Topic: Steering head bearings

[754]

Loading up a tapered roller has got to be way less damaging than doing it to caged balls.

[scottly]

The gospel according to Honda says to tighten the nut to 22-29 ft/lbs to seat the races, while the gospel according to Nixon says 40-50 ft/lbs. (Honda also warns about over-tightening the bearings, and states that this procedure is for tapered roller bearings and not ball bearings.)
The gospel according to Honda is to set the pre-load torque to .7-1.4 ft/lbs, and that the forks should move freely, while Nixon recommends 7-10 ft/lbs, adjusted to require 5-7 pounds of force on a fork tube to move.

[eigenvector]

I'm more inclined to trust what Honda is recommending.

The amounts are inline with what you'd torque a wheel bearing to, seat to about 25 ft-lbs, then back off.

50 ft-lbs is a LOT of torque - especially for a chrome ball bearing which is likely to fracture under too much force.  Nice thing about a roller bearing, there are more of them to spread out the load better

[scottly]

It is amazing how much pressure a 1mm pitch thread can produce when torqued to 50 ft/lbs.

[754]

Some of us can tell if a race is seated all around when we used the driver to install.
I check it 4 ways, and a light tap will tell if it's "home" or not.
 I bet Scottly knows what I mean..

[NobleHops]

Note rule #8.

Ya, I hear ya man, understand the concern. But as prior, that process Nixon refers to is Honda gospel too...

I need to correct myself on something: What I said here was wrong. I went back and re-read the '80 CBX supplement and while it DOES suggest three rounds of tightening the bearing adjustment nut and going lock to lock to seat the bearings it does NOT reference the higher initial torque and the use of the spring scale to set the final torque. That spring scale procedure may have been referenced from a different Honda, possibly a Gold Wing, but I am pretty sure it was a Honda manual. The process has worked perfectly for me several times as Nixon outlines it, however.

Scottly was correct though, Honda never advised using that much torque.
 

[eigenvector]

I read the service guide a bit more closely and here is what they recommend for my Nighthawk

paraphrase (I don't have it in front of me)
Torque to 15 ft-lbs
rotate from full left to full right 5 times to seat the bearing
torque to 15 ft-lbs
rotate full left to right one more time to seat the bearing
Install lock washer

Check proper bearing preload by using spring scale - approximately 2 to 3 lbs

[scottly]

There is more BS in Oldfart's tutorial than usable information. Hopefully no one has ruined their ball bearings by following his advice. And what is with the copyright superimposed over the Honda copyrighted document??
The bit about handling issues below/above 450 MPH is another example.
The real rule is that if the problem is felt in the front, it's actually in the rear, and vice-versa.
Something to keep in mind when adjusting the bearings is the weight of the front wheel if installed. If the bearings are adjusted with just the lower triple installed, there is no noticeable weight, but hanging a 50 pound front wheel assembly attached to a 2 foot lever will shove the bottom part of the stem backwards and the top of the stem forwards, throwing off the torque readings. If adjustment is made with the wheel attached, the wheel should be pushed up so there is weight on it, pushing the lower bearing up into it's race.