I am looking at the taper bearing conversion as supplied by Christian Patzke, has anyone fitted these? if so what are they like to fit, any machining required?,and what are the overall impressions?
Thanks
Tony
Thanks
Tony
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Can't see anything in FYO, but in ATY, page 23 there is a sales pitch from the producer of the kit, but really tells very little about the fitting, or obviously and independent appraisal.
Thanks.
Tony
Firstly, the guys at Stevenage may well have been "lunatics", by the same token they were not fools. The rollers in taper bearings are larger in diameter than the cup+cones of the originals. This means that the movement of the tapers is less than the balls, consequently the wear pattern will be over a smaller area. When your "new fangled" bearings have done the same ammount of work as the originals(if you ever cover the same mileage!) They will not respond to a small adjustment as the tracks will be indented. Your steering will feel life a threepeny-bit(if you remember such things). Not all "improvements" are for the better. Be forewarned. Roy.
I couldn't agree more with your comments Roy. I changed from ball bearing to taper roller on my old trusty CX500 many years ago. One time i thought i would give the headstock a bit of attention and repacked the bearings with grease, after reassembly i went up the road and at the first corner the bike almost threw me off. it was like a ratchet when you turned the handlebars. Ball bearing will eventually rotate their way all the way around the cups they site in provided they are not packed to tight. The ball races on my Prince looked as good as new when i came to puting the front end back together a couple of months back.
The RFM is subject to virtually only radial load , the headstock has radial & axial load. However , in practice a TRB will easily handle the forces involved in the headstock , otherwise , as has been said above they would not be used in almost all motorcycle headstocks since a long time ago. The biggest killer of headstock bearings is incorrect adjustment and corrosion from standing for long periods in one position. Tip for maintenance , use waterproof grease for lubrication , standard LHM grease will allow moisture to penetrate over time.