Well, my steering has been feeling kind of "off" lately. I talked to a few guys on the forum and they suggested that I should install new bearings on the steering stem. I look up the proceedure in my shop manual and it seemed quite straight forward. So, off came all the plastic from the front of the bike and I started to disassemble the steering stem. First I took off the fork tubes and then got to the actual steering stem. When I examined the races and the bearings, I found that there were small indentations in the races. I guess that years of vibration had worn these small indentations into the races. It was just enough to make the steering feel notchy coming off center. Getting the old races off and the new ones installed was a real pain. I'm not a mechanic although I like to think of myself as being moderately handy around a bike. I have a friend who helped me and kept me on the straight and narrow. After some trial and errors, I got everything changed and installed properly. Now that I have the steering head back, I think I might as well change the oil in the forks and install new seals. Since I have it all disassembled, it makes sense to do this maintenance now. Then I might switch over to braided steel brake lines. I did this on my 600f3 and it made a huge difference in the feel of the brakes. So, I guess I have been keeping myself busy; but I'm excited to get the old bike back out on the road with the new improvements. Since I have the f3 to ride, I don't mind spending some time getting the 1000f back in good shape again. It is such a great bike I hate to see it falling into bad repair. I'll post again when I have some more progress to report on.

 

you might also want to change the wheel bearings as well. mine would shake a little at speed until i replaced them

 

Its such a slippery slope. The phrase "while I'm here" has cost me so much money

 

I agree with you both. Why not check the wheel bearings. After all, they are as old as the steering bearings and they spin alot more! Also, the idea that: "While I'm at it, I might as well"... has not end! Slippery slope indeed. THanks for the insight.

 

Money well spent, IMO

 

.....has "no" end, of course. Someday I'll learn to type.

 

I don't think that I'm interested in doing anything like a complete restoration of the bike. I really don't think I have the technical skills for that. I do, however, want it to be mechanically sound and I also want it to look good. Money spent toward that end has always been money well spent. Luckilly, my wife agrees. lol

 

Always good to have an understanding wife, mine suggested getting the bike a top end rebuild after oil consumption got fairly bad, who can argue whith that!

 

LOL maybe time for new brake pads ? "while you are at it"

 

Yeah....lol and then maybe some of those snazzy rotors? Rims anyone? Could use a new paint job on those old rims....or maybe some of those cool carban fiber jobs? Yes, this type of reasoning gets us into the stratosphere quicker than the old space shuttle. Of course, it really does not make sense to change the lines and not change pads. lol