[Chuckster]

The tire is a consumable and much easier to change than the bearings. I'd start with the tire. Also good to check you're not missing a spacer.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

If your head bearings are tight in one direction….probably time for new ones….might just need a clean and lube.

Kind of a rabbit hole really.

Once the fork tubes are out, might as well change the suspension fluid out. Steering head bearings….tires…..never ends

😂

 

[QRO]

If your head bearings are tight in one direction….probably time for new ones….might just need a clean and lube.

Kind of a rabbit hole really.

Once the fork tubes are out, might as well change the suspension fluid out. Steering head bearings….tires…..never ends

😂

Oh, ho ho ....

The tire is a consumable and much easier to change than the bearings. I'd start with the tire. Also good to check you're not missing a spacer.

Yeah, but a bigger expense than the bearing, and I'm pretty comfortable that those need changing. Quite possibly both. I'm OK with the time spent doing the job, just gotta figure out how to fix it up in the air safely.

thanks, all, will do that job first and come back on it.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

If you have a sturdy ladder you can rig some cargo straps through the frame behind the steering head to suspend it in combination with the wooden stand you built.

I’d get all the heavy work or breaking bolts loose done before lifting it so you lessen the chance of dropping it off either method of lifting.

 

[QRO]

Thanks. I am thinking I might construct a fixture from some timber, I actually have a platform I already made for something else I can recycle. I'll figure it out!

 

[QRO]

That doesn't look good.

So I was sorting out a frame for it to lift up on and decided that I could at least whip the top stock off, whip the bearing seal off and take a look at how the top bearing is doing, maybe pack it with some new grease, wiggle it around a bit, retighten it, see if that makes a difference.

Bearing looks dry but normal, but, wasn't expecting 'this'. The top boss no longer fits on the struts.

That seems like a misalignment on the steering boss, maybe? No evidence I can see of an accident damage. Is this 'within normality'? I mean, obviously I can make it fit by slackening the lower boss clamps, because it was aligned when I took it off.

 

[Chuckster]

Things wind up sometimes. The trick is just don't torque anything down until all the pieces are in place and hand tight.

 

[QRO]

Things wind up sometimes. The trick is just don't torque anything down until all the pieces are in place and hand tight.

OK, thanks, so you think that's in tolerance, nothing to worry about, and I'll just tighten it all up once it's loosely together?

 

[Yellow Submarine]

It will do that on any bike. The difference is under load (wheels on the ground) and no load (wheels off the ground). Putting it under load again will line everything up….or removing load may line everything up again.

Or once the lower triple bolts are loose, things will line up again. Sometimes you have to experiment with where everything lines up and THEN torque to spec. Sometimes, torque to spec puts everything out of alignment because nothing was keeping it in place.

 

[Chuckster]

^^^ Yes and no.

If everything is square and unloaded, it should line up. But for it to flex out of square is normal. What you don't want is that lower twisted. At the end of the day, everything should slip together with little effort.

 

[QRO]

Thanks. It all straightened up when I unloaded the wheel. So basically it twists in one direction when there is the normal weight of the bike on it. TBH, I'd have thought that's not a 'good' design and the lower yoke would be at least strong enough to resist the plain weight of the bike. Add me on and braking/cornering at 1g and that will at least triple that load? But, hey, Suzuki have been winning races for a while and if you want your bike to weight the same as a 250 then I guess that is what you have to deal with.

 

[Chuckster]

It's far stronger than you think. Not fair judging it without it's supports in place.