harleyshrew
Club Member
Yay its great to come on here again needing some comment or advice about my very amature at best mechanical skills, in relation to my front end. Last year I only intended to change the fork oil, which i dont think was ever done. Well I know I didnt do it for the seven years I have had this bike (09 FLHR) and dam sure it wasnt done before (only 17000 miles when I bought it).
Then a few people suggested that whilst it was best to take the folks off the bike like the manual says, I might as well check my steering / head bearings. This, I interpreted (wrongly) as replace all the bearings, which I did. That was an extremely traumatic and somewhat distressing week. especially for my so very patient positive wife, life partner, best friend, the love of my life and therapist.
Of course all the generic processes for removing these bearings and races on normal motorcycles, dont apply to Harley bloody Davidson do they. Fortunately an independent Harley Mechanic buddy who lives quite near (not sure whether im allowed to mention names so I wont) had the right tool and removed the bottom stem bearing for me. Oh and I replaced the perfectly ok fork seals for good measure. Put the whole thing back together which also included after market wheel bearings and for a couple of thousand miles all was ok. Until it wasn't. Nothing serious but niggles I guess. So the handling was a bit scary riding down to Naseby Rally. I put it down to my shit riding and an appalling road surfaces ( yes I like my roads smoooooth) I am completely sober these days (thought I would get that in) so nothing to do with alcohol. I was reassured by some lovely mates at the rally that I wont fall off due to something or other physics. You would think that after 50 plus years or riding I would have got it by now. Also, we were two up with enough luggage to move in permanently. Anyway, I digress, in short I had developed a slight speed wobble on deceleration (when my hands were off the bars - never try that, never - whether loaded up or not. So steering to loose. Plus at the last MOT there was an advisory regarding a slight judder on braking (wobbly discs) The rumble i found out was wheel bearing failure. So OEM bearings 40,000 miles and probably didnt need replacing anyway, after market (cheaper) 2000 miles. Mind you to be fare to the bearings I probably fucked it up when I put them in despite using the proper tools.
Right, to the point I will have new OEM bearings tomorrow and I have new rotors. new hardware of course. What would one put on first. The bearings (which kind of makes sense to me or the disks I mean rotors. I have watched a few vids and people seem to do it differently. I really am to lazy to read manual, but I guess I had better And just to finnish, I also have brand new brake pads to replace the ones that dont need replacing. I need to start getting this stuff right first time as its quite costly and I am on a not very big pension. I wonder if one added up all the money I had spent over my many years of motorcycle ownership, how it would compare with the money I could have saved if I went to the dealership, even though the costs for me as a lowly paid public servant have always been prohibitive, apart from the credit card debt I accrued to keep the warranties, especially for the streetbob I had that virtually self destructed after the warranty was up. The RK is great and always has been. It is relatively easy to work on compered to my Triumph Tiger, when I look at that thing I think Nah wheres my credit card.? PS sorry to go on and thank you for reading and I apologise in advance of any online shaming, for my appalling grammar. Will paste to FB on R29 page for anyone that missed it and can answer my question.
Then a few people suggested that whilst it was best to take the folks off the bike like the manual says, I might as well check my steering / head bearings. This, I interpreted (wrongly) as replace all the bearings, which I did. That was an extremely traumatic and somewhat distressing week. especially for my so very patient positive wife, life partner, best friend, the love of my life and therapist.
Of course all the generic processes for removing these bearings and races on normal motorcycles, dont apply to Harley bloody Davidson do they. Fortunately an independent Harley Mechanic buddy who lives quite near (not sure whether im allowed to mention names so I wont) had the right tool and removed the bottom stem bearing for me. Oh and I replaced the perfectly ok fork seals for good measure. Put the whole thing back together which also included after market wheel bearings and for a couple of thousand miles all was ok. Until it wasn't. Nothing serious but niggles I guess. So the handling was a bit scary riding down to Naseby Rally. I put it down to my shit riding and an appalling road surfaces ( yes I like my roads smoooooth) I am completely sober these days (thought I would get that in) so nothing to do with alcohol. I was reassured by some lovely mates at the rally that I wont fall off due to something or other physics. You would think that after 50 plus years or riding I would have got it by now. Also, we were two up with enough luggage to move in permanently. Anyway, I digress, in short I had developed a slight speed wobble on deceleration (when my hands were off the bars - never try that, never - whether loaded up or not. So steering to loose. Plus at the last MOT there was an advisory regarding a slight judder on braking (wobbly discs) The rumble i found out was wheel bearing failure. So OEM bearings 40,000 miles and probably didnt need replacing anyway, after market (cheaper) 2000 miles. Mind you to be fare to the bearings I probably fucked it up when I put them in despite using the proper tools.
Right, to the point I will have new OEM bearings tomorrow and I have new rotors. new hardware of course. What would one put on first. The bearings (which kind of makes sense to me or the disks I mean rotors. I have watched a few vids and people seem to do it differently. I really am to lazy to read manual, but I guess I had better And just to finnish, I also have brand new brake pads to replace the ones that dont need replacing. I need to start getting this stuff right first time as its quite costly and I am on a not very big pension. I wonder if one added up all the money I had spent over my many years of motorcycle ownership, how it would compare with the money I could have saved if I went to the dealership, even though the costs for me as a lowly paid public servant have always been prohibitive, apart from the credit card debt I accrued to keep the warranties, especially for the streetbob I had that virtually self destructed after the warranty was up. The RK is great and always has been. It is relatively easy to work on compered to my Triumph Tiger, when I look at that thing I think Nah wheres my credit card.? PS sorry to go on and thank you for reading and I apologise in advance of any online shaming, for my appalling grammar. Will paste to FB on R29 page for anyone that missed it and can answer my question.
check your workshop manual for wether the numbers on bearing face in or out on your model as it varies from bike to bike and its bin a few years since i did a tc roadking and dont forget to use either new disc bolts if they have been off more than twice and threadlocker and torquing up to speck is a must every time 
. I thought bearings in first. Thanks again. My next job is swapping out (as they say) the compensator sprocket. Decided to go with the screaming eagle. Nice little job for the colder months 
