Steering wobble, head bearings

71261 Views 197 Replies 55 Participants Last post by cadd, Jul 30, 2016

old3

Discussion Starter · Dec 10, 2012 (Edited)

So, steering head came loose at around 1000 miles. I dove in to see what was up. Loose ball bearings. Really? 2013, a bike that defines your company to thousands of riders entering the sport and this is what you do Kawasaki? Shame on you!

Not soon after I noticed a decel wobble in the front with no hands on the bars at 50-40 MPH. Great, had the same thing on 2 different ZZR1200s. Time to research. Turns out many times this wobble is caused by the poor contact points of ball bearings and the steering stem basically deflecting along those points from top to bottom races.

I reset the tension a few times and added some Bel-Ray WP grease to no avail. I "suffered" with these bearings and the sloppiness for almost 1000 more miles and it drove me nuts!

All Balls sells a kit for the 250 so I ordered one up and dropped it in today.

Wobble is gone, steering precision is WAY up!!!

Do this bearing replacement. It makes the bike feel so much more stable and smooth, no comparison to stock. Absolutely excellent mod.

Under $40 and 2 hours of slow paced wrenching start to finish.

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HardRacing

· #41 · Feb 3, 2013

.

OLD3 that was a great write up .... pics or no pics.

Well done.

old3

Discussion Starter · #42 · Feb 3, 2013

Thanks H-R!

The whipper-snappers are spoiled by getting everything from the ends of the Earth on the cell phones!

I remember when you had to check the book out of the library or try to remember what the guy at the shop told ya to do!

ghost3772

· #43 · Feb 3, 2013

^^^^^ haha agree

cbzdel

· #44 · Feb 3, 2013

old3 said:
I remember when you had to check the book out of the library or try to remember what the guy at the shop told ya to do!

I remember doing that when I was in in high school , the days before high speed internet was common

dkw12002

· #45 · Feb 3, 2013

Every bike I have ever owned developed head bearing problems...just not at 1000 miles. It should be taken care of by warranty since it shouldn't happen so quickly.

Kartel

· #46 · Feb 3, 2013

dkw12002 said:
Every bike I have ever owned developed head bearing problems...just not at 1000 miles. It should be taken care of by warranty since it shouldn't happen so quickly.

I don't think the op cared much for the stock parts therefore warranty and replacements for him was not a path worth going down.

I also believed he explained what I just said as well

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old3

Discussion Starter · #47 · Feb 3, 2013

Yes, having them put the same crappy parts in my bike every 900 miles is not an appealing proposition.

$45 for the right thing they should have used in the first place is a no brainer. It might have raised the MSRP of the bike $9.

SOMEONE IN KAWI ACCOUNTING WOULD HAVE BALKED AT THAT THOUGH!

Penny pinchers!

bryce

· #48 · Feb 3, 2013

1500 miles and my bike isn't experiencing this problem. Not sure what I need to be looking for.

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HardRacing

· #49 · Feb 3, 2013

old3 said:
Yes, having them put the same crappy parts in my bike every 900 miles is not an appealing proposition.

$45 for the right thing they should have used in the first place is a no brainer. It might have raised the MSRP of the bike $9.

SOMEONE IN KAWI ACCOUNTING WOULD HAVE BALKED AT THAT THOUGH!

Penny pinchers!

.

LOL.. That is to funny. Very True.

But, Funny nonetheless.

.

cbzdel

· #50 · Feb 7, 2013

old3 said:
Yes, it would be dandy! I hope someone does one for you. I expect CB will so he can show off his disco satin valve stem caps...

Hey now just seen this!!

Would Mobile1 Systhetic Bearing Grease work? Doesnt say anything about waterproof though..

old3

Discussion Starter · #51 · Feb 7, 2013

It should but it can get washed out more easily that the waterproof stuff. I recommend WP for this application.

cbzdel

· #52 · Feb 7, 2013

Alright I will add that to my shopping list.. I have my emulators on the way from Hard Racing

I got the bearing from eBay only because Hard Racing doesnt take eBay bucks

HateSneezing

· #53 · Feb 8, 2013

Would love it if there was a suspension section

Or a "must" have write up for upgrades to the handle bars, forks, suspension and so forth.

It gets a bit confusing for a newb.

Reactions: 1

HardRacing

· #54 · Feb 8, 2013

that's actually a good idea

.

cbzdel

· #55 · Feb 18, 2013

I replaced my bearing on Saturday.. Man what a nightmare.. Maybe its because it was the first bearing of this type I EVER replaced but it took my almost all day to get the damn thing installed.. The bike is still not put together yet though as I am in the middle of installing my gold valve emulators. Just moving the tripple tree around feels MUCH smoother though..

I dont know if I was surprised or not, but my stock bearings were full of metal shavings at only 700 miles, and there was VERY little grease even on them...

HardRacing

· #56 · Feb 18, 2013

.

Your first time is always the hardest. But, at least you can feel good knowing,
what you replaced, was "Going to Fail" Sooner then later.

.

old3

Discussion Starter · #57 · Feb 18, 2013

I wouldn't trust those loose stock ball bearings on a child's tricycle! Your bike will be more stable and steer far better now without the oddball deflection they caused even at their best moment when fresh and new!

Now to fix the swing arm flex!

HardRacing

· #58 · Feb 18, 2013

old3 said:
i wouldn't trust those loose stock ball bearings on a child's tricycle!

.

lol. Maybe a Bigwheel ?

.

wisemonkey1

· #59 · Feb 18, 2013

HateSneezing said:
Would love it if there was a suspension section Or a "must" have write up for upgrades to the handle bars, forks, suspension and so forth.

It gets a bit confusing for a newb.

I too don't really yet understand this issue. Is it a safety concern? What are the symptoms or red flags?

I suspect that many of us are new riders and would benefit from a quick overview of the problem.

old3

Discussion Starter · #60 · Feb 18, 2013

Loose ball bearings are the lowest step in the ladder for steering heads besides the plastic on plastic friction method of the aforementioned Big Wheel. The points of contact on ball bearings allow flex within the steering head axis, and these are about the lowest quality of bearing and race on top of that. Many big sport bikes use caged ball bearings, which are at least trapped and equally distribute the load all the time. These are randomly located, and have a considerable gap in them so it fails to effectively control the plane of the steering head shaft. Extrapolate that down the length of the forks, which are noodle-y tubes already and it ads up to, in the best scenario, a loss of reliable location, or feel of the front tire. Think precision.

Add wear and it increases that lack of feel many times over. That leads to a loose steering head, the bearings get hammered/flat spots, everything gets worse again. On top of that, you can experience the steering wobble that I originally had, decal wobble at 50-40 MPH with light or no grip on the bars. That is always going on, your hands just damp it if you hold on.

Roller bearings have more contact area and locate the steering head tube far better. This gives you a reliable connection to the thin fork tubes that are doing their own thing but you feel the tire contact patch better, more control is the result.

This isn't an uncommon situation, Ninja 250s and 500s have suffered from this since the dawn of time. A new rider might not notice the difference, but it is there.

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