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23 May 2010
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HU Australia Meeting Organiser
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Grease nipples for steerinh head bearings
Hello everyone,
I recall reading in a dirt bike magazine about adding a grease nipple to allow easing greasing of the steering head bearings. Has anyone done this and is it worthwhile?
Thanks,
Shane
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23 May 2010
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Seen it done. Also to the rear suspension linkage.
If it's worth doing, depends on the bike and riding you do.
Headstock bearings on modern bikes are well sealed and the grease doesn't tend to escape or get water and muck in them like wheel bearings. They usually last 20-30,000 miles or more. Keeping them tight is better maintenance than adding more and more grease through a nipple.
Most people think headstock bearings are fit and forget, they aren't !!
Every 10,000 miles, drop the steerer, clean all the old grease out and regrease them then tighten back down so the handlebars will only just move under their own weight while on a centre stand.
Then they may just last a RTW !! 
If you ride offroad a lot, love pulling wheelies or ride around without ever tightening your headstock nut, then squirting grease in through a nipple could be helpful.
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Last edited by *Touring Ted*; 24 May 2010 at 08:04.
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24 May 2010
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From what I've heard ... and seen, Ted's take is on the money.
In fact my Oil expert neighbor, who sells specialty greases for a living, says packing in too much heavy grease into a bearing is not helpful and will impend its smooth operation. Recommends "just enough".
Ted's suggestion to keep it clean, fresh and most important, adjusted to proper tension is most important.
Some bikes (like Honda XR's) generate a lot of heat into the steering head (this due to oil held in the frame ... gets HOT!) which can heat the grease until it flows out and on down on your front fender. So in this case a nipple would be handy.
Using the right type of grease is important also. Generally use a high quality waterproof grease. Off road riding thousands of miles of rocks and washboard road is hard on head bearings. And riding through lots of stream and rivers or in constant rain will mean your linkage bearings will need service sooner than normal. Many riders neglect these shock linkage bearings.
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24 May 2010
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Micky D reminded me.......
Some bikes (by poor design) have the oil running around the headstock (the F650GS etc)
This cooks the grease out of the bearings. If you're running an F650GS, Dakar or an XR400 etc, nipples could be good idea
Although, high temperature grease may be adequate.
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24 May 2010
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I've seen a grease nipple added to the headstock of a DRZ400S. All it did was fill the rest of the headstock tube with fresh grease. The bearings are generally tapered and once assembled, they're pretty much sealed, there's no way for the grease to get past the cones and lube the bearings. The bearings on this bike eventually failed, the grease nipple was worthless & a waste of grease.
As Ted said, regular dropping of the front end to clean & pack with fresh grease is the way to go.
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24 May 2010
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Steering Head Bearings
Thanks for all the advice. The bike is a DR800 and I can see that the best thing to do is to use good quality bearing and check them every 10,000 or so. I don't (can't) pull wheelies etc and am fairly easy on the bike, so this should be fine.
As I have only had the bike for a couple of months I'll order a set of top bearings and replace them at the next service, using quality lithium wheel bearing grease.
Thanks,
Shane
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24 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
Some bikes (by poor design) have the oil running around the headstock (the F650GS etc)
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:confused1: cough....cough... sorry ted - according to BMW, you are mistaken
I was curious at your post as, owning an F650 Dakar, I knew that there was no oil circulating in my headstock. I wanted to check for other F650's. so I telephoned BMW this morning who categorically state that " oil does not run around the headstock on any of our F650GS nor ever has"
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24 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bertrand
:confused1: cough....cough... sorry ted - according to BMW, you are mistaken
I was curious at your post as, owning an F650 Dakar, I knew that there was no oil circulating in my headstock.
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Well it certainly does in my XR600 (and in my CCM 600) so Ted was at least half right 
Even with this setup I've never had any real problem with oil heat melting the grease. It must be 7-8 yrs since I last packed the XR head bearings and when I had a mini stripdown at the weekend they were still lubed and in good nick.
I'm not sure that packing the headstock with 2kg of grease (even if you could get it to go into the bearings rather than just leak past) would make a significant improvement in bearing life beyond just lubing the rollers with something appropriate. Most of it is just going to sit there surrounding the spindle. If it does migrate downwards that's a lot of lube to leak onto the engine.
Even if there is a marginal improvement in bearing life the cost of the grease would go a fair way towards their replacements.
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24 May 2010
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Roller bearings don't need much grease ,but will always fail when they are not sealed properly and there is an ingress of dirt and water .
A grease nipple will allow you to pack the bearing from the inside and a couple of pumps from a grease gun [ on a regular basis] will keep the muck out .Synthetic grease or a high melting point wheel bearing grease will take care of any heat provided by oil in frame lubricant .The weight of the grease is insignificant .
Taper roller bearings are open and will allow grease to flow through [think of a trailer wheel bearing ].
Double sided rubber sealed ball bearings are fitted to some bikes , you can remove the inner seal or change to a single sided rubber seal bearing and pump grease in from a nipple .
A couple of pumps with a grease gun is much quicker and convenient than stripping the front end to repack the bearings .
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24 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bertrand
:confused1: cough....cough... sorry ted - according to BMW, you are mistaken
I was curious at your post as, owning an F650 Dakar, I knew that there was no oil circulating in my headstock. I wanted to check for other F650's. so I telephoned BMW this morning who categorically state that "oil does not run around the headstock on any of our F650GS nor ever has"
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Maybe i'm thining of the F650 funduros... I'm 99.9% it was one of the F650 models that had the oil running around the head bearings.
Well, not around the actual bearings (that would be daft) but very close to the outer shell of the bearings, making the grease "melt" and degrade faster than it would of a wet sump bike.
I'm going to have to look this up now. As much as I enjoy BMW bashing, I'd at like to be accurate about it. 
Comprende ? 
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24 May 2010
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More info here
Yet another steering-head bearing failure. - Page 3 - BMW F650 Forums
I don't think anyone knows for sure what the issue is with the bearings. They just seem to wear very quickly. I was always led to believe it was the heat of the oil in the frame. The flow being too close to the bearings. Others think it's poor quality bearings, although they use the same ones in other models without issue. Maybe it's poor assembly at the factory.
Many riders seem to have to change them every 15,000 miles or so from what I've read. I remember them always being an issue on the second hand F650's coming in and out of our dealership and also at Dakar Motos.
Anyway, lets not get off topic here !!
Grease nipples was it ?????????????? 
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Fix them for a living.
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24 May 2010
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I fitted a nipple to my Dr. Zed when I got it and work on the theory that if I pump grease in until the black, mucky, emulsified crap is replaced with clean grease, it must be a good thing.
If you do a lot of hard trail riding in all weathers then water and muck will get in. Add to that some dropping in rivers and jet washing. Also, as mentioned, the oil in the frame does warm the grease enough for it to seep out past the lower seal. I'd rather give it a few pumps after every ride than strip it out. A lb of grease lasts a long time and only costs a few quid.
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