Help me with Maintenance

[Jet86]

Today & tomorrow is general maintenance days.

1. I'm going to change the oil and while waiting for the oil to drain i thought would be a good time to replace that seeping pulsing cover gasket, anything i should check while i have that cover off? do i need to oil the gasket before i put it on?

2. My steering has not been very good over the last 3,000 miles, when i give the bike throttle from a stop i can feel a pretty bad front end wobble for just a few seconds on take-off, especially if i'm turning at the same time, now i think all this boils down to is a worn out front tire because this just started as i said about 3k ago, Roadrider with 16.5k but it's not on the wear bars yet and i can't really see or feel any cupping but i do have a new BT-45 on it's way. i guess what i'm asking for is a detailed description on how to check tighten the head stem, i don't have any special tools just the basics.
I also have a deceleration wobble some times depending on the road condition, but i can feel it threw the bars and my hands when it happens.

[Summit670]

1.  Check the pickup coil gap with feeler gauge.  They both should be equal and I don't remember the spec range but it's on this forum somewhere.

   I use permatex ultra blue rtv in lieu of a gasket but someone else suggested if you use a gasket, apply a light coat of grease to one side to facilitate easy removal and re-use next time and numerous times thereafter.

2. I would change the front tire and check the front wheel bearings while you have it off.  If those don't fix, then you can start looking at steering head bearing.

Steering head bearing, at least on mine, becomes noticeable when it's loose when I brake or when just sitting still, grab the front brake and rock the bike fore and aft and you can feel or hear a clunk/click noise.

[Boomer]

1. Nope, new gasket goes on dry. Clean the surfaces before fitting it.
I always reused the old gasket and just added a bead of Blue Hylomar to seal it.

2. To adjust the head-race you need to remove the ignition key surround (2 screws), loosen off the 4 pinch bolts for the upper triple-tree (where the forks go through, then loosen the big hex nut enough to be able to rotate the ring underneath.
Tightening the ring requires either a C-wrench http://www.kotikone.fi/smothered/offset.jpg or else you can use a screwdriver and tap it to tighten.

Centrestand the bike and weigh down the rear so that the front is off the ground.
Place your right hand fingertips on the end of the right bar-end-weight and move the steering through full range.
If it feels loose, then tighten the ring a quarter turn.
Repeat until the steering starts to feel tight, or until you start to feel a "notch" near the centre (straight ahead) position.
Once you hit that point, back off a quarter turn and verify that it now feels smooth again.

Tighten the big nut down but make sure that the ring does not move at all (C-wrench is easiest).
Check the steering again.
Tighten the 4 pinch bolts and check the steering one final time.
Reattach the cover and take her for a test ride.

Worn tyres can make the steering feel really wierd so I'd suggest replacing the tyre first.
Also check the wheel bearings for lateral movement and any "lumpy-ness".
The 94-06 front wheel bearings are only good for 25k miles or so.

[RFH87_Connie]

I spent the time to type this while others posted so here'e mine too:

Sounds like a loose steering bearing (and a worn tire).  A loose steering bearing is a common cause of this complaint.  Make sure your tire is at 40 lbs of air pressure before you do this just so you can't check everything individually.  To "adjust" mine by using minimal tools (assuming you are somewhat mechanically inclined) I use a floor jack, hammer, and a drift punch (or good sturdy regular screw driver).  With the bike on the centerstand and the front wheel off the ground, turn the bars from left to right.  If they are loose, the bars will very easily kind of flop to either side.  To tighten the bearing remove the ignition plastic cover, loosen the top bolts of the triple clamp that secure the upper part of the forks, and the big lock nut on the triple clamp.  Use the punch to turn the adjustment collar (on the under side of the clamp) by putting the punch in a notch and hitting with the hammer to turn it clockwise.  Tighten by firmly striking until you feel a very slight amount of drag when turning the bars from right to left.  When satisfied, tighten the lock nut (check side to side movement of the bars again) and fork bolts, then take her for a spin.  This would at least eliminate a loose (but not worn) steering bearing from the cause of the wooble.

Rotate the wheel while it is lifted to see if you can feel anything other than a smooth rotation and no side to side click that might indicate a worn wheel bearing.  Pulling the calipers out of the way while doing this is best.

As for your pulse cover gasket, I do the starter bump method of checking the valves so I never take that cover off (as it is a waste of time and energy once you learn the bump method).  If it was mine, I would clean it with brakecleen and use Yamabond to seal it in place and never worry about it again.  My clutch cover is installed in the same manor.

[Jet86]

Ok i done most of what was suggested, i just cleaned the surface and installed the paper gasket since i had two new ones laying around and no seeping so fare but the real test will come after sitting on side stand a few days, it never leaked, no oil ever made it to the ground but just seeped enough to goop up the outer edge and it collects sand dirt grim and just messy.

The wheel bearings seem fine and so does the head stem bearings, no play or loose feeling or anything from the wheel or the steering, with the front wheel off the ground it turns side to side smoothly no notching or anything and will hold steady in the middle with no plopping to either side unless i give the bar a little shove but it don;t seem loose nor tight so i think it's the tire as i suspected, after looking at it closer the tire is cupped just a little and just enough to cause my problem, before i mess with the head stem i'm going to change the tire and put in new wheel bearings, however im out of money and will have to wait 3 weeks to get it done.
just because i said the bearings seem ok don't mean it's true, i don't think the stem or front wheel bearings have ever been changed, i put in new rear bearings last year when i put on a new tire so i'll do the same fore the front.

When i get the new tire and bearings installed i will update this thread to let you all know if that solved my problem or not.
Thanks

[RFH87_Connie]

I would still perhaps snug the stem bearing sllghtly to see if it changes anything.  You could always put it back to where it was.  I new tire will quite often hide a loose head bearing until the tire wears a little.  Then you might be right back to where you started.  For most people, it would seem the stem bearings outlast the life of the bike or I think we would read a lot more about them getting changed - not to say that they don't wear out.  Some people grease them every couple years and this probaly makes those last forever.  Only from reading it here, it seems that early front wheel bearings get about 60k miles and later (smaller) bearings only get about 25k as stated by riders changing them.  I chaged my '87 out at 45k just because, and they felt fine.  At 100k i'll do it again and maybe the rear too.

Plus - its free to check or adjust it.

[Daytona_Mike]

I just checked my front wheel bearings and at 100k ( I changed them  last time at 35k) and  they are gone. I can still ride but they are gritty and rough. New ones  are sitting waiting for me the do a complete fork rebuild ( the slide bushings are worn out)
I am on my second set of stem bearings. I cant go  one year without having to re snug them. If not I get that little wobble shimmy at 40 to 45mph.
I also plan to rebuild the rear suspension. It is time. Now, where do I   find all that info for the bushings instead of using new needle bearings.

[Jet86]

tomorrow i just might try to snug up the stem bearings just a little to see how it feels, i also have heard from hear that a new tire can mask the problem til it gets worn down.

since im letting the shop put on the new tire i might as well have them put in new bearings to just to rule that out and make me feel better.

[mdr]

When I got this after moving to Avons, I added a little air to the rear shock to raise the rear and removed a bit of preload up front to lower it.  The thinking was to move a little more weight up front to stabilize things.  In that case, it helped.  What the heck, it's cheap and pretty quick

Tire pressures, suspension condition, yadda, yadda... 

[bbroj]

On the issue of stem bearing adjustment, I don't have my manual with me but I believe you are supposed to tigten the locking nut before checking the adjustment. I'm not sure why it makes a difference, but I did someones at last year's national and ended up over tightening it. It was fine when checked on the C-stand, but on the road it was too tight. I seem to recall the manual stating the lock nut should be tightened for each test. I seem to recall the difference was noticable.

[Gitbox]

I'm pretty sure it was T-Cro that had the bushing info.

[timsatx]

Here is the thread regarding the bushings

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=6061.0

[Jet86]

My front BT-45 came in today and gee wizz this tire feels flimsy cheap and Light-weight compared to what the road-rider felt like when i first held it in my hands, i don't expect this tire to last long, even the treads look short lived and are not as deep as the road-riders.

i'm no expert on tires so i could be surprised

anyway i wanted to try something new so in about three weeks i'll have it installed with some new wheel bearings, i'm gonna hold off on messing with the steering adjustment til i see what this new tire feels like after a 100 miles then i will take a look at the head stem just to make sure it's not coming apart