. When I got to this point I could feel all the indexing 5-6 times from full left to right





That's what the bottom race looked like after I cleaned it and this is how I removed it without the special Honda tool



Just used my TIG welder and welded a flat washer to the old race while on the bike.



That's how it came out.... easy after I figured out how!





What would I do without a dremel. It made short work of the lower bearing on the steering stem

Thanks to the DFW VRCC    Football I will have everything back together tonight!!  This is after 60K miles How many miles on yours.TJ

[Jeff K]

Here is a tip for those with a welder. No need to weld a washer on to the race. Just make a few short beads across the race, it will shrink and fall out. Thats how I do it. 3 short beads, and it will fall out.


I am at a loss as what to do with my forks. The dings and scratches must be too much for the seals. i put new bushings and seals in and the right one is leaking already again. I'm cringing at having to buy a new set of forks. 

[Trynt]

Here is a tip for those with a welder. No need to weld a washer on to the race. Just make a few short beads across the race, it will shrink and fall out. Thats how I do it. 3 short beads, and it will fall out.

Should those welds be radial or bias?

[Jeff K]

Here is a tip for those with a welder. No need to weld a washer on to the race. Just make a few short beads across the race, it will shrink and fall out. Thats how I do it. 3 short beads, and it will fall out.

Should those welds be radial or bias?

Radial, across the bearing not around the bearing race. I have a picture somewhere, but I can't find it now.

[Trynt]

Thanks!

[Rumpole]

I have a different issue.

If you turn the steering stem upside down you will see a roll pin that appears to connect the shaft to the alloy brace. Does anyone have any ideas how to remove this pin? It's in a blind hole. If it is removed, will the shaft separate allowing better access to the bottom of the lower bearing.

I have a 1997 Valkyrie.

Cheers

[ValkFlyer]

I have a different issue.

If you turn the steering stem upside down you will see a roll pin that appears to connect the shaft to the alloy brace. Does anyone have any ideas how to remove this pin? It's in a blind hole. If it is removed, will the shaft separate allowing better access to the bottom of the lower bearing.

I have a 1997 Valkyrie.

Cheers

I did not see anything like that on my 2000, perhaps it's exclusive to earlier models like yours.  Never-the-less it sounds like extra work, the advice given to me was to use a dremel just like the example above. Worked like a dream.

[Ricky-D]

Yep, I would not suggest to do that to make another process easier, namely replacing the bearing race.

You might find that doing so may make that part unusable.

There is a whole lot of safety depending upon that one connection and Honda knew that when they designed the part so I'd leave it alone.

***

[Rumpole]

Sounds like a good part to "leave alone"