Tripple tree - steering questions

Question with my 1983 XJ750K Maxim.

With every bike i have owned over the years, i have been able to put it on the center stand resting on the back wheel and the front forks turn freely from side to side.

This bike i have now seems to have some bearing issues in the neck. If the handle bars are straight and i turn them left and right there seems to be a point where they get tight half way through their arc. if the forks are full turned to the right and i start pushing left it will go smooth, then get a bit tight, then "snap" into place pointing directly forward. the same is true pushing from full left stop, pushing to the right - it will go smooth, then get a bit tight, then "snap" into place pointing forward.

Anyone had any experience with this?

I believe the original owner never oiled this bike at all. I have a crapped out front wheel bearing that is dy as a bone (same with the speedometer take off from the front wheel - so dry it froze up).

 

Sounds like your steering head bearings are shot. You will find that if the bike is ridden it will not like to corner, very dangerous! Replace them with tapered bearings ASAP!

 

This is real common on XJ's since they use the loose ball bearings in the steering neck. Replacement sets are available with tapered bearings like kiwi said. The old bearings wear over time creating flat spots on the ball bearings and the races. These result in indentations that the steering will fall into and resist coming out of.

 

Yeah, sounds like what is going on.

This bike does not like to corner. It has a bad front wheel bearing on the left side. when i turn left it has a wobble feel to it when the bike is coming out of the turn and straightening up. (turning right is ok) Thought it was the crappy tires i have.

The last bike I rode was a 1983 Suzuki 1100E, so this bike is different from my memory of street bike riding (which is about 25 years ago). Still, it's all starting to come back to me, and I know this bike does not give me confidense when it corners. it has that wiggle, wobble, drunken stagger kind of feel when it makes a right (wheel bearing) and now that I am taking wrenches to the bike, things are becoming more clear.

Those tappered bearings sound like the right idea - where can I get them?

 

The fact that it's grabbing on you usually indicates that the Ball Bearings have run dry and are pitted and have likely done some damage to the Race.

Treat yourself to a set of Sealed Bearings in there. Your going to think you got a new bike.

Driving out the Inner Races can be a real tricky maneuver because you may encounter "Stuck Races" that don't want to leave their home of 25-years.
Compounding the problem, if their stuck, is the very, very limited amount of "Edge" to set the Drift upon for driving them out.

Before you set about driving-out the Headset Inner Races ... pay a visit to the grinder and get a clean, sharp, angle on the business-end of your Drift.
If the Drifts end is rounded-off ... you'll be fighting a losing battle.

 

Part number: SSY500

Looking back through past posts try All Balls @ Allballsracing.com or Parts Plus.

 

Thanks guys. AllBalls sounds good. I come up with that name searching the web, and my local Yamaha shop supposedly is a dealer for them, so we will see today.

I suspect to find dried out and encrusted bearings when I pull it apart. I don't know the history of this bike, but I think it has been a Florida/Georgia bike all it's life. We have lots of heat, rain, and moisture here. Turns a grease/dirt mixture into some kind of paste/glue.

 

Part plus part number is SSY 500.

 

Just visit a Bicycle Shop. Get some waterproof synthetic grease. You'll be set for life.

 

Amen Rick!