I am betting some of you guys know the answer to this...

[Hypocycloid3]

Yeah, but on the top of the wheel where it's easier to watch.....maybe taped to the fork or something like that....locate it close to the wheel and spin the wheel, then do the same thing with your pencil almost touching the top of the tire.

Can you pin it down to front or rear? Do you feel it more in the seat or the bars?

Definitely more or exclusively on the bars in the front... at 75 if you counted one one thousand two one thousand it would be cycles of fade shake fade shake fade shake etc

 

[Hypocycloid3]

Revisiting this thread from several months back with some new info... so far I have done the 'pencil' check described above and checked the torque on the swing arm pivot shafts and nut. <== All could not seem to have checked out any more okay. Front tire and wheel, showing no signs of an out of round condition (I would say accurate to within a millimeter) and the swing arm was torqued perfectly. I pulled the pivot shafts regardless and looked inside. Nothing seems wrong with the bearings as far as visual inspection/flashlight/feeling around in there can identify etc. Is there a way to be sure without removing them? Just added some moly grease with a little brush and torqued them back to specs. Bounce test produced mixed results. If I tighten to the point where my forks dont bounce at all... it feels too tight and I get that weave effect where the bike wants to constantly turn left then right. If I loosen to where it feels 'right' I get a small amount of 'bounce back' - is this indicative of steering bearing needing replaced? Dont want to put the rear wheel and exhaust back on to test drive without checking back on these questions first. Once done, thinking of putting another ounce of dyna beads in the front tire to see if that helps balance it out.

 

[Traumahawk]

I happen to like Dyna beads, but I follow the manufactures guideline, of 1 ounce in the front, and 2 ounces in the rear.

 

[Traumahawk]

Also, have you taken the steering head bearings out to look at them.....or grease them?

 

[dannymax]

A small amount of 'bounce back' is good, I like to see them hit, bounce once, then return to rest against the stops.

 

[Hypocycloid3]

Have not. Will do that ASAP. Happen to have a link to your favorite write up on doing that so I can avoid winging it? Also, don't Dyna bead amounts depend on the tire size?

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[Hypocycloid3]

A small amount of 'bounce back' is good, I like to see them hit, bounce once, then return to rest against the stops.

Thanks! Pretty much describes where I am at now

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[Hypocycloid3]

Forgot to mention... My Service Manual says 85ft pounds on that Castle nut on left side, rear wheel axel. Mine was significantly looser then that. Can anybody verify the accuracy of that spec? & Do you guys torque it that tight?

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[Traumahawk]

Have not. Will do that ASAP. Happen to have a link to your favorite write up on doing that so I can avoid winging it? Also, don't Dyna bead amounts depend on the tire size?

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They do.......but unless your running a LARGE tire......its 1 or 2 ounces.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/chart.htm#MotorcycleChart

Here is a good post that talks about symptoms.

Here is a good post about replacing them

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=41798&highlight=steering+head+bearings

 

[Traumahawk]

Forgot to mention... My Service Manual says 85ft pounds on that Castle nut on left side, rear wheel axel. Mine was significantly looser then that. Can anybody verify the accuracy of that spec? & Do you guys torque it that tight?

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I do mine to about 60......several people have tightened it up to spec, and then after riding the bike, the differential would be HOT to the touch.

 

[Traumahawk]

Another good write up......and shows what old dry grease looks like.

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=32855&highlight=steering+head+bearings

 

[Hypocycloid3]

Just read through both. These are Great! Thanks a bunch T.Hawk

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[Hypocycloid3]

Well, finally replaced the Steering head bearings and still have the shake. Was surprised actually at how good of shape they seemed to be in. WAY beyond the miles they probably should have been changed but grease was a little dry and that was it. Anyway, I can at least now cross that off the list of things that are gonna need done but now thinking this is never going to go away unless I just ditch this tire. Have always ran Metzlers one size larger then stock and never had this problem in probably over 10 tires but running out of things to try. Is there a component to the inner forks that could be worn and cause this kind of condition?

 

[Traumahawk]

Did you ever check out the swing arm bearings?

 

[Hypocycloid3]

Yes. Well, to the extent that they were torqued to spec and outwardly looked good under the chrome caps. Do I need to remove them to see if they are bad or is there a way to test them with the bike assembled?

 

[Hypocycloid3]

...probably should add that they have never been messed with since I bought the bike in 2001. Marks there with a sharpie which I assume show where they were torqued to at the factory? I loosened both sides then torqued them back to specs and the marks lined back up exactly

 

[Hypocycloid3]

I'd pull the trees and inspect the bearings & races first. Then repack & adjust if they are in perfect condition. Look for notches worn in the races. If that isn't a problem, we'll move on to wheel bearings. Before taking it apart, do the bounce test.
Steve-o

Did this (finally) The races looked / felt perfect to me so I reused the old ones and packed new All Ball bearings with moly grease, reassembled and tighted using Sean M's 'bounce' tolerance. If anything it's a little more noticeable now. Steering feels fine however and did not see or feel any grooves in the races. They did have some discoloration where the bearings sit tho' Do these look good to you?

 

[Hypocycloid3]

uploading pix as an attachment...

 

[Fire-medic]

I think it's the top outer race that will come out because you can catch an inner lip to use a drift punch circumferentially-applying taps to it until it unseats. I think it's the bottom outer race that doesn't have much of any lip to catch with the drift punch, that guys either weld a bead to it, to get something to have to pound it out with a punch or chisel, and the heat helps to loosen it, too.

The other method commonly-used is a small disc die grinder to cut the outer bearing race to a point where you can split it fully with a cold chisel.

After removing the outer race, I suggest grinding an 'eyebrow' into the steel of the inside of the steering head, 180 degrees-apart, so you can expose the outer bearing rim seat, to make changing the outer race easier in the future. Realistically, the tapered bearing swap-out will probably last the life of the bike, unless you regularly land hard from wheelies. Still, if you do the grinding, you'll be glad you did when you do the job again.

 

[Traumahawk]

Yes. Well, to the extent that they were torqued to spec and outwardly looked good under the chrome caps. Do I need to remove them to see if they are bad or is there a way to test them with the bike assembled?

I THINK that they have to be serviced every 20K, so you could take them out and look.