Springer forks

[dlabkeeg]

Just bought a 78. Came with a DNA springer, but the races and bearings don't meet up. It turns really rough. Need to fix before warm weather comes back. Anyone know any tips?

[Travis]

I've read a couple different places that you can use the races from the XS650 tapered bearing kit that all the XS650 sites sell, but don't use the bearings that come with it. Use 1" ID Harley bearings instead..

By the way, Welcome to the site! Have any pictures of the 78?

[dlabkeeg]

Thanks, the guy I bought it from must have put in Harley races. As far as pics, soon. Looks pretty empty right now. After I get it a little more put togther, I'll take a few and send them in.

[Travis]

Who know's what he did... Better to just rip it apart and find out.. Hope that method I posted earlier works for you. It was just something I've read so if you buy the parts, take a good look at them and make sure that solution seems logical before you go with it.

[yamchop]

i read u dont need to buy the harley ones just get 1" bearings from your local trailer parts store

[Travis]

Found this on Harley forum:

The bearings in the neck are tapered timkin bearings identicle to bearings in the hubs of all trailers

Don't know how reliable the source is though.

[crash]

trailer bearings will work just fine

[angus67]

ALLtrailer bearings? Hmmm...something don't seem right there.
but trailer bearings are cheep, but please make absolutely sure its all good before blasting down the highway.
Don't forget, and many people do, that information passed in a forum setting should be regarded as suggestions and not factual.
Please do your homework here.

[Travis]

Good advice! I agree 100%. "I heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy that read it on the internet" haha.. You know someone someday will be quoting this thread saying they read on the internet that trailer bearings will work for Harley head bearings.

Anyway, I don't think they mean all trailer bearings. There are a lot of sizes of trailer wheel bearings. The ones you'd want to take a look at are 1" I.D. tapered bearing like this


I would just make sure that the taper of the bearing matches the taper of the xs650 races and that it fits on the stem properly and you should be good to go.

[crash]

Dont get me wrong I would NEVER say use them on a daily rider ,but i have them on my week end bar hopper .

[Travis]

As long as they fit properly and work fine on a weekend bar hopper, and can hold up to the abuse of a trailer wheel spinning at 1500 rpm, I'd use them on a daily rider no problem.

[ardcorechoppers]

There is one thing that is never mentioned on any of theses springer threads and that is you have to modify the stem nut...unless you don't mind running it with 2 threads..

[Travis]

That doesn't sound good! So can you confirm the the Harley bearings will work with the XS650 tapered races?

[loslope]

So then, for the complete novice (read: ME) will a late model sportster triple tree work in the same manner on an '81 650? Does anyone know, before I shell out the dough, if the downtubes on a 650 will fit a Sporty triple tree? Thanks very much!
J

[bigpup]

Originally Posted by angus67

ALLtrailer bearings? Hmmm...something don't seem right there.
but trailer bearings are cheep, but please make absolutely sure its all good before blasting down the highway.
Don't forget, and many people do, that information passed in a forum setting should be regarded as suggestions and not factual.
Please do your homework here.

Don't take this the wrong way, but where do you think harley gets it's bearings from? The same place the national bearing supply chains get there's from. If it makes you feel better to spend 100 bucks on the same bearing you can get for 10 bucks then by all means get the 100 dollar one. The same is true with Polaris, when i was in school we ordered a ton of parts for different engines that we worked on, and guess where we went for bearings, NOT Polaris we went to the local National bushing supply store and ordered the same bearing polaris uses for only 6 bucks. The manufactures triple the prices on everything they sell, the same is at auto dealers, buyer beware and do your research. But just know you will be safe buying a timken bearing, it's the exact same as harley's.

[Visegrippe]

yeah, timken bearings are pretty good, and anyways, if you have the bearing part number, odds are you'll find several manufacturers offering them.

remember that when you buy spares very little is the actual cost of the part, you've got the cuts from the various points on the supply chain, you've got all your marketing and overhead factored in, too, even the cost of the guy to do the paperwork (and paperwork is expensive), buying from the manufacturer (or their distributor), cuts all that out. (well, many layers of it).

[dlabkeeg]

Got it all worked out. Shaved a little off the bottom of the head(3/32"). Flipped half of the old bearing, used it as a spacer. Used Harley bearings that I had. Smooth as silk. Do I need to pack those bearings, or just some light oil. I still have to figure out some kind of dust shield, top and bottom.

[inxs]

- pack them-theres no constant flow of lubricant through them...cant help with the dust shields

[Allegro40]

Originally Posted by bigpup

Don't take this the wrong way, but where do you think harley gets it's bearings from? The same place the national bearing supply chains get there's from. If it makes you feel better to spend 100 bucks on the same bearing you can get for 10 bucks then by all means get the 100 dollar one. The same is true with Polaris, when i was in school we ordered a ton of parts for different engines that we worked on, and guess where we went for bearings, NOT Polaris we went to the local National bushing supply store and ordered the same bearing polaris uses for only 6 bucks. The manufactures triple the prices on everything they sell, the same is at auto dealers, buyer beware and do your research. But just know you will be safe buying a timken bearing, it's the exact same as harley's.

so you are saying the HD front ends are comparable with the xs neck by just using different bearings?

[dlabkeeg]

Allegro40, having just went though this whole mess, I can tell you the OD is the same(at least the races), ID is a just a hair larger on the HD bearings. HD bearings do fit in the head, but would be loose on the XS stem(just barely, but wouldn't be a good idea). They make a tapered replacement bearing for the XS650. I got a set on eBay, for my next XS.