Steering notchy (read the other post but it didn't help much)

[Suicidalbadger]

With the steering centred I get a small notchy feeling that makes driving slowly in traffic annoying, so lifted bike up on centre stand and expected to feel play by lifting front wheel.

With the steering hanging (front wheel off the deck) steering is smooth with no notch? I can't lift the front wheel so no play, but with the bikes weight on the front wheel It's got a notch/wants to sit in the centre???4

I don't want to do a complete strip down, partly as I don't have the space indoors, and the bearing adjusting process has confused me any ideas? and can I adjust steering without the tool tube thingy?

Thanks

The Badger

[Scott_]

it's POSSIBLE your notchy feeling could be just dried grease. The only issue is that you have to tear it down to clean out all the old dried grease and relube it.

[Motorandy123]

Ya BMW made them pretty robust so you probably just have to clean and lube them. Unfortunately
that means disconnecting the front brake line !!! and bleeding it afterward. Should be about a 3 day job!
I'm in the same boat due to my steering dampener needing attention. Maybe I'll wait until winter to
do that one, first I have to find some unobtainium grease for it....

[Chaos]

That notchy feeling on center is usually flat spotted steering head bearings, only cure is new bearings, do-able but major tear down needed.  Did mine last year, made a world of difference.

[lhead]

I thought that notchiness = replace bearings too before I did my steering head. But, taint necessarily so! Mine just needed a clean and relube. Unobtanium grease isn't necessary. Standard wheel bearing grease is fine. Also, the brake lines do not need to be disconnected. Just pull the calipers and tie them up and out of the way.

Worked for me.

Charlie

[BobZ(IL)]

Just cleaning up the top bearing solved my notchy steering. Dried grease is hard to remove, but much preferred to replacing those bearings.
 

[billday]

It's a lot of work to take apart the front end but based on my experience it's worth it to know for sure the condition of everything in this crucial part of the bike. You don't want to ride on anything like what I was riding on when I noticed my front end was "twitchy" (see pic).

Somewhere in the Workshop or What Did You Do Today there are threads with info on the job and links to a PDF how-to from another K-bike list... some of the posts by me... I tried searching for them but I'm sorry I can't find them. Maybe someone else can help with that....