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[Bullet Train]

I'll be presenting my Bullet for the annual test this week. But last year, I had an advisory on "slightly notchy head bearings". I never got round to replacing them as I'm happy with the handling, and there is no movement and it's as steady as a rock at all speeds regardless. The question I ask here is: Is it an actual fail point? Cos' my chap's gonna know I haven't touched the bearings since he passed it and issued the advisory last year? Got the bearings delivered not too long ago, just not got around to fitting them. What with the recently fitted Universal Silencer, which might also get an advisory, maybe I should put it on SORN for a few months, as the tax expires this month too. That'll give me more time to sort some of these things out. Regards BT

[jaffa90]

Sounds like the same advisory for another year to me,also your universal silencer should be ok if your tester is deaf and cannot see the (not fit for road use) letters/numbers on the can.

[MadMike]

BT, consider yourself well and truly admonished for not fitting the bearings. Test booked for "this week"? When exactly? How long can it take to fit a set of head bearings? Change them. Get your MOT and carry on riding. I took my Norton Model 50, complete with its 83000 Imperial miles on the clock, for its birthday treat today, and all I did as usual was to give it a quick polish. Maintain your bike correctly and you should spot any problems and correct them long before the MOT is due. I never have understood why people suddenly get nervous about the condition of their bike at MOT time, and suddenly go into panic mode, submit a known failure, or consider SORN as an option. Sorry to sound harsh but I consider bike condition to be so very important.

[Alan R]

Hello matey !!!----------Only SLIGHTLY notchy bearings??.. Assuming the bike's not had a front-end smack at any time then it's either rusty bearings OR dried-out grease...Try slacking the clamp nut 1/4 turn, spray some penetrating oil in and give the forks a session of "doing the twist". Re-tighten etc. OR }--- you could take it to another tester. The tester is not required to refer to the last Certificate or any Advisories attached, but the Police might if you are stopped etc. Advisories are just that ie ADVICE...If, as you say, all is well in the handling dept. then it will pass--won't it ?? If there is a genuine fault then the test will find it out-----which is the purpose of the test after all.. and you will have 14 days in which to rectify it and re-present for that item's test and NO ADDITIONAL FEE to pay.... Your silencer is examined for structural & fitted integrity BUT only "tested" for noise "using the discretion of the examiner"....but, as JAFFA90 pointed out, if it IS stamped with "NOT FOR ROAD USE" or similar then the tester will fail it on those grounds.

[Beezabryan]

This thread is a perfect example of why I objected to the cessation of MOT for pre 1960 machines and why I expect the insurers to be very wary about renewing existing policies without either hiking the premium on an astral plane or insisting on some form of alternative certification of road worthiness

[simon]

Notchy bearings can make handling a bit unpleasant. It can be caused in my experience by a bad earth connection with the bearings being slowly spark eroded.

[Bullet Train]

Thanks for the professional, and not so professional advice on here, always welcome. By 14:15 this afternon, my usual tester had given the Bullet a clean sheet. I mentioned the bearings, exhaust, front brake, misaligned headlight, slow winkers, all the stuff that I'd adjusted this morning, and he said there were no problems to note. I gave those bearings a bit of the Alan R "treatment" and it did actually feel a lot better, a bit more loose on the centrepoint-to-side test. No other movement and I'm sure they'll be good for a few thousand more k's yet. I was convinced they weren't shot having only done 10,900km. Maybe the C.E.M.E's out there will cringe, but after 3 years of Bullet ownership, I think myself and most other amateur's here, are getting an idea and a feel on what's acceptable and what's not on wear, play ect. All good fun. At least until the next problems arise.....BT

[grunda 12]

is the condition of a bikes steering bearings a problem ?only if you have weak arms !! i don,t believe in god but after reading this ultimately stupid thread it leaves me thinking there must be a god because he,s looking after all the bikers who don,t understand the implications of worn steering bearings or any other serious fault on the machine they are piloting,i,m not having a go but wtf?

[Alan R]

Hi Guys---------- SIMON raises an oft forgotten point ie in the earth-return circuit that our bikes employ, the headlamp electrics sometimes make use of the headstock bearings as part of that circuit. A simple earth wire from one of the yokes to the mainframe will provide a more positive (?) circuit and prevent the possibility of the aforementioned spark erosion. Nice one, SIMON---it's been a while since that one came up.

[simon]

Cheers Alan, I came across a BSA Lightning that it had happened to and it was quite dramatic particularly as the position the bars liked to return to was kerb side of centre line as as a consequence you had to wrestle the thing into a straight line.