MOT time - notching

Neither approach sound like 'things I want have a go at' :/

 

Well, you could beg/borrow a steering damper that might hide the
symptoms, I suppose. Bike's handling might get... interesting, though.

 

I had them done by a dealer on my GT750, some years back, because yes,
you really needed the special tool.

 

An internal bearing puller can be hired for those blind recessed
bastards.

 

I've got an array of gigantic socket heads and a few old fork tubes
which I've saved for this job.

 

# Un chinito pescando...

 

Only if your insurance policy specifically says so. I've yet to come
across one that does.

 

The problem is soi-disant expert sites such as this.

http://www.nopenaltypoints.co.uk/NoMOTAndThePenalties.html

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Colin Irvine

Look, this is very, very easily answered.

Many hundreds / thousands of people drive non-MOTd vehicles every year.

Anyone who claims that this invalidates their insurance has only to
point to one, just *one* example of anyone, ever, in any UK court, being
convicted of being uninsured because their otherwise-valid insurance
policy was inoperative just because the vehicle was not MOTd.

There.

Discussion ended.

 

Silly thought: it's definitely the head races and not a cable or
something fouling? How are you actually testing it? I couldn't really
feel the new Guzzi's head race problem *except* when I rode it or had
the front tyre on a very low friction surface - the front tyre had too
much grip.

It could also just be corrosion if the grease was a bit thin when it
left the factory.

The important race is the bottom one: that's the one that bears the
bike's weight. You might get away with propping the front of the bike
off the ground, dropping the bottom yoke and cleaning the outer races
and greasing them well.

 

I got a friend to hold the back down with the bike on the center stand.
then used my fingers on the bar end to move the bars from one extreme to
the other. It has that slight desire to pause when the bars are dead
ahead. It's reminiscent of pan pots on a stereo with a center locator.

How long do races last? These were last changed 3 years ago, but I have
ridden up a couple of curbs :/

I'll check all the cabling when I get to work.

 

You may get away with slackening off and retightening, that's what I
did on my fazer. It went through another couple of MOT after that
before being terminally retired.

 

Sounds about right, however, with the front wheel in the air, the
fromt end will be hanging off the top race and that one doesn't
usually get notched. Maybe the races are done up very tight? Allowing
for the effects of wiring looms, fairing gaiters etc. and with the
front wheel off the ground, my rule of thumb is that the steering
should be able to flop under its own weight when pushed over to one
side.

3 years and how many miles? Doesn't sound long enough to wear them out
but if the bike lives outside in all weathers then they could've
rusted. I've had bikes at up to 50K miles on their original head
races.

Kerbs aren't usually a problem provided you don't hit them at speed or
bottom the forks hard.

 

You know full well what I meant.

You're right in one sense of course: properly adjusted head races are
always in compression, so the bottom race will also be pulled upwards
even when the front wheel is off the ground.

As I'm sure you also know well, it's the bottom race that's most
likely to get hammered in a kerbing/pothole/bad wheelie landing. It's
easier to detect notching on these when the weight of the bike is on
the bearing, hence the various low-friction platforms to support the
front wheel that are advocated by various people.

Well duh.

Though to be strictly accurate, not all bike service manuals actually
specify a torque.

My R1 (or could've been my FZR; I forget) HBoL specified an initial
torque to take up slack followed by a final torque as you say.

The genuine Suzuki TLR workshop manual specifies using a spring
balance hooked onto the handlebar end to measure the amount of torque
needed to turn the steering: damper disconnected of course and I think
they specify 'from the mid position' or something like that.

The Guzzi factory manuals I've dealt with barely mention adjustment
and don't specify a torque. ISTR there was something vague along the
lines of 'tight enough but not too tight' in one but I couldn't find
it just now when I looked.

Am I lecturing you? Yes, butI didn't think I could let this go.