New tapered head bearings

[Guest]

I have a 80 GS1000 and I purchased new tapered head bearings for it. When I pulled the tripple tree off tonight I found that the bike already had tapered head bearings. Is this the way they came from Suzuki? Should I even replace them? The bike has 3700 miles on it since new.

[Johno]

Bomber737,

If you have a GS1000 then your bike came with tapered steering head bearings. If they are thirty years old then they may look like this even if they have only done very low mileage.



Check my front end thread

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=173949

Unless your bearings have been replaced or greased you may need to replace them.

If you currently have the front end already off then replacing the bearings and packing them with waterproof grease will give you 30 years of reliability

[FLHGSRay]

If you've already bought them, I'd replace them. I didn't do it when I had my front end off, but I wish I had. I cleaned mine well and regreased them. Front end works well, it's just the feeling that "Hey Dummy, you had it apart. You should have done that." Also, when you put it back together, those bearings are gonna take a LOT more torque than you're gonna want to put on them. Just work the tree back and forth while you tighten the nut to the point that it won't turn without a little effort. Think about it flopping side to side after you put all the weight of the tubes and things back on.

[bomber737]

Ok I will replace the ones that are there with my new ones. They actually look like new but they are dry. There was no rust at all. This is the first bike I have done that has had tapered bearings from the factory.

[Nessism]

I wouldn't bother replacing them if the old bearings are still good. Suzuki used very high quality bearings on these bikes, and the typical Chinese made "All Ball's" bearings (or similar), are a step down from original. Plus, removing the old races is a royal pain and you can damage something during he process unless you are careful and have the proper tools.

I recommend using "marine" grease when lubing bearings since it holds up nicely to water contamination. And don't forget to pull the swingarm since those bearings are likely also in need of fresh grease.

[tkent02]

Just pay attention to how the bearings feel. Bad steering head bearings are very obvious to the discerning rider.

[koolaid_kid]

A bad set of bearings will feel rough when you rotate them. Grease them up and see what they feel like when you rotate the inner or outer part of the bearing. If it feels rough at all go ahead and replace them.

[kochic]

You can clean them and check for any "marks".
If you see somthing or feel something with a nail replace them.
I still have the original bearings on my gs1000.
Marc