Thanks Brook for the very informative videos! It takes a lot of extra work I'm sure! Plus, what a great project you have taken on. Helps us keep our beloved Airheads in great shape.
Brook, Ive been following you and your projects for several years now and I can say Its a joy to see you work on and share valuable information about airheads. We’ve even written back and forth a few times. Im curious. Do you have a favorite model, as in either a project or to ride? -Christian
Christian, my favorite BMW model is the one I'm working on, or riding at the moment. :-) All of the ones I've worked on (1973 R75/5, 1975 R75/6, 1977 R100RS, 1983 R100RS, 1983 R80ST) have had interesting differences from the others. All the ones I ride also preform differently, which is quite enjoyable. I'm looking forward to putting some miles on this R80ST (about 1,000 is my goal so I can ensure all is working well) as I've read, and been told by owners, that this is one of the best handling airheads BMW built.
Ernie, I tried that once, but the contact time with the steering head was too long and the outer race warmed up. There was little reduction in the diameter of the outer race. So I install them at room temperature.
Actually the damage is caused by the rollers rotating less than one complete turn in use which is the problem with using a roller bearing in an application like that. Much better if each roller rotates more than one revolution.
Andrew, that's correct. Since the rollers aren't turning, grease is forced out of the gap between the roller and outer race causing metal-to-metal contact. A good habit to prolong the life of these bearings is to turn the handlebars lock-to-lock every time you park the bike. And also repack the grease every couple of years so it doesn't harden.
