The Spares Company
Club Shop/Regalia
Parent Website
Contact Officials
Machine Registrar
Club Secretary
Membership Secretaries
MPH Editor and Forum Administrator.
Section Newsletters
Technical Databases
Photos
Home
What's new
Latest activity
Forums
New posts
What's new
New posts
Latest activity
Information
Bike Modifications
Machine Data Services
Manufacturers Manuals
Spare Parts Listings
Technical Diagrams
Whitakerpedia (Vincent Wiki)
The Club
MPH Material Archive
Flogger's Corner
Obituaries
VOC Sections
Local Sections
Local Section Newsletters
Miscellaneous
Club Assets
Club History
Club Rules
Machine Data Services
Meeting Documents
Miscellaneous
Essential Reading
Magazine/Newspaper Articles/Letters
Adverts and Sales Brochures
The Mighty Garage Videos
Bikes For Sale (Spares Company)
Log in
Register
What's new
New posts
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Home
Forums
Forums: Public Access
Tech. Advice: Series 'B' / 'C' 500cc/1000cc Bikes
Comprehensive Steering stem, with new lay out
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="davidd" data-source="post: 176520" data-attributes="member: 1177"><p>There is a reason why taper roller conversions on Vincents are not common. The original conversions, which were done by grinding new bearings to fit the Vincent dimensions, appeared to work well, but it was difficult to fit the upper taper roller to the steering stem. The loose ball design using cups and cones does not require the steering stem to be round over its entire length. Often Vincent steering stems are only round at the top and bottom where they are machined to fit other parts. I have worked on steering stems that had multiple flats in between the top and the bottom. This is fine because the loose ball bearing does not need to touch the stem at the top position. The FF1 at the top and the steering head hold the cup bearing race and the steering head holds the cone race. </p><p></p><p>On the Vincent taper roller conversion, the steering stem holds the taper roller inner bearing in place. This is fine if the stem is round, but most are not machined round at this position. So, the directions to install the taper roller cone required that the taper roller be installed with Loctite. The Loctite was applied and the front end was assembled to hold the taper roller in place on the steering stem until the Loctite was cured. The object was to center the taper roller on the unmachined stem so the Loctite would hold it in the correct concentric position.</p><p></p><p>This is not an issue with the lower bearing where the steering stem is machined to hold either the loose ball cone or the taper bearing. The lower bearing takes the majority of the pounding, but installing a taper roller bearing in the top position is somewhat difficult because the stock Vincent stem is an odd shape at this position. Using a new stem, that is machined for the taper roller bearing, gets you halfway closer to a good fit. The other half is finding taper roller bearings that fit the stock steering head.</p><p></p><p>The GP racers prefer loose ball bearings because they found that sometimes the taper roller bearings were inclined to what the riders called "wedging." This happens when the taper roller inner is jammed down into the cup and the bearing momentarily binds. A loose ball bearing will not do this.</p><p></p><p>I suspect that wedging is not a problem for almost all vintage bikes because they do not produce the same forces as modern GP bikes. As far as I know, there have not been any problems with the early Vincent taper roller conversions.</p><p></p><p>David</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="davidd, post: 176520, member: 1177"] There is a reason why taper roller conversions on Vincents are not common. The original conversions, which were done by grinding new bearings to fit the Vincent dimensions, appeared to work well, but it was difficult to fit the upper taper roller to the steering stem. The loose ball design using cups and cones does not require the steering stem to be round over its entire length. Often Vincent steering stems are only round at the top and bottom where they are machined to fit other parts. I have worked on steering stems that had multiple flats in between the top and the bottom. This is fine because the loose ball bearing does not need to touch the stem at the top position. The FF1 at the top and the steering head hold the cup bearing race and the steering head holds the cone race. On the Vincent taper roller conversion, the steering stem holds the taper roller inner bearing in place. This is fine if the stem is round, but most are not machined round at this position. So, the directions to install the taper roller cone required that the taper roller be installed with Loctite. The Loctite was applied and the front end was assembled to hold the taper roller in place on the steering stem until the Loctite was cured. The object was to center the taper roller on the unmachined stem so the Loctite would hold it in the correct concentric position. This is not an issue with the lower bearing where the steering stem is machined to hold either the loose ball cone or the taper bearing. The lower bearing takes the majority of the pounding, but installing a taper roller bearing in the top position is somewhat difficult because the stock Vincent stem is an odd shape at this position. Using a new stem, that is machined for the taper roller bearing, gets you halfway closer to a good fit. The other half is finding taper roller bearings that fit the stock steering head. The GP racers prefer loose ball bearings because they found that sometimes the taper roller bearings were inclined to what the riders called "wedging." This happens when the taper roller inner is jammed down into the cup and the bearing momentarily binds. A loose ball bearing will not do this. I suspect that wedging is not a problem for almost all vintage bikes because they do not produce the same forces as modern GP bikes. As far as I know, there have not been any problems with the early Vincent taper roller conversions. David [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
The Series 'A' Rapide was known as the '********' Nightmare?
Post reply
Home
Forums
Forums: Public Access
Tech. Advice: Series 'B' / 'C' 500cc/1000cc Bikes
Comprehensive Steering stem, with new lay out
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top