My fizzer needs major surgery... again

[FROSTY:Me]

Mate-i think I've got it sussed for you.
I've been talking to a real expert or two for you.
Both are VERY doubtfull that you need to repair the steering head
I need to start with the assumption that when you tighten the bearings down you have the top triple clamp loosened off on the forks and you dont have stuff like handle bars clamping things down
I know you said there were sighns of previous damage but even so a possibility is that when fitting the new outer race you fitted it slightly skewiff and you have a small lump of shaved ally jammed under either the top or bottom race. sorry to say it but you need to dissasemble and examine very carefully the frame stem. You are looking for anything that will prevent the bearings pulling down flush. -that includes that epoxy stuff.
You will need to clear it all out and put it all together again.
The other bit of advise i have is that no matter how well you think you have taper roller bearings tightened down you WILL need to retighten them at least once as they pull down into place --more likely 2 or 3 times.
Do that before looking at alternatives.
Ohh and go easy on the grease--it may be making matters worse.
Good luck bro.

[riffer]

I pulled the whole assembly apart yet again and checked the bearing races for position, movement, etc.


Just for good measure I changed the top roller bearing and then torqued the whole assembly up as tight as I could (until I could not move the forks at all), and then undo until there is no clunk and (hopefully) no binding.

Yes, I take the top triple clamp off first, remove the tank, undo the clipons, etc.

I have the front of the bike off the ground so I can grab the forks and give it a good yank and ensure that there is no clunk.

There's only a little bit of binding now and no clunk.

So, maybe the frame is okay. I'm now looking at the possibility that the bearing on the bottom triple clamp is not entirely on straight.

It might be worth looking into getting the bearing ripped off and put a new one on properly. It could be the cause of the binding. :spudwhat: