nooooooooo... im a idiot

[Wideboy]

all done, bearings really were muffed. once the forks and front wheel were off so there was no weight on the yokes and stem it was really really noticeable, you could push the yokes from one side and when they would get to the centre they would fall into a rut and stay there.

new bearings in and everything is much smoother but not had chance to ride it was bike is completely empty and its raining

cheers for the info guys

Originally Posted by Wideboy

all done, bearings really were muffed. once the forks and front wheel were off so there was no weight on the yokes and stem it was really really noticeable, you could push the yokes from one side and when they would get to the centre they would fall into a rut and stay there.

Did you get notchiness? Just asking because when my head bearings went on the CBR a few months ago, the only symptoms were that if I held the front brake on and pushed the front up and down (so the suspension bounced up and down and therefore put pressure on the bearings) you could hear a knock/click as the bearings banged about. Oh and I tried to do the test you mention above but with the front wheel in the air (thank god for centre stands) and it wasn't notchy, all that happened was that it settled in the centre. Trying to work out where this notchiness comes from!

[Wideboy]

well if you push the steering from one side to the other (with no weight on the front) it should be smooth with no notches or ruts like you said, when i did it mine it would get to the middle and fall into a rut so i had to then push it to get it out the rut (if you follow me)

as for the knocking under braking im not sure, it could just be that the adjuster nut is to loose and the stem is to slack so you have free play, easiest way to check is to again take the weight off the front and try to wiggle the forks so to speak, there shouldn't be any free play

im not expert some one should be along later with a clearer explanation

[Wideboy]

read your post again, mine didn't softly settle in the centre it would fall into it

Ah right, maybe mine hadn't got that bad. But it did get progressively worse with the banging (i.e. it took less effort to make it bang). A mechanic at the dealer said he thought it was cos the bearings were dry, not sure why/how they would get dry though. Maybe it's what caused them to go...

[Wideboy]

the grease can be driven out bye jet washing or simply not enough was applied when they where put in, so yes they could have been dry

i completely smothered everything with grease

[yorkie_chris]

Normal grease a little warm under use and gets washed out/leaks out. Hence why to use the very high melting point "race" grease.