Just did a 10 day ride through the Victorian High Country...Towards the end the ride the steering on the XT660Z had become progressively more difficult and "notchy"... Also, decidedly dangerous on dirt corners, as any line change required a deliberate effort on the bars which usually resulted in a sudden change in direction.

At stop, all felt fine, but as speed increased, it was obvious something was wrong. Firstly I suspected the steering damper, so put all settings to minimum.. with no obvious improvement.

Also suspected that I may have a suspension issue and am currently doing a complete overhaul of the front suspension..(more on this in a future post).

While the fork legs were out, I decided to remove the bars to give myself a better opportunity to evaluate the steering head bearings. Turning the triple clamps from lock to lock, the bearings felt decidedly notchy so I elected to strip them out for inspection.

The top bearing and race were in relatively good condition. The lower looked OK, it was rust free and had a reasonable amount of grease. Inspection of the race however showed some serious damage.

Both bearings were KOYO branded. Reasonable quality, Japanese manufactured bearings. It was my intention to replace both with SKF/Timken or similar quality bearings. I had managed to save the lower seal during disassembly so was not too concerned about having to source a new one.

A quick check on eBay showed plenty of kits on offer, complete with seals. They are mainly no name bearings, of which I am always suspicious!!....For such a serious application, I prefer to fit quality bearings. Besides, it is a relatively time consuming job to do, so best to give it every opportunity for longevity.

The main concern most of us have when removing the lower bearing is salvaging the seal, as these are not normally available separately, unless you buy genuine OEM bearings from Yamaha.... and pay a premium price.

OK...Here is some good news. My bearing shop carried the original lower KOYO bearing, and it comes complete with a new seal...

They didn't have the top bearing in KOYO brand, but had a Timken equivalent, which I am more than happy with.

A quick look on eBay shows both bearings are available at quite reasonable prices. So no need to buy "kits" on eBay...just buy the individual bearings. Most probably the upper bearing will outlast two to three of the lower bearings if it is maintained regularly.

Here are the details of the bearings

UPPER:

Timken 32005X 90KA1

LOWER:

Koyo 32006JRRS (Seal Included)

All up cost was AUD $35.....(Far cheaper than an eBay Kit!!!) Your local bearing shop can probably supply for a similar figure....

It is my intention to reassemble everything using plenty of waterproof grease.

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