Steering stem tightness

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hciR
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Steering stem tightness

Post by hciR »

How tight does this nut have to be? The manual says 4.9 Nm but I don't have a torque wrench atm. Is it just a case of doing it up finger tight then nipping it up, or does it have to be quite tight?
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Scott221
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Re: Steering stem tightness

Post by Scott221 »

You on about the washer for the headstock? The way I did it was to full tighten it down to compress the bearings. Tight enough so the wheel can't move, locked solid. The I undid it till I felt comfortable with the steering. I've noticed that it needs tightening again now as the bearings compress futher do to riding on the the road, so beware of that also.
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jake
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Re: Steering stem tightness

Post by jake »

i d be worried about damaging the bearings/races doin it like that Scott.
I just make sure the new bearings are seated right using an old correct sized socket as a drift, then tighten it all up by hand, then a touch with the tools. then just grab the forks and see if there is any play or notchiness in the steering.adjust from there. I would always go for the kawasaki bearings too, not the cheaper pattern stuff
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Scott221
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Re: Steering stem tightness

Post by Scott221 »

jake wrote:i d be worried about damaging the bearings/races doin it like that Scott.
Nah it was fine. I don't mean stupidly tight anyway as if I remember correctly theres plastic in the equation. A good metal drift is useful aswel to hammer those bearings home.
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hciR
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Re: Steering stem tightness

Post by hciR »

Actually the manual does say to tighten it up, lossen it off, then re-tighten to correct torque. I used the old bearings to get the new ones in cos I didn't have a big enough socket. If it wasn't tight enough would the play be up and down?
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Re: Steering stem tightness

Post by stug »

hciR wrote:How tight does this nut have to be? The manual says 4.9 Nm but I don't have a torque wrench atm. Is it just a case of doing it up finger tight then nipping it up, or does it have to be quite tight?
I done this 3 weeks ago and tried using the manuals 4.9Nm torque setting.
It was not tight enough and rocking the bike back and forward with the brake on you could feel a knock at the stem.
All you can do is tighten them a bit at a time until there is no play and no knocking while braking.
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