Steering neck grease
- Thread starter Mavagrand
- Start date
what ever grease the dealer uses for service (EDIT). the bottom tree and left fork leg stays covered in "oozing mess", on my rg. dealer said it was normal and to live w it. seems that they would use a lithium hi heat grease, but probably too expensive as a whole tube is used to fill neck....tomp
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Well I bought the Lucas Red and Tacky - says its good for up around 540 degrees. Good thing is I only had to add about 10 shots from a full sized hand held grease gun to get return grease top and bottom (and around my steering head keylock). And I guess all that says is the bike had - at least - semi good maintenance before I got it. (I HOPE)
Bill
Bill
Well let me give a shout out to pru7536 who linked me to a prior thread he commented on, on getting a 90deg zerk installed. Sometimes it just takes a push in the right direction. But got a 90deg zerk in w/o having to remove the fairing, and appreciate his assistance on that.
And this may all be well-known by the more experienced but for anyone else interested, there's a little bracket that stabilizes the front brake lines, and when you loosen that bracket, you can swing the lines away from the zerk fitting area for easier access (this on an 08 Ultra). The trick is getting it threaded in however slight just to hold it in, and then as suggested by pru7536, swing the handlebars full left to clear that lower frame weldment - tighten a 1/4 turn , turn bars back full right for another 1/4 turn, and back and forth until tight. This is on a 90.
Took probably a little over a half-tube of red 'n tacky #2 before it just started to ooze out the bottom of the steering neck. Nothing coming out the top. I bought some super-wide tie-wraps and gonna try to get one of those wrapped and secured around the base of the neck to redirect grease towards the upper bearing. Haven't tried it yet - but that's all I got at this point.
And this may all be well-known by the more experienced but for anyone else interested, there's a little bracket that stabilizes the front brake lines, and when you loosen that bracket, you can swing the lines away from the zerk fitting area for easier access (this on an 08 Ultra). The trick is getting it threaded in however slight just to hold it in, and then as suggested by pru7536, swing the handlebars full left to clear that lower frame weldment - tighten a 1/4 turn , turn bars back full right for another 1/4 turn, and back and forth until tight. This is on a 90.
Took probably a little over a half-tube of red 'n tacky #2 before it just started to ooze out the bottom of the steering neck. Nothing coming out the top. I bought some super-wide tie-wraps and gonna try to get one of those wrapped and secured around the base of the neck to redirect grease towards the upper bearing. Haven't tried it yet - but that's all I got at this point.
Might try a shoe lace(s) as they are easier to find and use. All I can say is, when time comes for me to replace the steering head bearings, I'll put in a tight fitting tube to seal off the frame, isolating the two bearings from the inside (same trick that is used on mountain and road bike bottom brackets) then drill and tap hole for zerk fitting, as all Sportsters that I know of do not have one like most HD's...another red headed step child "feature." :newsmile061:
wlbowers
Member
I was gonna say something about that. The dealer did my Heritage when I got it. It's still oozing. I have to wipe it ever couple of weeks.
LPS has a high temp. Lps 70214. Anyone tried this yet?
Since my bike is still in the shop I borrowed a friends spare bike, 07 softail custom. I trailed it home and went through whole thing before I used it.
Greased neck and had to put 50 pumps from standard grease gun before anything came out of the bottom bearing. The fresh red grease was the only thing that came out so the thing was empty. This guy bought the bike second hand to use as a guest bike-spare so it does not get used much. Bike has 16k on it of which I think about 14 to 15k by prior owner.
Prior to me filling it I did ride it and noted no steering issues, no wobble etc.
Based on this what should i look for or just ride it and dont worry.
Greased neck and had to put 50 pumps from standard grease gun before anything came out of the bottom bearing. The fresh red grease was the only thing that came out so the thing was empty. This guy bought the bike second hand to use as a guest bike-spare so it does not get used much. Bike has 16k on it of which I think about 14 to 15k by prior owner.
Prior to me filling it I did ride it and noted no steering issues, no wobble etc.
Based on this what should i look for or just ride it and dont worry.
D
dbmg
Guest
Walmart Marine grade grease for me. 450 degree temp rating and have never had a drip on front fender. Occasionally clean up neck area with Q-Tips. Replaced Zerk fitting with a 90 degree and works great. Fitting is Metric...