more tapered bearing talk

Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
4
Location
Lancaster, Pa
Bike
05' ST1300
Hey Guys,

A year ago my local non-honda bike shop screwed up my OEM bearings by over tightening them since I was complaining about the pan weave. Lesson learned! :( As he was trying to fix the mess he created, he got so frustrated that he sent my bike up to the local Honda shop and they put in tapered bearings and completed the job. Bearings felt pretty good and I like them. I'm aware of the pan weave at high speeds and have experienced that, but I never had wobble behind tractor trailers like I do now. At highway speeds you can start weaving 2-3 inches side to side from being behind a truck or coming up onto a truck....and I'm not talking within the normal buffing zone or a truck but way before that. Sometimes even a row of cars will create the weave. I've lowered my tire pressure a tad and that has helped.

I've looked at a lot of threads on this and it definitely seems like Honda has the tapered bearings torqued within spec but maybe a tad to tight. As I'm looking for correct torque specs I'm seeing a few posts and links but just wanting to make sure that those torque specs are for the tapered and not the older OEM bearing.

Any thoughts without starting a whole new thread on tapered vs. roller?

Thanks!
 
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
Messages
5,046
Location
soCal
Bike
'97 ST1100
STOC #
687
on the 1100 I found that adjusting them by feel, rather than by specific torque, worked better for me. A tiny difference in adjustment makes a noticeable difference in steering feel and headshake resistance. I set them initially by torque, but then fine tuned by feel.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
901
Location
Huntington Beach, Calif
Bike
2004 st1300
STOC #
7468
Are you sure that your head bearings are causing your weave problem?

I agree that head bearings can be a factor but there are few other factors that can come into play. Is your suspension set properly for your weight? Do you have an aftermarket screen or top box?

Just throwing this out there for what it is worth...:eek::
 

dduelin

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Site Supporter
Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
9,640
Location
Jacksonville
Bike
GL1800 R1200RT NC700
2024 Miles
006739
STOC #
6651
Hey Guys,

A year ago my local non-honda bike shop screwed up my OEM bearings by over tightening them since I was complaining about the pan weave. Lesson learned! :( As he was trying to fix the mess he created, he got so frustrated that he sent my bike up to the local Honda shop and they put in tapered bearings and completed the job. Bearings felt pretty good and I like them. I'm aware of the pan weave at high speeds and have experienced that, but I never had wobble behind tractor trailers like I do now. At highway speeds you can start weaving 2-3 inches side to side from being behind a truck or coming up onto a truck....and I'm not talking within the normal buffing zone or a truck but way before that. Sometimes even a row of cars will create the weave. I've lowered my tire pressure a tad and that has helped.

I've looked at a lot of threads on this and it definitely seems like Honda has the tapered bearings torqued within spec but maybe a tad to tight. As I'm looking for correct torque specs I'm seeing a few posts and links but just wanting to make sure that those torque specs are for the tapered and not the older OEM bearing.

Any thoughts without starting a whole new thread on tapered vs. roller?

Thanks!
The OEM torque specs of course won't work with tapered rollers but the pull in lbs 90 degrees to the fork spec will. It's in your service manual. It's something like 2.5 to 3.6 lbs. A small fisherman's or gunsmith's scale works for this.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,108
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
What did you change from pre bearing change to post bearing change? I experienced the same weave in turbulent air after my winter layup and it was suggested that my easing the rear shock damping may have caused this (as well as working on the preload adjuster). And from what I've read here, did the shop do anything to the front forks when they replaced the bearings? Do the forks have to be realigned?
 

ST Gui

240Robert
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Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
9,262
Location
SF-Oakland CA
Bike
ST1300, 2010
on the 1100 I found that adjusting them by feel, rather than by specific torque, worked better for me. A tiny difference in adjustment makes a noticeable difference in steering feel and headshake resistance. I set them initially by torque, but then fine tuned by feel.
The OEM torque specs of course won't work with tapered rollers but the pull in lbs 90 degrees to the fork spec will. It's in your service manual. It's something like 2.5 to 3.6 lbs. A small fisherman's or gunsmith's scale works for this.
Any thoughts without starting a whole new thread on tapered vs. roller?
I have no experience with tapered bearings but have followed the threads with great interest. The two posts above pretty much sum up the prevailing experience others have posted with their tapered bearing installs.
 
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