[veksdeath]

Has anyone looked into or planing on getting a steering stabilizer? I think it could be a nice mod. Any thoughts?

 

[cbzdel]

Never needed one in the past.. Maybe if I ever have a tank slapper some day I will change my mind???

 

[Westy]

All i will be doing in that area is changing the standard crappy ball bearings in the steering head to a tapered bearing setup to get more tension on the steering that way it will get rid of the head shake that these bike are prone to under decel, with ball bearings you cant tighten the steering head nut down till it snaps but it will not put any more tension on the steering but going to a tapered roller bearing setup you can actually adjust the tension on the steering and this is actually common in several bigger bikes as well like the Honda 1100XX Blackbird also came out with crappy ball bearing set up in the steering head as also did the famous Honda RVF400 and both bikes had headshake under decel until they get changed to tapered.

 

[cbzdel]

I keep reading about the crappy bearings in these bikes.. Never had a problem with the 250R or the 300 now..

 

[Brother Michigan]

All i will be doing in that area is changing the standard crappy ball bearings in the steering head to a tapered bearing setup to get more tension on the steering. That way it will get rid of the head shake that these bike are prone to under decel; with ball bearings you cant tighten the steering head nut down till it snaps but it will not put any more tension on the steering, but going to a tapered roller bearing setup you can actually adjust the tension on the steering. This is actually common in several bigger bikes as well like the Honda 1100XX Blackbird, which also came out with a crappy ball bearing set up in the steering head, as did the famous Honda RVF400, and both bikes had headshake under decel until they got changed to tapered.

FTFY. Now people can read it.

 

[ionized]

I was under the impression all steering head bearings are tapered by default. Guess I should look in the service manual lol

 

[Westy]

FTFY. Now people can read it.

What had to be fixed lol, excuse my ignorance haha

 

[Westy]

I was under the impression all steering head bearings are tapered by default. Guess I should look in the service manual lol

Yeah not sure if the manual specifies what bearings they use. There is quite a few more bikes than I mentioned that use the ball bearing and the silly thing is that 99% of dirt bikes use tapered bearings from factory and they do a lot lower speeds than sportsbikes

 

[jeff]

Has anyone looked into or planing on getting a steering stabilizer? I think it could be a nice mod. Any thoughts?

I really do not think a steering stabilizer is needed nor necessary on a bike such as the Ninja 300.

 

[old3]

I have a Scotts damper off my KTM 950, It bolted right on using the 250 mount kit but I still need to weld on the pin tower.

X 100 on the loose ball bearings. Junk. They are on my must do list.

 

[cbzdel]

what are the symptom of these loose bearings?? My 300 feels the same as my 600 and my 250R

 

[old3]

If you might recall, I had my front steering head come loose at around 1000 miles. I have been playing with it since then. Ball bearings have very limited contact points, tapered rollers have long contact areas and support in two planes. Since my steering head loosened up, and probably before that, I have noticed a decel wobble with no hands on the bars at 50-40 MPH. These wobbles are generally attributed to the steering head stem flexing between the upper & lower bearings poor contact patches.

Kawi's resolution to this "problem" is for you to keep your hands on the bars. I've been thru this before with a ZZR1200 that did the same thing.

Ball bearings do work, but thats about it. To maintain the best possible steering geometry, precision and have consistant tension that is easily set and pretty much forgotten, the tapered roller bearings are the best. They take a beating too. Think about that contact point and hammering thru a pot hole. The ball can be dented flat easily. Now you have more play, bigger damage to the other bearings from similar hits and it just keeps getting worse till it is clunking and notchy turning.

 

[cbzdel]

Is this a simple swap to change them out or are more mods required??

I have a ball bearing shop right next to my office.. Dont know if they are open to the general public though...

 

[old3]

Should be a simple swap but the top triple clamp may be raised 1/8-1/4" above its normal plane. All Balls has a kit but you should be able to source the bearings and races from a local shop with just the triple stem and head tube dimensions.

 

[cbzdel]

So there is room to play with on the forks, but would yo need a longer stem bolt?

 

[old3]

Should be OK. I just ordered a set, the thread motivated me so I can get it done the next snow day in the garage. If there are clear bearing numbers I'll post them up in a new, steering head bearing specific thread.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-BALLS-K...Parts_Accessories&hash=item460a0b3b91&vxp=mtr

If anyone is going as far as a stabilizer the bearings are a no brainer anyway.

 

[cbzdel]

That's cheap, if it works let us know, i would do it

 

[paw paw ninja]

i am installing steering damper on my 2014 300 because i get head shake i brake hard

 

[travellingtenor]

I have one on my 300 but it is not hooked up at the present time. I am evaluating my bearings and don't want the input of the steering stabilizer to mask what is happening in my front end.

 

[voltapikachu]

when i first got my 300 i could take my hands off the handle bar at about 50 to zip up my jacket or something really quick. did it the other day (im at about 10,000 miles) and within two seconds my front end was wobbling more and more (i almost didnt believe it), i feel like i barely got it in time, a split second later and i probably would've lost control.
now ima get new bearings, and maybe a stabilizer, but i prefer the way the bar looks aesthetically. is there a big difference between a bar and the boxy one?