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Triple clamp bearing replacement - no dust seal


How2

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I have a mint gargare kept 2015 and the headset bearings are shot

 

On disassembly I noticed there is no seal  on the base of the triple clamp to protect the seal.

 A look at the fiche indicates there is none. A call to the dealer led them to call Yamaha corporate.

They say there is nothing missing and refer to the bottom of the bearing as a " seal". Its not a seal, its

part of the bearing..  (Maybe it hidden somewhere else?)

Anyone have a fix they did to add a seal to a manufacture blunder?

https://ridenowsocal.dealerspikeparts.com/oemparts/a/yam/546a26e1f87002164cb2808b/front-fork

Details please

 

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It is possible no seal.  Especially if it isn't shown in the schematic.  I had two Harley tourers over the past 7 years, and those have wheel bearings without any seals, the bearing cases themselves act as seals.  They also have had a lot of wheel bearing failures, though neither of mine did, in over 80k miles combined.  

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This is what I have on my 2015. There is a seal at each end. The lower seal (3FV-23462-00) is removable on its own.

assembly.thumb.jpg.d7b371332ce0305cc7025104a3680c47.jpg

Edited by piotrek
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canada.gif.22c5f8bdb95643b878d06c336f5fe29f.gif

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3 hours ago, How2 said:

I have a mint gargare kept 2015 and the headset bearings are shot

 

On disassembly I noticed there is no seal  on the base of the triple clamp to protect the seal.

 A look at the fiche indicates there is none. A call to the dealer led them to call Yamaha corporate.

They say there is nothing missing and refer to the bottom of the bearing as a " seal". Its not a seal, its

part of the bearing..  (Maybe it hidden somewhere else?)

Anyone have a fix they did to add a seal to a manufacture blunder?

https://ridenowsocal.dealerspikeparts.com/oemparts/a/yam/546a26e1f87002164cb2808b/front-fork

Details please

 

If you are going through the process of replacing the bearings, get a tapered roller bearing kit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165364222694?fits=Model%3AFJ09|Make%3AYamaha&epid=171240438&hash=item268079cae6:g:6igAAOSwkXRiH9U3

Tapered Roller Bearings | The Timken Company

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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#39 on your diagram is the seal. The top bearing and top seal will likely be in the handlebar or frame fiche.

But piss off those nasty stock ball bearings and run the aftermarket tapered rollers. Much nicer and they come with new seals.

Edited by Buggy Nate
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However, in my experience, tapered roller bearings (TRB) dull front end feedback a bit, especially at high speeds and in the twisties.  I believe in MotoGP and other top road racing championships they still used ball and cage albeit ceramic balls and carbon fiber cages.

 

But for us road going humans (versus the MotoGP "aliens"), TRB offered better resistance to damaged and extended durability than ball and cage.

Just my 2 cents...

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13 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

However, in my experience, tapered roller bearings (TRB) dull front end feedback a bit, especially at high speeds and in the twisties.

If that's true, I'm not a good enough rider to tell any difference.  I have them on my FJ and installed them on my previous FZ1 and never noticed a difference in feel. 🤷‍♀️

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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I haven't raced for 48 years and never was that fast because at 6 - 1 even when I starved myself, I looked like a gorilla humping a Schwinn Stingray with low bars on a TD2 compared to the little jockies I usually had to compete against, who wore elf suits for their day jobs.  But for 50 years I've done most of my own wrenching, and when TRB became readily available I immediately adopted them.  However, on every bike I installed them I immediately detected a more muted front end feel, almost a slower or disconnected sensation.  After a while you forget and get used to it.  Certainly for those who like to wheelie TRB are mandatory and even still are not bombproof.

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21 hours ago, betoney said:

If you are going through the process of replacing the bearings, get a tapered roller bearing kit.

How hard was it to remove old races and install new? My OE bearings are hanging in there for now. 👍

Edited by piotrek

canada.gif.22c5f8bdb95643b878d06c336f5fe29f.gif

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18 minutes ago, piotrek said:

How hard was it to remove old races and install new? OE bearings are hanging in there for now. 👍

Only as hard as dropping the bike off at the shop... 😋  I started to tear into it but then decided against it, I dropped the bike off in the morning and picked it up that afternoon.  The mechanic said he just used a punch and tapped the old ones out and pressed the new ones in. 

He left the handlebar controls connected and removed the bars from the top clamp, he said the job was much easier with an assistant to hold the bars up and out of the way while he changed the races.  I would think as a single person job it would take a few hours.

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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I check and lube the steering head bearing when I have the fuel tank off and I'm going to flush and fill the forks (or replace the seals and bushings etc.), then it's easier to take the bars off in mass and and put a big towel down to prop them on. You just have to be careful to keep the brake and when applicable, clutch fluid reservoirs vertical.  When I have the forks off I also I also clean and lube the wheel bearings et cetera et cetera

 When I replace the steering head bearings I also use a punch and I have a special tool I made to made to press in and seat the races.

 Yesterday I changed the oil and today I flushed and bled the brakes, so I'm ready now to put the tank on and check the throttle body sync and button everything up IF I don't flush and fill the forks beforehand. 

 A clean and well lubed machine is a happy machine!

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Changed them on my old FZ6, not too bad.  I used a long skinny punch from Harbor Freight to gently tap the old races out.  Hardest part is getting the new races in without getting them crooked, particularly the bottom.  Some folks make a tool to press them in but I didn't.  Slow with small taps and constantly work around the circle.  Bottom started going crooked but I quickly stopped and removed and started again.  Thanks to my grandfather and father I have a nice collection of machinist hammers ranging from tiny to BIG.  When I need to get a bigger hammer thats the one I reach for 🙂  Don't use it on bearings!  I use one of the smallest I've got and only after working around a couple of times if it's not moving do I move up in size.  Actually the hardest race was the bottom inner race.  Could not get under it to get it started moving.  So got the Dremel tool and VERY carefully cut the race - not not all the way thru just most of the way.  Then a small cold chisel and a good whack (still not using the BIG hammer) and it popped.  Leaving the chisel in place it lifted ou with no effort.  To install the new bottom inner race I used the old race as a driver and a piece of steel water pipe and carefully banged it into place.  Doesn't hurt to heat new race up to help it go on.

Not a difficult job for the average home mechanic.  If it's your first time make sure you have time to go slow and do it right.  On the FZ6 I used an AllBalls bearing set and it worked very nicely.  My 2004 FZ6 was missing grease and water had gotten in and the bearings had rust issues.  

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/2/2022 at 3:35 PM, piotrek said:

This is what I have on my 2015. There is a seal at each end. The lower seal (3FV-23462-00) is removable on its own.

assembly.thumb.jpg.d7b371332ce0305cc7025104a3680c47.jpg

thanks for the photo - with this in hand, i was able to locate the needed part

 

thanks

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  • 11 months later...

I inherited an enormous ugly copper headed hammer a while back, and it is the absolute cat's ass for installing bearing races. You can apply thunderous thwackitude without fear of marring the hardened steel races.

As for feeling a difference between balls and tapered bearings... well, maybe, if you replace them when the bike is new. I guess by the time I've replaced them, the lower race is always getting notchy and creating a problem, so the new tapered bearings are a huge improvement. 

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