jinks
Well-Known Member
I went for a ride through the twisties 2 days ago and noticed my steering felt "heavy". I also noticed my slow stops were getting a bit sloppy & very slow ridding was getting harder to stay straight. So I jacked up the bike and got into the upper & lower neck bearings. I found the grease was hard, dirty & compacted. Hmmm, I had just did them several months ago. I had used "lucas Red & Tacky" grease on them. So I used varsol & 100lbs air pressure & made them squeaky clean,..then I used "yellow Lithium" grease,...set the bearing to spec.....then took it out for a Burn. I immediately noticed the bike Trailed better, & found I wasn't making "small corrections". It just seemed to follow my leed . Extream slow ridding was very easy "with no wiggle". I was able to ride very straight at 1/2mph. I took it up to 140kms, then 160, then 180, then 200kms & it just seemed so smooth. A big thing I noticed was the bike didn't Wiggle when letting off the throttle hard at high speed.
My 2cents.......The less friction on the neck bearings,....the better the handling. The neck must constantly make many fast tiny adjustments, & with the heavy grease,...its not able too. If the bike cant 'articulate" immediately ,..it effects the bike greatly. The bike cannot "self correct" if theres the least bit of resistance in the bearings.
I'm very impressed. Night & day difference.
My 2cents.......The less friction on the neck bearings,....the better the handling. The neck must constantly make many fast tiny adjustments, & with the heavy grease,...its not able too. If the bike cant 'articulate" immediately ,..it effects the bike greatly. The bike cannot "self correct" if theres the least bit of resistance in the bearings.
I'm very impressed. Night & day difference.
