tank slap

[bubby]

when i take my hands of the handle bars they wanna tank slap i have a brand new tire that was high speed balanced rotor is true and straight i have heard about checking the air pressure in the forks but i cannot find a shrader valve any where the bike is 1977 gs 750 there is a oil drain on the bottom of each tube but i didnt wanna mess with that if i can just reset the air pressure or something simple

[TheCafeKid]

Steering stem bearings are toast. Your particular model has ball bearings. Over time "detents" get beaten into the races and the balls will walk in and out of those detents and cause the wobble.

[Steve]

Even roller bearings are not immune, it just takes longer before it happens.

Here is what happened to my roller bearings. The dents in your ball bearings would be much worse.



.

[bubby]

thanx for the info will get some coming next week

[bonanzadave]

A GSR member recently installed a set of All Balls stem bearings and found he needed to have done a stem modification. I think you're in that boat if you want to use All Balls.

http://www.allballsracing.com/media/installation/Suzuki_Steering_Stem_Mod.pdf

[tkent02]

Check also your swingarm bearings.

[bubby]

checked out that link it looks complicated maybe a little out of my ability i think i might just put oem style bearings in it

[Agemax]

Even roller bearings are not immune, it just takes longer before it happens.

Here is what happened to my roller bearings. The dents in your ball bearings would be much worse.



.

Steve that is a pic of a badly adjusted and un lubricated bearing.
the amount of work the stem bearings do is way under the spec of a taper roller bearings capabilities.
a properly lubricated and preloaded bearing would out live the bike, and you probably!

[Dogma]

Steve that is a pic of a badly adjusted and un lubricated bearing.
the amount of work the stem bearings do is way under the spec of a taper roller bearings capabilities.
a properly lubricated and preloaded bearing would out live the bike, and you probably!

Except they don't. Lots of us have had to replace the original tapered bearings. Unless the factory was doing it wrong.

[Agemax]

Except they don't. Lots of us have had to replace the original tapered bearings. Unless the factory was doing it wrong.

factory fitted bearings were never lubricated apart from the minimal lube that the bearing was coated in. was never included in a service routine to readjust and lubricate

[bubby]

my tree doesnt have any zerk fittings when i do these bearings would it hurt to drill the neck and put in a grease fiting or maybe 2 1 for the top bearing and 1 for the bottom ,, to help the longevity of the bearings or would the hole compromise the integrity of the neck

[Agemax]

no need for any drilling. just pack them well with quality grease when you fit them and make sure the top nut is torqued up correctly and you have a nice smooth turn on the trees. they will last forever

[bubby]

ok good enough i have a bad habit of over thinking simple things and making them complicated

[old_skool]

Check also your swingarm bearings.

Don't ignore this bit of advice amongst all the front end bearing advice, I changed the stem bearings (needed anyway) wheel bearings, checked tire pressure, fork pressure, found out a lot of the issue was my swinger bearings, I've heard front end instability is caused from rear suspension or alignment issues. My swinger tightened up another 1/4 turn and eliminated most of my slap, I know I need new swinger bearings, but trying to live with it till fall/winter. When I increase rear tire pressure or rear shock pressure, mine worsens.

[chuck hahn]

May wanna spend a few extra bucks and just replace the wheel bearings too just for piece of mind sake..then youll know ALL the front end is new and not problematic in any way.