Headstock bearing question

[Mustang]

oh yeah different tires will make a bike feel strange until you get used to it . I had a tire on the front of my steamer once that only made it a 100 miles cuz I could not stand the way it 'felt'
when I first switched from the t-66's to dunlop's d604's , the tiger always felt like it was going to fall over , until I got used to how it felt .

Now I just stick with Tourances  because they just work . I get great mileage and they are predictably the same every time .

I did just put a set of Maxxis Detours on though and I can happily say that they are a very good copy of a tourance , they look and behave almost identical on my steamer .

[John Stenhouse]

Update:

I had the bike on it's centerstand last night and got the front wheel off the ground.  I couldn't feel any notchiness, or slop in the headstock.  It also turns very smoothly with the front wheel off the ground with no resistance.  Do you think a new front tire would cause this feeling?  I just put a new Anakee on and I wonder if the tire profile has something to do with it?

I doubt that's the tyre, mine felt exactly the same as yours.
When you put it on the main stand it takes all the pressure off the bearing it normally sits on and transfers it to the other one so it feels fine until you put it down again.
It may feel better for a while after you put it down but then it comes back.

[droopydawg]

Whenever I replace steering head bearings, I use tappered bearings from AllBalls.  (Yamaha SRX6, SRX250, Honda NX650, VF500F, BMW K100RS)
$40
http://www.goallballs.com/home.asp

It is a easy do it your self job.  it just takes a lot of time to do it because of having to get all the fairing and forks off.

[Stretch]

Maybe this will help...

http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,3344

[blacktiger]

I changed mine about 2-3 months ago to see if it would fix the issue. I'm running 20w, was 30w. I change the fork oil once a year. The knocking comes before they are all the way bottomed out. Was thinking that slop in the head bearings caused the knocking.

It's no wonder your bike feels weird if you use 20W oil in them. The standard is 10W. Most people go up to 15W at most.
Also, if the knock is on 2005 onwards bikes it's quite normal and is nothing to worry about. It is an anti-dive valve operating which was introduced from that year onward.

The steering head bearings are available at most good bearing suppliers and can be fitted by a reasonably competent home machanic. the numbers are :-
top.........6205DDUNR
bottom....32006JRRS
Biggest difficulty is getting the lower off the stem.

[AndyM]

Adjusted the steering head bearings today and no more knock  :D.