Steering stem tightness
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- hciR
- zxr400 oc member
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Steering stem tightness
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?
- Scott221
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Re: Steering stem tightness
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
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
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
- Scott221
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Re: Steering stem tightness
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.jake wrote:i d be worried about damaging the bearings/races doin it like that Scott.
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- hciR
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Re: Steering stem tightness
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
I done this 3 weeks ago and tried using the manuals 4.9Nm torque setting.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?
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.