Steering head bearings - question

[john leonard]

Hi all,

I have a '96 with about 17K on it.

I was testing the front-end bearings this morning for play and I'm not sure where the click sound is coming from but it doesn't appear to be the head bearings.  I'm tested this by pulling the front brake lever and pushing the bike forward.  I realize that this sound could be the pads, floating disc, forks, wheel bearings, etc.

I'm going to test this properly tomorrow with the bike on the center stand, front wheel off the ground, and push and pull on the bike forks for play.  There didn't appear to be any roughness or slop in the steering when I checked it like this a few months ago.

If I do find play, what's involved in trying to tighten the steering head bearings?  Do I need to loosen the 12MM allen bolt on upper fork holder before trying to adjust the two large ring nuts near the top of the steering post?  What do you use to adjust these?  Do you use a spanner wrench, or tap them with a punch to get them moving?

thanks, john




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