Head Bearing

throttle · Post by **throttle** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:26 am

How does one tighten the steering head bearing on a TRX?
I tried to do it with a screw driver and a hammer, but there apears to be some sort of spring clip holding the two nuts in place.

Anyone ever done this? I'm hoping I don't need to remove the clip-ons and tripple clamps...

Shifty · Post by **Shifty** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:44 am

You have to remove the topyoke I think to get acces to it.

Post by **Max** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:15 pm

Yep, the top yoke must come off (bars too, but you can let them hang off the side. Remove the prong washer, tighten the lower nut and then snug up the top one, realigning the grooves for the washer. DON'T overtighten. You should do this with the front up in the air to make sure there is no binding. I usually tighten until it binds a little, then back off from there. Remember to check again after you put the top yoke back on and tighten the center nut. It can apply that little extra bit of force that makes it bind...

JL4049 · Post by **JL4049** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:48 am

That's about right, do it up to around 40 lbft slacken it off then torque to 15lbft or so, see how it feels if it's tight, back it off again and tighten to a lower torque setting, when happy lock it up and re-check the feel of it like Max said.

Glen1TRX · Post by **Glen1TRX** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:36 am

Just did mine last weekend. Had the advantage of a qualified bike mechanic standing by with a coffee in is hand just in case the sh*t hit the fan. Pretty simple really. Max is on the money.

BTW The reason why I checked the bearing was I was getting a sharp knock through the bars on short sharp bumps. Turned out to be someone (previous owner) had put two rubber washers, one each side of the top bearing plate.

Who knows but when I took them out and tensioned the nuts correctly - knock gone