Steering stem bearings

[bronzeback]

Since I've had my GS the steering sort of 'stalls' or gives a little resistance when the handlebars are pointing strait ahead. Local shop guys says it sounds like the stearing stem bearings. I was just looking at these on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/All-Balls-Steering-stem-bearing-kit-Suzuki-GS1100-82-84_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34284QQihZ017QQitemZ270020769337QQrdZ1

No specs in the item about letter after GS1100. What do you guys think, will these work or is there a better source??

[crag antler]

Went to the bearing maker's website and it looks like the same bearing for the G as the E's.
Much better price from the maker than that seller on flea-bay. :shock:

http://www.allballsracing.com/index.htm

Steering Bearing & Seal Kit 22-1004 1100 $31.97

[bronzeback]

Thanks Antler!

Never occured to me to go to the makers site directly. You just saved me 15 bucks. Let you know how it turns out.
BB

[West]

I just put an all-balls steering head kit on my 400. 'Twas easy, and the tapered rollers sure beat the hell out of free ball bearings!

All-balls is definitely the way to go, I did a lot of looking around & seems they are the best. Good riding style, too.

[bronzeback]

Hey West how about a quick summary of the procedure? Did you need to take the tire off? Any pointers?

[Billy Ricks]

The entire front end will have to come off. Knock the old races out and install the new races that come with the tapered bearings.

[courier11sec]

My 850 had exactly the same problem. not a very tough fix and well worth it.

[spots25]

the more things you take apart the easier it is to do

[DimitriT]

Guys, Clymer's says the 80-82 bikes have sealed bearinngs (rather than the free ball). They recommend greasing the bearings at 15k miles. Is this really necessary for the sealed variety or do they just mean the free ball?

[West]

Hey West how about a quick summary of the procedure? Did you need to take the tire off? Any pointers?

First part of procedure: Get a manual. You ned it for torque specs, and lots of other good reasons. FYI, I did not remove the wheel, although it might make things easier.

I removed the tank & disconnected main electrical connector to get slack.

Removed the handlebars & wrapped a rag around the center part, laid on frame behind upper triple tree clamp, bungeed in place.

Removed brake cable from from front wheel.
Disconnected speedo cable, tach cable, & electrical connections to gauges. Disconnected clutch cable from clutch lever.

Removed gauges & bracket together (two small bolts)

Removed steering head clamp bolt and steering head compression nut on top of upper clamp

Removed (or you can just loosen, but I replaced mine with polished SS) upper fork clamp bolts.

Lift off triple tree upper clamp assembly.

Spin off bearing adusting nut (that't the funky one that you tighten the bearings with & takes either a special tool or a drift & a hammer to loosen or tighten)

Removed upper 'oil seal' (really just a protective plastic cap), top bearing race & bearings.

Jacked up front of bike with a screw jack under the engine (not too high, or you will lift the bike off the center stand, it fall down go boom), which dropped the forks & triple tree down through the frame tube. You might need to tap a bit with a cushion (plastic or wood, dont screw up the threads on the steering stem) on the top of the steering stem to dislodge the upper bearing from the steering stem.

Drop the forks, triple tree & wheel enought to clear the steering stem from the stem tube. You may have to clear some cables & electrical connections, possibly disconnecting them at one end ot the other to get enough slack. I also loosened the lower fork clamps & slid the triple tree down the forks to get some extra clearance.


Remove the lower bearing races. The upper race I found a hunk of pipe to drop through the steering head pipe that was just a bit smaller than the steering head and larger than the race ID, so that was easy. I you have tapered roller bearings, that bit will be a LOT trickier, as the upper race diameter is not so different from the steering head ID. I have seen a special tool for doing this part of the job, and can imagine a couple of different ways to accomplish this. All you want to be sure of is to push/pull the race out straight, don't drive one side only, cocking the race in the seat until it falls out, that will distort & damage the race seat.

Remove the lower bearing lower race from the steering stem. I drifted it off, tapping a bit on one side and then the other. Again, you want it to come off straight, with as little cocking on the stem as possible. I have heard of some people grinding/filing a slot almost through at one spot, then cracking the race to get it free, I did not find it necessary to get that drastic.

Put the new lower bearing on the steering stem. drift it down, using a pipe or some such on the seating collar, NOT THE RACE, until it seats.

Install the lower bearing upper race into the steering head. You can tap it in, very gently, once more STRAIGHT, without cocking. I used the old race set against the outside rim of the new upper race, and a small hammer.

Grease the bearing and race. I have seen people say to use high temp grease for this - I have no idea why, unless they work for a high temp grease company. I used plain old wheel bearing grease. You do not have to be overly generous, but don't be stingy, either.

Reinsert the steering stem into the steering head tube & lower the bike onto the steering stem/forks/wheel.

Install the upper bearing lower race into the steering head tube. Same procedure as the bottom one, drive it in straight, and use a washer or old race against the outside rim to drive it, do not use the upper race & bearing as a drift.

Grease the race you just installed and the upper bearing.

Install the upper bearing & race on the stem, no need to strike it, and I do not recommend it, as strikes against either the bearing or collar can damage something, on this upper bearing or the lower one.

Install the plastic protector, then the stem nut. Tighten the stem nut until most, if not all play is gone from the forks, DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN to 'seat' the bearings, that can (and probably will) damage your brand new bearings. I have seen several people (not on GSresources, of course), mention overtightening to 'seat' the bearings, THIS IS WRONG.

Reinstall the upper triple tree clamp assembly. Pay attention at this time to how the cables need to be routed, or you may end up taking it off again to straighten that out. I'll not mention why I know this.

Install the steering stem head nut, make it snug, but not real tight at this time. Install the steering stem head clamp bolt, do not tighten.

I'll leave the rest of the top end reassembly out, it is reverse order from the disassembly.

Now, finish tightening the bearing adjuster nut until all play is out of the forks. Once more, do not overtighten.

Check your fork alignment (I use a 6" piece of plate glass against the fork tubes), and rack the forks as necessary to get it straight. (You may want to loosen the lower fork clamps to get this done) Tighten the fork upper clamps (and lower if necessary).

Torque the steering stem head nut to spec ( I think mine is 36-54 ft-lbs)
Tighten the steering head clamp bolt.

Now sit back, have a smoke (if you do) , and think about anything you have forgotten. Re-inspect for the same reason.

Take it for an easy ride. THIS is what will seat your bearings and races.

Put the bike back on the stand and check the forks for play. and the steering for looseness. If you find any play, loosen the steering head clamp bolt & nut and tighten the bearing adjuster nut until all play is gone again. Then, of course, re-torque steering head nut & tighten clamp bolt.

After doing this a couple of times, the bearings should be fully seated, and you can adjust your bearing nut to get the desired steering feel. I understand that you want a little firmness at center steering (bike on center stand, wheel off the ground), and then after about 5 degrees of turn, the wheel should just fall off to one side or the other by itself.

Don't forget that torquing the steering head nut will add a smidgeon of tightness over what the bearing adjuster nut provides.

The job took me about 2 hours, not counting cleaning up afterwards & followup adjustments.

Hope this helps. Good riding.

[bronzeback]

Woa, thaks West!

Man, thanks for the disertation on steering stem replacement! When I get to it (hopefully soon) I'll print this out and go step by step. Wish the bike had a center stand...but I'll work something out. Sounds doable though. Thanks again, I'll let you know when I tackle it!

BB

[West]

Man, thanks for the disertation on steering stem replacement! When I get to it (hopefully soon) I'll print this out and go step by step. Wish the bike had a center stand...but I'll work something out. Sounds doable though. Thanks again, I'll let you know when I tackle it!

BB

My pleasure. I reread it & saw a couple of details I left out, but they are just details - mainly I had to take the headlight out to disconnect electrical connectors to get enough slack for when I dropped the forks.

I have a big eye bolt driven through one of the main beams in my garage, and use it & a pulley system to haul things up high. When I had to get the forks straight up & down to measure fork oil height, I used this to haul the butt end of the bike up until the forks were vertical. You might want to consider something like this. Don't use polypropylene rope for anything but swimming pool lines, the stuff is cheap but sucks, and will snap when old or overloaded. Spring for nylon rope, it's work better, last longer, and it won't kill you because it won't fail like polypropylene. Another couple of lines off to the sides to keep the bike upright and you are in business. The extra effort is worth it, believe me, a controllable way to raise the bike is handy as all get out.

Glad to help & good luck with the job.

West