Friday, May 17, 2013 [23,988 miles]
I hoped to get new steering bearings installed, today. Mr. UPS threw a slight monkey wrench into those plans by delivering the panniers I ordered for my new R1200GS… the one that may not show up for another two months. Of course I had to unbox the panniers to make sure everything was there and in good condition.
Back to the R69S.
bearing bits
Ready to remove race
race removed
I removed the cage and rollers from the lower bearing on the steering stem to get access to the inner race. Gentle taps with a drift against the upper ridge of the race got the bearing off the steering stem. The races in the steering tube are not quite that easy to remove.
Thank you, dremel
race removed
removed race
I cut a slot in the race using a dremel with a cut off wheel most of the way through the race. Hammer and cold chisel cracked the race. Once cracked the race almost falls out.
bottom race
New race on top
Bottom bearing installed
The bottom race was slightly more difficult, probably because of the angle I was working. The race eventually came out in one big piece and two or three little pieces. Did I mention the need for safety glasses or at least reading glasses made out of polycarbonate?
I installed the new races in the top and bottom of the steering tube and put the bearing on the bottom of the steering stem by tapping around the race using a light hammer and an aluminum drift.
Front end back on bike
Notice the throttle cables
Almost ready to ride
I got the front end back on the bike and re-installed the front tire. Something didn’t look right… oh, I forgot the dust cap. I removed the upper bearing retaining nut and installed it above the dust cap. Then I installed the upper fork plate and again something didn’t look right. Ooops, the throttle cables should have gone under the fork plate. I took the throttle appart to re-route the cables and used that as an excuse to put fresh grease in the throttle mechanism.
Finally I re-installed the speedometer and re-wired the head lamp. That was the third oops… the parking and tail lights work fine, but the head lamp doesn’t… it barely lights the filament and sucks so much power that the tail light wont work and the generator/neutral light dim. Battery? Mis-wired? Dunno… I’ll look at that tomorrow.
The bike is otherwise ready to ride.
Saturday, May 18, 2013 [24,021 miles]
There is nothing wrong with the lights. The battery, on the other hand…
I measured the current draw after double checking the wiring to the lights. Key on is about 0.5 amp… the neutral and generator lights. Parking light on raises that to about 1.8 amp. With the headlamp on I should see a draw of an additional 5.8 amps or a total of about 7.5 amps. Nope. The meter read 6.something for a couple of seconds then reduced to about 3.5 amps. The battery doesn’t have enough juice to power the lights.
The steering, on the other hand, is great. The 35 MPH head shake that I’d become accustomed to feeling is gone.
Saturday, June 15, 2013 [24,536 miles]
In the last month I replaced the battery and adjusted the valves. The bike seemed noisy on the left side so I thought I’d check since my last valve adjustment was almost 3,000 miles ago. I found the left a bit loose. I found the right exhast quite tight. The bike wasn’t noisy on the left side, it was too quiet on the right. I’ve always had “butterhead” issues on the right head and think it’s time to look for a replacment.
The bike runs fine with the valves adjusted. I’ll check them again during the next service in 700 miles. That’s when they were scheduled to be checked.