Greasing the steering bearings

[mbarr10]

Ok here we go....Jack up the bike and make it safe....throw some towles on the gas tank and remove the handle bar clamps....lay the bars on the tank....keep a jack or some boards under the front tire

2 sockets you will need...craftsman 12 pt 36 mm 1/2 "drive and stubby 6mm 1/4" drive

loosen the 2 Handle bar clamps and remove the 36mm nut and flat washer...pull off the top of the tripletree and use a pick and pop out the upper bearing and inner race.....note the lack of grease on the bearings!!!!

Lower the front wheel 4-5 inches to expose the lower bearing

clean off all the old grease and lube the bearings up with some mobil 1 synthetic..put some extra grease above the lower bearing

have a helper(aka the wife) help lift up the front wheel and put boards or jack back in place....then have helper hold wheel so you can slip on the regreased upper bearing and then reassemble the steering...torque the big nut to 80 ft/lbs
I figure with the synthetic grease and putting some extra in there this should last 4 yrs or another 30k miles
took me 1 1/2 hours start to finish...happy riding

this is a Quote from some guy.

So these instructions seem to be missing the Spanner wrench? for the special nut that gets 20ft lbs?.....

. BUT, What I had read previously from a post by "SnakeRanch" ( saved In my One Drive 5/29/2017) he told of the Spanner nut. I ask these Questions because I trust SnakeRanch and others on this site more than some Guy posting pics and Instructions on a page somewhere on the net.

Snake ranch said he made one of the spanner wrenches, But I would be happy purchasing one, If any one knows where. I WANT TO BUY ONE, not make one


What I thought was interesting from this post was I do not need to remove the Bar Risers? Just the bars, Is that true?? Looks easier to me that way.

Now, why do I even ask because I know I should replace with AllBalls bearings any way. Well I do not have to pull the forks, I have bad luck on major projects, And installing bearing races Is NOT SOMETHING I WILL TRY..AGAIN. EVER. And I only have 6700 miles on the bike. I am just concerned about premature wear. After the bill for my 1500 Vulcan Classic Bearings at 35,000 miles, I thought If I do it now I will be good for a while=Years.


Thoughts?? Was anything else missing?

Yes I know Just put the races in the freezer over night. That was not told to me on the first time, It was TAP IT IN WITH A BLOCK OF WOOD, well that did not go well. Turns out trailers are meant to be towed. Not put in the back of My pickup to take to a real mechanic.

[Sabre-t]

You can get the wrench directly from Kawi, I think, or this one on Amazon should work:

https://www.amazon.com/BikeMaster-Adjustable-Steering-Stem-Wrench/dp/B00M9IG69U/ref=sr_1_3?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1532571062&sr= 1-3&keywords=stem+nut+wrench

There are some on ebay that are in the form of a socket, which makes torquing the nut easier.

One of the main reasons for replacing the stock bearing even before there is a problem is that the cage is plastic. I don't think wear is as much a problem as the cage breaking. They are a very poor choice for steering stem bearings, IMHO. Of course, if it's not greased on a regular basis, wear will be a problem, too.

[gv550]

I bought this socket from vince_goosey@hotmail.com
Fits perfectly, easy to torque. Just tell him what bike you have.

[Lumberjack]

If you get a spanner wrench I believe you will have to pull the inner and outer fairing off to turn wrench. Spanner socket is way to go. I ordered mine on Ebay and came from Europe.

[mbarr10]

I bought this socket from vince_goosey@hotmail.com
Fits perfectly, easy to torque. Just tell him what bike you have.

Thanks Garry, I sent him an email.

Thanks Lumberjack, for the reminder. No way I am Pulling the fairing. Thanks

[recumbentbob]

Or do it the easy way:
http://www.vulcangadgets.com/files/h...eringlube.html

[mbarr10]

Or do it the easy way:
http://www.vulcangadgets.com/files/h...eringlube.html

Excellent Idea but not going to remove the fairing

[Pilot747]

Gv550, come on. I read your post and then had to roll my pant legs up. It looks like you are saying 675000 km's or 419427 miles in 10 years.. Assuming you started on 1/1/09 and we'll say to 12/31/18 (just to make the average daily km's/mi's lower), thats 3650 days. You're saying that bike was ridden at least 185 km's, 115 miles each and every day of the year. Maybe it's just me but, I'd say you've gotten your money's worth out of that bike. If it was mine, I would check with Kawasaki and see if they would like it for a museum. Or at leas my hat's off to you for that, especially if it was you who did the riding. I live in Georgia and there at least a few day in Jan/Feb that I don't ride and I have all heated riding gear. BTW, I checked with goosey and if I was on the correct website, it says no delivery option for me. Bummer, I'd like to have that socket.

[gv550]

Go to GB motorcycle products ebay store, he ships worldwide.
And don't be pulling those pant legs up too high, you'll end up with your panties in a knot!
I've owned and driven the bike 9 years 2 months and it has 677k now, and in that time span I've had 3 other bikes that I ride lots too. Voyager never ran at all last June as I was riding my Yamaha to Tuktoyaktuk.

[mbarr10]

[QUOTE]BTW, I checked with goosey and if I was on the correct website, it says no delivery option for me. Bummer, I'd like to have that socket. [QUOTE]

Fear not, the web site I found says "International Royal Mail shipping 12.lbs" If you click on Details it says USA


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-...Q6Ha0#shpCntId

[mbarr10]

home > my ebay > order details
order details
← back to order details

order information

buyer
mbarr102
seller
gbmotorcycleproducts2016
order placed on
wednesday, 1. Aug 2018
payment method
credit card
payment date
wednesday, 1. Aug 2018
delivery address

michael barr
1313 Mocking Bird Lane
minneapolis mn 55406
united states
order total

subtotal
£ 20.00
postage
£ 12.00
total
£ 32.00

item(s) bought from gbmotorcycleproducts2016

qty
item name
delivery service
item price
1
kawasaki vulcan 1700 steering stem nut socket, headrace socket (121450654296)
royal mail international tracked
£ 20.00

done And you win a prize if you can guess where my Street address is from. And the correct answer will show your age.

[redjay]

You might get import duty and brokerage charges ?

[4Steelers]

Originally Posted by mbarr10

done And you win a prize if you can guess where my Street address is from. And the correct answer will show your age.

Hopefully the prize is Herman's car

[mbarr10]

You might get import duty and brokerage charges ?

Yes Maybe, But I will not have to remove the fairing and this job will have to be done. I feel I may make up any duties in Labor $ when I have to pay someone to replace the bearings. I'm keeping this bike, Its all I ever wanted now that It is broke in and Ivanized. I can actually profess I Have my dream bike.
At least until something else comes along.

And the funny part is, I hated this bike from day one and was only a bit satisfied after Ivanizing... Now that I have 6700 miles IT CAME IN and is the best bike I have ever owned. And that says a lot since I really loved my 1500 Classic with the Reckless fairing on it.

I May share this tool should the need arise. I'm in Minneapolis and can travel some to help out a citizen in need." I work for beer"

[redjay]

Somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 kms my Voyager cooled down, performance improved and gas mileage improved. I think the 1700 engines are built with tighter tolerances than previous models.