Steering Head Bearing Repack Requirements

Energy One

Gas Man

Cool isn't cheap
Calendar Participant
The steering head bearings are supposed to be adjusted/tightened using the "fall away" process. Lift the bike so that the front end is off the ground. My Harley Dyna Wide Glide says to tighten the bearings so that the front fork falls away off to either side from a range of 1" to 2" from center. The Big Dog service manual sould provide more specifics, however I don't have one yet for my 2008 mode.
mine definately does that....
 

Dlandbob

Active Member
Good post, I am not sure how old this is, I am on my iPad looking up stuff in the garage working on my Bike. My God everything is messed up again and I stripped the forks, JB Welded the leak I had in my forks, drained them and put 10.5 oz in it. Scratch things here and there and then putting on the front tire I stripped the bottom of the forks that hold the wheel on. Damn it!!! I think I can get a couple new bolt a. 1/4 inch long to fix it and be extra careful. I did this before when I change my rotor and didn't see any torque specs, I just did them tight. Gas Man, your not kidding, Dont pay someone else to fuck up your Bike. This is all from someone else fucking it all up! Worst is I had someone change my rear rotor and my belt drive is over 2 inches loose! After I get this headache from the fork delta with I have to fix that! My bike is tired of being up in the air! I need someone with a clue to help, I spend hours just sweating this!
 

Dlandbob

Active Member
Oh, my triple tree bearings make a loud noise, it's time to repack but I can't find any how to's on here about it. I have to say it, was my Old Neighbor Right? Should I get a HD, the one I had before Never had any issues and still doesn't have any.
 

08mastiff

Active Member
If your triple tree bearings make a loud noise then I would check that adjustment nut under the lower tree. Fyi when I rebuilt my front end last month I disassembled everything and repacked my neck bearings. My lower tree had about a 1/4 space because that screw was loose. My bike used to make a clunking sound occasionally on turns because of it. Repacking is easy, after taking the front end off, disconnect the clutch cable. Then when you unscrew the bolt on the lower tree it separates the upper and lower tree. The top tree will come off as a unit with everything connected but the clutch cable. Protect your tank and set it in top of it, I then cleaned out the bearings and neck with brake cleaner and repacked them. I would repack the neck every 5,000 miles when your change the fork seals. Adjusting the fall away is no biggie either. I did mine before I connected the clutch cable and before I bolted on the front brake caliper. Not hard once you do it once. Gasman walks you through every step. Should be all listed in your manual also.:2thumbs:
 

Dlandbob

Active Member
Thanks 08M. My bike is up on the Jack and I am reading here that when it is, the wheel should only move one to two inches side to side from center. Mine swings to either side until it's as far as it can go. I guess because it is loose? The bolt was hanging off with one thread left a few moths ago and I just tighten it without knowing specs.
 

stryfox

Active Member
It should move one to two inches and stay there before it swings by itself.
If it just swings to the end of travel by itself when resting near center it is too loose.
 

woodbutcher

Mr. Old Fart member #145
Staff member
It should move one to two inches and stay there before it swings by itself.
If it just swings to the end of travel by itself when resting near center it is too loose.
yes, it will move full lock to lock on or off the lift but when on the lift you should have to manually move it 1-2" either way before it falls away on it's own. :up::up:
 
Repacked Bearings

I replaced my bearings @ 7500 miles because the bearings are not that expensive and once you get it all torn down and the bearings in your hand mine were worn out. Besides it's a pain in the but to get to that point and not go ahead and replace them(Gas tank removal, fork removal, etc. etc.) Just my two cents. :flag:
 

Dlandbob

Active Member
I tighten it until it moved a couple inches side to side and stopped before it would swing all the way. I rode it out of my driveway to test it and ran out of Gad! I have a funny squeak when I let of the gas and it goes down on the front or over a bump it is a lot better now. Sounds like it could just be the bearings that need replacing. I will get a set this week and work on that. I have to replace my rear wires because they are worn out from the tire hitting the fender. So Much Fun!
 
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