retorque steering bearings

[Firefighter]

I replaced my steering head bearings a few thousand miles ago. Seemed good, then I have developed some wobble when I shake the bars and also some oscillation starting at about 80 mph. I retorqued the head bearings to 10 foot lbs, with no change. I am thinking I may tighten the bearings more. I have a 2000 IS and have been removing the fairing to do this. Can the bearings be torqued with out removing the fairing? Also, I made my on socket to torque the nut but have a difficult time holding that nut while tightening the lock nut, is there a way or just hold with pliers? The torque value for the IS is 9 lbs. but does not seem to be enough in my case. Thanks for any opinions.  Firefighter

[Chrisj CMA]

I replaced my steering head bearings a few thousand miles ago. Seemed good, then I have developed some wobble when I shake the bars and also some oscillation starting at about 80 mph. I retorqued the head bearings to 10 foot lbs, with no change. I am thinking I may tighten the bearings more. I have a 2000 IS and have been removing the fairing to do this. Can the bearings be torqued with out removing the fairing? Also, I made my on socket to torque the nut but have a difficult time holding that nut while tightening the lock nut, is there a way or just hold with pliers? The torque value for the IS is 9 lbs. but does not seem to be enough in my case. Thanks for any opinions.  Firefighter

I would assume you replaced the races along with the bearings.  Its my observation that if there is no incident with the steering head bearings they last the life of the bike.  If for instance they become loose for some reason or indexed there will be damage to the races.  After that you probably will have difficulty getting new bearings to play nice with old races.

[97Valk_CT_Euless]

Haven't done the valk yet but we did my sons Mean Streak.  I'm assuming they're similar. You have to overtorque the bearings (there's a spec) then back up and retorque to the final (lower) value.  This seats the races in the frame.  Haven't had any issues with his since.

[Firefighter]

Yes, I replaced bearings and races, you guys say that we are supposed to re-torque after a thousand  miles or so. My IS is difficult because removing the fairing takes time, and then I have cruise control and stuff mounted underneath. that gets in the way. Seems like the bearings need to be tighter. 
Thanks  Firefighter

[R J]

Firefighter:

As some one said in an earlier post.

When ya replace bearings and races, you have to seat the race the best ya can with a socket and hammer.

Then put it together, torgue it OVER the spec in the book, to help seat the race.

Back off the nut on the tree, then retorque to the spec.    You should be good to go.

 

[Patrick]

I'm wondering why the bearings were replaced. And both cups and cones were replaced ?

Be careful about over tightening them, it'll start to hunt if they get too tight.

I don't worry too much about torquing them after initial installation. I measure the resistance [ 1.5-2.25#] and adjust accordingly. I've never worked on an IS, but, I think I'd figure out a way to try not to remove the fairing.

[Daniel Meyer]

Did you follow the torque/seating procedure in the manual? It's critical. If not...do that and then retorque to spec.

I would not over-torque them for running...the Valk is picky about this being correct and it will hunt badly...

-dm

[sandy]

I torqued mine to tighten up the steering last year. The book says torque to 30 Ft/lbs. Back off and retorque to 10 Ft/lbs.

[hubcapsc]

If I remember, the book wants us to take everything, including the forks, off, for the
re-torque...

There's a lot of weight (several hundred pounds) that's kind of putting the steering
head in a bind when the weight of the bike is on it, which I think is what makes it
inaccurate to torque the bearings to any measured setting while the forks and
everything are still on the bike.

I kind of cheated when I re-torqued mine... I jacked the front end until the front
wheel was just barely touching... the front forks weren't in compression or tension.
I still took my handlebars off, and maybe even the top bridge, to get to the stuff
to tighten for the bearings, its been a while...

I don't know if that was a good cheat or not, but my bike is stable when chasing
the wild bunch down the Interstate passing mac trucks (that's about as fast as
I ever go...)

-Mike

[PAVALKER]

If I remember, the book wants us to take everything, including the forks, off, for the
re-torque...

There's a lot of weight (several hundred pounds) that's kind of putting the steering
head in a bind when the weight of the bike is on it, which I think is what makes it
inaccurate to torque the bearings to any measured setting while the forks and
everything are still on the bike.

I kind of cheated when I re-torqued mine... I jacked the front end until the front
wheel was just barely touching... the front forks weren't in compression or tension.
I still took my handlebars off, and maybe even the top bridge, to get to the stuff
to tighten for the bearings, its been a while...

I don't know if that was a good cheat or not, but my bike is stable when chasing
the wild bunch down the Interstate passing mac trucks (that's about as fast as
I ever go...)

-Mike

Time saving method Mike used is probably a good idea.  I believe without removing the fairing you can place a blanket on the tank, remove the bars and then the top clamp (pinch bolts both sides and top nut) then gain access to th bearing adjustment nut.   As long as you either remove most of the load on the front end and don't dangle the wheel/tire, just take a load off.... Probably a safe bet.

[Firefighter]

I never said I didn't follow the book. I always follow what the manual says. I seated the races, even wasted time and money locating and buying a scale to measure how much tension to turn the front steering stem, as the book says. I read here from you guys about re-torquing the stem nut, mine feels loose.

My question was about how to hold the stem nut still while tightening the jam nut, and if any one has ever adjusted the bearings with the fairing on.   Thanks again! Firefighter

[RonW]

delete (whoops).