Service recommendations

Got the head bearings in today. No major issues, but the Indian bearings lived up to their expectations. Out of the pack they were gritty! Yay! Bathed in mineral spirits, the non-existant grease (more like oil) completely evaporated and released the grit and gunk. Much better once cleaned. Luckily these bearings don't spin fast, so a slight bit of dirt or out of round won't be detrimental to what we can feel in steering.

The fit of the bearing cups in the head tube was a bit tight, but still installed with a proper fitting 3/4" drive socket and a BFH. The bottom race was beaten on using a 1 1/8" aluminum headset spacer against the bearing, fit perfectly; assembly upside down in a vise allowed me to use the BFR to wail on the bottom of the triple clamp to drive the bearing on properly. Sounds worse than it really is. The biggest issue with installing bearings is finding a way to drive ONLY the race or cup without touching the actual bearing. In the shop, we have special presses that set the cups with even pressure, but a home I used the hammer technique.

 

you went the cheepo route and got crap, hope you spend bigger for wheel bearings. probably inferior metallurgy and won't last as long as better stuff.

the only quality bearings come from usa, japan, germany, sweden and italy.

 

Oh yeah, I know they are crap, but no one sells a kit in the USA for head bearings that are decent. I looked. All the OEM Honda kits were roller ball, not tapered roller. I could piece the parts, but no one had the seals too. If someone knows who sells a top quality bearing kit, please inform Google and DuckDuckGo!

The front wheel bearings I bought were advertised as made in Taiwan, but they showed up as a All Balls made in china kit. Since I had the track day in just a couple days I put them in. So they will ear out in 10k miles, but they only take 20 minutes to change out. I also think about powder coating the wheels, so they would get changed then anyways.

Soon I bet we see bearings made in Pakistan! And then we will see them made in Kenya. Its the race to the bottom, China won, but the race continues to India and Vietnam, Pakistan, Brazil, Bangledesh, and where ever slave labor can be had with no labor laws.

 

Jesus Christ SM... he knows... we know... but shit's gotta happen. Like I said before, that application is probably the safest. And I'm getting the fucking project done.

Wheel bearings.... yes... quality.

pizzas in the smoker for midnight!!

Happy New Year!!!

 

smoked a cigar with some brandy oot side fer New Years. Yeh wheel bearings find OEM or something quality like the Buffalo Man aka SM sed.
I got a nice race punch from S-O which makes removing them from the necks fun and simple. Presses are nice but you have to have a couple of those nasty 3/4 drive sockets in your drawers for these times like he sed. Peace

 

I have a big press at home, it's nice.

Comment on wheel bearings:

Regardless of where they are made, there is nothing stopping you from levering out the dust seals with a small pick or flat blade screw driver and packing them with real quality grease. I do it every time. Even on new-to-me bikes with the bearings still in the wheel. They last MUCH longer and you're not relying on an accountant's idea of what enough grease is. You will sometimes be surprised and disappointed at the amount of grease. Ive opened one new bearing and it was dry (and it wasn't Chinese).

 

I'd have no problem using All Balls in the steering head, but prefer known good wheel bearings, heck OEM aren't that much money.
Capt, from your learned experience, what amount do you fill.... 50% (assume one wouldn't want to overfill and leave room for expansion so it doesn't blow the seals out). I've read/seen most come with 20-30% and every time I look at that grease, I'm not sure if it's heavy duty enough or not.... what do you use as replacement grease?

 

I pack them just like any other bearing and have never had any evidence of "blow outs", either while on the bike or when I have things disassembled for other reasons. I'm not concerned about any additional "drag" either. Started doing it on my XR400R years ago with outstanding results.

Ever since finding a dry HONDA bearing once, I no longer take any chances. It was still a human (not) squirting the grease. And a robot's supply of grease can fail too. There is ZERO downside to at least checking.

Bel-Ray water proof grease. Been using it since forever.

 

So finished up the maintenance items. I had to JB weld new DZUS mounts on the lower fairing, and epoxy up the upper cowl. It works, but its not pretty and its still missing a 5 inch chunk of ABS on the upper. I'm debating getting a new upper cowl, or all new fiberglass fairings.
Had to replace one fork seal, which required new bushings cuz you can't separate the lower from the stantion without ruining your bushings. Mountain bikes had more advanced forks in 1995. ugh!
The carbs were dirty inside, not the worst I had seen, but it was worth tearing them apart. Bike starts and idles much better now. Needs a balance to be perfect? I lost/sold my carb balancer 30 years ago.
Did the De-Pair. Drilled tapped the front tubes and installed a 10x1 bolt in them, looped the hose for the rears. Under the plastics, sins are permitted.
Used a Gates 19029 hose for the coolant tubes in the Vee Valley. fit great, and I still have a couple sections for the next project.
The Brake pads are GG rated Galfers, should be fine. I soaked them brake cleaner and sanded them flat to remove any contaminated lining.
New fuel filter, head bearings, coolant, oil filter, front wheel bearings, left fork bushings and seals, spark plugs and its a good runner. Not bad for a bike that was found on the roadside.

 

On bikes that have had a better life, the stanchion bushings will come out without damage. But I've also had to replace some slider bushings because of the beating they took from the tube bushing. My and a friend standing outside repeatedly pulling the two opposing parts with as much violence as we can muster. And then nearly falling on our asses when it finally decides to let go!