Exactly right, Doug45601.

And it isn't just some way for the factory to sell you a tube of grease if you don't use Harley's cheesy grease. I filled my steering head with Amsoil synthetic grease. My steering is nice and smooth. I suppose my front end will fall off any day now, huh?

 

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And I won't ever know (until my warranty runs out). Dealer is going to continue to do my maintenance , so if something fails, it'll be on them. Replacement costs: Free, and I'm even going to make them give me a loaner bikewhile they fix their screw ups.

I can symathize with all the guys who wrench their own, and up until this bike, I did ALL of my own work. With the 07 being a "new modelyear" I went ahead and bought the extended warranty to ensure if their are problems, the MOCO will be responsible.

 

Well said Doug45601.Bearings need to be periodically greased. For those of you who don't want to periodically grease you steering head bearings, good luck! I'll bet in most cases you can go many miles and many yearswithout a problem. Personally, I don't want to find out the bearings in my steering head have gone bad at 80 mph or in the middle of a sweeper. I think I will squirt a tube of grease into my steering head (vs disassemblingit and re-packing the bearings) until I see some grease coming out of the top an bottom, just like the service manual says. At minimum this will push the dirt out of the bearingsand extend their life.

I do agree that dealers and service manuals are notalways right. I have proved them wrong before, but in this case it is just common sense.

 

If they have problems getting the crank run out tight enough on a few bikes, who's to say theywon't miss a few bearings? I'd rather cuss the grease on the front end, and know I went overkill, than have a dealer wrench tell me they're pulling my front end to replace crusty bearings. Peace of mind instead of a POS. Besides, a little JB Weld on the bottom keeps it from dripping...

 

Thanks Doug, your explanation makes sence. My only question is don't the bearings have a lip seal on the outer side to keep the greese in? If so, I can't see any reason to add any greese for years. JMHO

 

Here's a tip. take a peice of 1/4" rope and wrap it arrond the botton tripple tree bearing raceway. when you have pumped some grease into the neck it will start oozzeing out the bottom bearing here. and will come out here all the time you are pumping. So the rope is to block off the easy exit of the neck grease and force it upward into the top neck bearing faster.
Also get into a habit of wipeing off any grease oozeing out of the bottom before every ride. Just takes a few seconds to wipe it off before it drips off on the finder.
but the way I figure it the bottom neck bearing has about 90% of the weight and force rideing on it so atleast grease enough to get some grease moveing thru that bearing wheather you pump it full or Not, get some grease going thru the bottom bearing!!!!

 

I think this is the correct assessment of this maintenance task. The manuals for both my '96 and '07 say to fill the neck with grease each 5k miles until it oozes from the top and bottom. I followed that procedure for my '96 and at 110k the bearings show no signs of wear and the steering head has never required adjustment. I'll continue this procedure with the new SG. As for liquid dripping onto the left fork tube, I've had little trouble with this over the years, which may be a factor of the type of grease used. I'm using a high-pressure synthetic grease, which doesn't seem to run.

The first grease job is due at the 1k service, according to my manual. The small amount of grease used by the factory is sufficient for 1k, then hit it with a tube-full at 1k miles. This is probably a cost-saving measure by the Moco, letting the dealer and customer foot the bill for the extra grease later on. Since it takes about 1/2 tube or more to fill the neck, that would add up with thousands of bikes being produced.

 

Yes there is a lip (retainer seal)to ratain most of the grease in the bearing and the race but remember, grease breaks down in time and becomes more liquified.. The thin stuff then seeps through the gaps and cracks. The man purpose of grease is to reduce friction in a fitting/s that require close tolearnce (such as the frame neck of thebike) When the grease breaks down,gets thin.. friction becomes more of an issue.. Dry bearings will score and grind into nothing given time. This makes for wobbley sloppy stearing..Another point to consider is that the lower bearing of neck will be subjected to pressure then the upper bearing (due to the weight of the bike and angle of the neck..

The rope tip as mentioned in anothers commet will work to a point but you have to snug it up pretty tightly.

Grease will ooz out after a ride and will continue to ooz as now you have established a surplus of grease "packed" in the neckunder a little presure.. The initial grease job at the factory was all done by handpacking just the bearings and race before assembly and thatwouldn't have been enough for the grease to seep through the seal. In conclusion for most all bikes that have had the neck serviced....YOU probably will from then on be haunted with grease seeping from the lower neck area.. That's not a defect in as much as it is the nature of the beast.

 

Well let's see....MoCo solved the engine oil drips.....and we still got to mark our spot....dam right pack them ******