FF: Forks Girdraulic Forks Removal Any Tips Please

[Bill Thomas]

Ron Kemp told me , We only need taper bearings for the bottom,
Because that is where the weight is,
But the bearing is a nat's too small, So needs packing out with a feeler gauge and some loctite,
On the outside,
And a nat's off the inner steering tube , Because the bearing is too small on the tube,
I have done it to all of mine.

 

[timetraveller]

I think that things have moved on Bill. The bearings I found are listed as 'Suitable for motorcyle steering heads' They are slightly larger in their OD, hence the need to machine out the head lug, and have an ID larger than the original 1.25 for the bottom one. Last time I checked the price they were about £35 each. Compare that with the price of cup and cones and you will see why money can be saved. No Loctite or feeler guages required.

 

[Bill Thomas]

I am out of touch , But happy with what I have done,
The last one I did has Norton Forks, So the fit on the steering tube was right.
Cheers Bill.

 

[Speedtwin]

Thanks Again,
Very good information.
I have the FT124 2 -off new,321 wee balls 42 off two for the floor,FT128 two ordered from spares company,FF35 felt washer ordered spares company,FF36 SS ordered spares company.
New spindle and everything I need to do a full rebuild of the forks in stainless pads, spindles the works even the nuts.

Loving the work really looking forward to building the forks, in my own line of work in the past ten years I have been mostly responsible for pointing at stuff tutting a lot and saying " wasn't like that in my day."
Working on my own bikes is class, working on my Vincents is even better discovering the well thought out engineering, design is a pleasure indeed.

May have a different view after a take the forks to bits.

When going this far I would always replace the headstock cups, F128, any tips on removing them UFM in place?
I have a Jims tool which is great for fitting new cups.
Alan

 

[davidd]

The bearings should tap out with a long punch grabbing the edge of the bearing. A long small-ended punch or a thicker one that has a slight angle ground on the bottom should catch the edge. Tap with the usual even spacings so it moves without cocking.

There is no pressing need for tape rollers. I like taper rollers, but I switched to them when I made my own steering head. I broke several stock bearings while racing. I don't think this happens that often, but sometimes there seems to be enough wear in the pockets that you cannot get rid of the play and the bearing ultimately will crack. This happened with David Tompkins also. I would stay stock until a problem crops up.

If I were spending money, I would spend it on a new steering stem assembly rather than the bearings.

There is a bearing that is very close to the original 1.987" (50.4698 mm) stock diameter of the bearing pocket. The cup of the taper roller bearing measures 50.292 mm. This is close, and it may be the bearing cup that Bill is using with a 0.200" shim. David Tompkins used this bearing when he made his own steering head and used my steering stem. The key is using a new FF2 (the stem itself) that is metric, which means it is easily available.

This bearing set is known as a "Timken Set 14" which is an L44643/L44610 cup and cone set:

I had chosen to use 25mm as the stem (FF2) diameter because it opened up the bearing selection. The stock FF2 diameter is 1.125."

I choose the 32005 taper roller for my steering stem. I felt that the original steering head, made of cast steel, was not strong enough to bore, and if the steering head were copied in high-strength aluminum, I would want the wall thickness to be much greater. The 32005 seemed to fit the bill and was used by Ducati as a steering head bearing.

This bearing can be used in a stock steering head by using two rings as shims. David Tompkins used this system for a year in his stock steering head prior to making a new steering head.

David