Freddy
Puppy
I had to get around to replacing the steering head bearings on the 800 GS I acquired recently (yes, I see lots of stories about how bad it is on these bikes). Anyways, after the wobbling around the corners was getting a bit too much, I sourced a set of head bearings and settled down to replace them.
Now when it came to pushing off the bearing on the bottom yoke, it slipped off easily....mmm. A closer look after cleaning the grease off the stem, I see that the bearing land on the stem had been damaged and repaired with brazing/welding and then polished down on one side of the stem. So now that bottom bearing has a smaller, out of round and slightly off centre - off square land to seat on. See the picture attached.
When I disassembled the triple clamp assembly, the top preload bolt was so tight that the impact driver took a few seconds to loosen it up. Mmm.
I think that the bearings were not seating square after the "repair" and the previous replacement had the preload wound up so tight to get rid of slack, and the bearings brinelled badly. The previous owner said he replaced them recently, and judging by the grease in there that's about right. It was still clean and clear. So, to have a bearing failure so soon (oem suspension damping aside), something was clearly not right.
So now, I am looking for a replacement bottom yoke/steering stem. I priced a replacement from BMWobbler, and it has to be imported, 2 weeks delivery (ha ha), for R6600 (not sure about incl. or excl. VAT, I didn't get that far).
I have been searching the 2nd hand spares on Gumtrees, etc.... funny thing is that the scrapped bikes I see are minus the triple clamps....
Does anyone out there know where I may source a 2nd hand and unmodified/undamaged steering stem/bottom yoke?
Now when it came to pushing off the bearing on the bottom yoke, it slipped off easily....mmm. A closer look after cleaning the grease off the stem, I see that the bearing land on the stem had been damaged and repaired with brazing/welding and then polished down on one side of the stem. So now that bottom bearing has a smaller, out of round and slightly off centre - off square land to seat on. See the picture attached.
When I disassembled the triple clamp assembly, the top preload bolt was so tight that the impact driver took a few seconds to loosen it up. Mmm.
I think that the bearings were not seating square after the "repair" and the previous replacement had the preload wound up so tight to get rid of slack, and the bearings brinelled badly. The previous owner said he replaced them recently, and judging by the grease in there that's about right. It was still clean and clear. So, to have a bearing failure so soon (oem suspension damping aside), something was clearly not right.
So now, I am looking for a replacement bottom yoke/steering stem. I priced a replacement from BMWobbler, and it has to be imported, 2 weeks delivery (ha ha), for R6600 (not sure about incl. or excl. VAT, I didn't get that far).
I have been searching the 2nd hand spares on Gumtrees, etc.... funny thing is that the scrapped bikes I see are minus the triple clamps....
Does anyone out there know where I may source a 2nd hand and unmodified/undamaged steering stem/bottom yoke?
