notchy steering head

[Road Runner]

The steering on my FS has a pronounced 'notchy' feel at the centred position. Can't say I noticed before, but it just failed it's MOT for this reason .
The tester reckoned it might be cured by loosening of the steering a bit. Any point in trying this or do I need new bearings?

[benny hedges]

replace the worn out standard ball bearings for a taper roller set.
much better.
cost about £30 for the set.
be sure to follow the tensioning guide here - you dont tighten them like ball bearings, and they will need retensioning a few times over the first few 100 mile

do it sooner rather than later.... worn head bearings can cause very unpredicatbale handling at speed.

[tony.mon]

Worn head bearings annoy the hell out of me, they make the bike weave slightly, especially noticeable cutting between the traffic queues on the M25.....
+1 on the tapers.

[Road Runner]

Thanks, i'll get the manual out
I hadn't noticed any obvious handling issues, but the bloke said it would be a different bike when sorted so that's something to look forward to.

[Stratman]

Whilst taper rollers are the way to go, in the meanwhile and to get its MOT, try taking off the clip ons, remove the centre nut on the yoke, wiggle the top yoke up then loosen the C rings till you can see the top bearing race. Move them to the left or right, pack in some more grease then re-assemble.

Make sure you cover the tank with a clth/towel or something as if the C spanners slipp they might damage the paint.

You might find this removes the notchiness and it will pass the MOT but it will be temporary.

[sirch345]

Worn head bearings annoy the hell out of me,

And me too

+2 on the tapered head bearings

Chris.

[benny hedges]

Whilst taper rollers are the way to go, in the meanwhile and to get its MOT, try taking off the clip ons, remove the centre nut on the yoke, wiggle the top yoke up then loosen the C rings till you can see the top bearing race. Move them to the left or right, pack in some more grease then re-assemble.

.

if youre going that far you might as well go to halfords or any cycle shop and get some 1/4" ball bearings and replace the worn bearings.
in bicycles, these bearings are usually found in the pedal spindle but they are the same size as in most bike headrace.

just seems daft lifting the yoke and packing grease into worn bearings, when for the sake of a fiver you can pop new ones in

[tony.mon]

Sadly the balls themselves are seldom worn, IME, just the upper seat of each race.

[benny hedges]

oooh i dunno... ive seen them like golf ball shape before, dimpled and pitted, and some worn oval, and some not there at all lol.
the notchyness is when either the ball or the race has worn to the point where its like theres a bearing missing.
best thing to do imo is relace them, not patch the job, seeing as its a vital steering part...
you'd kick yourself if you end up binning the bike because of it for the sake of £30

[Stratman]

I had done this procedure before without any disasters before I fitted a set of tapers - it's only so he can get his bike through the MOT, not ride the NW200