I never power wash my bike, hardly even wash at all jaja. But it is parked in my driveway all year except for work hours, where it is in a covered parking at work. I ride in the rain too, and here in mexico we are nearly 2 months into the rain season so that could explain why it is acting up now.

I found a lot of videos on how to change the bearings, but how do I diagnose before taking it apart?

cheers

 

With the skid plate firmly on a flat stand and the rear wheel pressed to the ground with the front wheel off the ground, you should be able to turn the bars from lock-to-lock smoothly and seamlessly without feeling any grit, grinding, notchiness, or resistance...disregard resistance from the wiring harness and cables. Just try to detect any irregular feedback from the bearings...especially as you cross dead center on the bar. At the mileage you have since it hasn't already been serviced, you really need to clean and grease the bearings even if they're fine at the moment. The factories are notorious about not putting much grease on a new assembly. Frankly I don't see many tapered bearing units actually failing unless serious rust, impact, or long term use without proper lubrication has occurred. Most of the times they're reusable after a good clean and regrease. You should be able to see serious rust or galling in the pressed in bearing race if the bearing(s) are shot.

 

Like I said, on mine you couldn't tell anything wrong on a stand or in the garage. But riding it was something else. But I'm kinda a sensitive guy, can't you tell?

they are roller bearings. Unless you don't have any money, don't just repack them. i guess you could drive them out, spin them 90 degrees and put them back in, but it would not be the best.

I got a elec conduit, sawed 2 splits in the end, and used that to drive the old seats out. Not the best but it worked. Keep the old seats and use them to drive the new ones in with a couple of 2x4's and 18" of all-thread.

 

yeah, for the work I would rather replace them as long as I can get them cheap here, which I can but in lesser known brands. Would that still be preferable to cleaning/repacking stock bearings? Kawi parts here are very expensive and always by mail order only at the dealer. I have called for pricing on about 20 items over the past 2 years and never once have they had anything in stock.

cheers

Edit: just got a quote of $8.13 usd for the top bearing and race, and $9.07 usd for the bottom roller and race. They said the brand is rollway, I think. Anyone heard of them? Cost is great but I don't want to do this again in a few months.

http://www.emersonindustrial.com/en-...s/rollway.aspx

Edit2: According to my K&L parts catalog, the KLX doesn't share the same head bearings with any Honda or Yamaha. Those dealers usually have reasonable prices and lead times here. So, aftermarket "rollway" bearings or clean/repack stock bearings?

cheers

 

I looked at the internet listings on those bearings...they look fine to me for this application. This is not an area of failure normally on most bikes, but due to poor/almost no grease from the factory...rust from water intrusion...and/or misadjustment, they do sometimes fail. I've had tons of motorcycles, off road and on, and I've only had one set of tapered roller bearings in the steering stem that needed replacement. When properly greased and adjusted they're not a problem area for the most part.

 

I think it could be that since I never checked, greased or adjusted them, the bearings or races are now worn in the center? Riding home today was worse than yesterday. Very notchy feel in the center then suddenly smooth after that.

I will just replace them at that price I don't want to do this job twice jaja. Besides, I live in the suburbs so if I find they are bad after tearing the bike down then I'll spend almost the same in gas going to town for them.

I've removed the wheel and forks before, headlight and dash too. Guess it's the same except also removing the handlebars. I've read and will reread the service manual, and will keep checking google/youtube for how-tos.

thanks for all the comments so far, anyone got any tips feel free to chime in.
cheers

 

It turns the bearings were not the right ones for the bike, they didnt have the seal integrated in the bearings. I've called half the bearing distributors here and no one has them with the integrated seal except for yamaha as they are used on several of their models, but they want $50 USD for each bearing/race set, so $100 usd in total.

At this price point, I think I will just clean and repack them, inspect them first to see how bad they are. If not too badly worn, I can order them from the US when I get a chance. If they are real bad I can get the yamaha one's I guess.

cheers

 

I'm assuming that you're not able to order from eBay and have stuff shipped to Mexico? These ones look like the same style I recently replaced on my Goldwing, with the separate seal:
ALL ***** Steering Bearing AND Seal KIT FOR Kawasaki KLX250S 2006 | eBay

 

The 09s have the seal integrated, which is why I couldn't get them here. I asked if they had the seals separately like the ones you linked but nop, nowhere.

A lot of sellers ship to Mexico but shipping is too high for low cost items like these, shipping is 26 USD, plus %16 customs tax in Mexico, total would be 61 USD. Still better than $100 at yamaha but I would have to wait 2-4 weeks. Such is life in Mexico.
K L 31 2218 Steering Bearing Kit SSH901 96 99 GSF600S Free Shipping 11063 | eBay

 

I cleaned/repacked the bearings yesterday. Check out that thread.

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...earings-43255/

thanks for all the comments so far. cheers