Steering Stem Bearings

[Dave T.]

I know Dennis Kirk has them. Looks like "All Balls" is the manufacturer. $41 bucks plus shipping seems expensive.

Anyone ever wrote down the numbers on the races? I don't think AB is the manufacturer. I would say NTN makes them. Anybody get them from their local industrial supply house for less?

I want to replace them this winter. ?


Thanks in advance... :-X

[Rick G]

Hi DT,  I paid 30.00 for mine wholesale, so 41 isn't out of line . I didn't record the numbers, but Ken Williams did and I printed  the page out on the old forum. heres what it  says.
Upper
cage ID:25 MM
Cage axial length:15 MM
cage marking:25Y
Race OD:48 MM
Race axiel length ?
Race marking:MC148YS
Overall Assembled Axial length:15.1 MM

Lower
Cage ID: 30 MM
Cage axial length: 15 MM
Cage Marking: 30Y
Race OD:48 MM
Race axial Length: 9.5 MM
Race marking: 48 KS
Overall Asembled Axial Length:15.15 MM

[Humber]

Guys, a friend of mine took his off and went to the biggest bearing warehouse in POland....

and they said it was not possible to buy such bearings.... They are more expensive in POland.... it would be about 70 bucks.....

[rick_nowak]

these bearings actually are special.  it's a waste of time to look for others than those you found but pricing of this part is somewhat variable.
good luck

[rrip_brotz420]

ok pony up the info so i can get it up,
 also if replacing them cures the wobble why the fork brace?

[Lucky]

Replacing worn bearings cures a wobble only caused by worn bearings.

The addition of a fork brace increases front end stiffness which improves feedback from the road

they do seem to help reduce front end oscillations by "bracing" up the forks.  but i've found that if you have an oscillation, often it's caused br a ft tire needing balancing, & this often goes a looong way towards reducing those oscillations

[rip_brotz420]

 all the visions i have owned had a very severe wobble at any time when you relaxed on the bars at deceleration, . i dont mind spending $ but only if it will cure the wobble, my sterring stem bearing races might need replaced but if that will not cure the wobble , will the brace cure the wobble?
 as far as tires the dunlops pirellis michelines contis all had no effect on the wobble,   i have had them all on the bikewith no other modifications

[Rick G]

My first Vision had a pretty good wobble on deceleration (60 mph down to 40 mph) but only if you took your hands off the bars completely. I tried several tyres and it made no differance, steering stem bearings  were origional and in reasonable condition ( it was not loose or notching)
I put a set of tapered rollers in the new bike   as a precaution. The fork brace stiffens up the front end  very well  and steering is more accurate . Besides it looks great!
On the other bike, I installed a Vetter Quicksilver  and and  a modified crown that let me mount regular, tubular bars. With this combination it did not wobble a bit !!!

[Lucky]

I think the general consensus of what i've read here is that the fork brace was the solution to their wobble.  On my V I had the wobble & bad stem bearings. I had both the bearings & brace on order & the brace showed up first. after I installed it the wobble was gone, even with the bad bearings.  am I going to tell you it's the definitive cure? No, of course not, but for $30-35 it's a cheap enough. to find out.

[dtknox]

I thought that the wobble problem was the result of bad bearings so purchased tapered bearing, two years ago.  Before I got around to installing them, I replaced the tires and the problem was fixed.  That was almost 3k miles ago and there is still no sign of a wobble.   The replacement tires are 100/80 front and 110/90 rears.

Maybe I get around to installing that bearing this winter.

Keep them roling.

Dale

[Kenny]

Hi Guys,
   I just checked the spare set of tapered steering stem bearings I have  "parts plus" p/n is SSY500. The outer race has two #s  48ks  &   MCI ,  the inner assy says  3OY. They  sell for $69.cnd  up here.
   You should be greasing these at least once a year depending on the milage you put on.I would not waste my time with a Fork brace  until I had set up these bearings, If they are still balls and the race is pitted put tapered ones in.
   Another area you should be looking at is the swing arm bearings these should be lubed and the gap checked.
   I've never experienced a deacceleration wobble, I have had a weave in tight corners when leaned over  and this disappeared when I lubed and set  the gap in the swing arm.
   I'll take these bearings to our local BRG supplier and see if he can cross reference a part # with a better price.
                     Cheers Ken  

[joevacc]

I am surprised at the different solutions to the wobble problem with our bikes.  All the things I tried had minimal or no effect. [tires, fork brace, adjustment etc.] The thing that completely eliminated the wobble was replacing the stem bearings with tapered roller bearings.  I guess your mileage truly, will vary.

Best,

-=[Joe Vacc]=-

[Lucky]

? You should be greasing these at least once a year depending on the milage you put on.

Someone, a long time ago, said that when they changed their stem bearings they drilled out the head tube & installed a grease fitting.  sounds like a good idea.  I believe they did the same for the swing arm bearings.
--Lucky

[Kenny]

   I had installed a grease fitting on the Hannigan V's steering stem but after  using it for a while I felt I had a lot of grease sitting between the upper & lower bearings & found it was getting hard after a year or so, I have not drilled any others & its my opinion you have a better idea of the condition of the bearings if you take the stem apart every so oftenand relube them.
   I'm not sure how you would go about drilling holes in the swing arm area for grease nipples, has anyone done this?
     Had a nice ride in the fall colours ,why is it these bikes run so perfect in the cooler weather?
                        Cheers Ken

[Lucky]

mine is defanetly a reptile.. It prefers the warm weather no Question.  It's part of what makes these bike unique.. they each have their own idosyncrocies (i'm sure I butcherd that word!, lol)

[GAJim]

Help with installing the tapered bearings.  I am in the process of putting tapered bearings on my V.   The problem is how to get the lower bearing to seat on the way down so the top one can go on and haver enough threads to put both the nuts on.  I did remove the bottom holder which is for the ball bearings to ride in but need to move the tapered bearings lower on the shaft still.  I am pausing to get an answer or suggestion to avoid a procey mistake.  Any help is greatly aprreciated

[Rick G]

I've installed several set of them, and to tell you the truth , the installation proceedure is barbaric , but it works.
Put the upper bearing in place  and install the  lower one on the T stem.  Install the T stem in place  and snug up the first locking nut . Next ,( and this is the barbaric part) take a 3 pound  hand sledge,  and I don't mean a  claw hammer , I mean  a BIG hammer and smack the bottom of the T stem  to drive the lower bearing cup in the the head stock on the frame. Keep tightening the locking ring  so that there is no play or there is a good chance of damaging the bearings. drive it in until it will go no farther.
On mine , it would not go in far enough for  the fork stops to enguage , so I built up the stops,   to prevent gas tank damage.

[Kenny]

    
  Hi Guys,
         Please don't install your steering stem Bearings with a Hammer.  The chances of damage to the outer race and caged rollers are extremely high! Sorry Rick.
    After removal of the old outer races( the pieces that fit against the steering stem), clean both the upper and lower area's. Take the new outer races and put them in the freezer. Heat the steering stem up I used a hair dryer which takes a bit of time- you don't want the area super hot just enough so the interferance fit is less. Get one outer race and install the upper one  using a brass drift on the outer edge of the race tap it evenly untl it bottoms out. then do the same with the lower race (you may need to reheat the area). You can use the same method when putting the  lower cage on the stem.
   Another method I have used with the heating and cooling is a threaded rod with washers and pull the individual races in place.  Shops installing bearing units on a regular basis often use dry-ice to cool/shrink one part for easy assembly
                        Cheers Ken
    

[rick_nowak]

second on the threaded rod method.  this is very useful on all sorts of things, like a arm bushings on your car for one.  a great deal of installing can be done with an assortment of pipe nipples, washers, and threaded rod.
fyi-go the extra mile and find a hardware/fastener store which can sell you fine threaded rather than the universally available coarse threaded rod.  depending on what you are doing, a good size is 1/2" and this will do many things.  the reason for the fine thread is that itwill go only half as far or so for a complete turn of the nut.  this makes your turning half as difficult and allows for finer control of what you are doing.  i lube the thread with anti seize paste.  cooling makes sense if whateveer you are pressing is really tight.
have fun!

[Rick G]

Its fine to do it this way , at home , but the problem is , in a shop catering to old bikes is that people who spent 500.00  on  a 20 or 25 year old bike, won't spend the money to do it right. The shop I work in dosen't have a freezer . Years ago we put  a Triumph head  in the oven and the guides in the freezer and seated them, but this jap stuff is  disposable . they really don't want it to last over 10 years. I might like to work in a nice ,modern shop, on modern bikes, but they won't hire  a guy 61 years old !  As I said it sounds barbaric , but , it works fine . I did mine this way . The lower cup on old yamahas seems to have a wide tolerance from the factory, no two seem to be the same.
 Kawasaki's 238 green streak racer of 1969  had the forks way to verticle to work, so a shop I worked in removed the forks and installed a large piece of iron in place of it and put a port-a-power in between the engine and the piece of iron and jacked the forks out the where the wanted them. They welded up the torn gusset and put it back together . I was totally dumbfounded the first time I saw it being done!! Buy ,you know the darn things handled a lot Better!
 We had an old saying , only partialy in jest " if at first you don't succede, you ain't using a big enough hammer"