yamsrus
XS650 New Member
Hi can anyone tell me the size and quantity of the headrace bearings on a 1972 xs2 lost half of them in the dismantle TIA
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Head race bearings
- Thread starter yamsrus
- Start date
I agree with 5t. I’ve done several of the conversions and what a difference. If not I probably have a set of XS2 bearings I can send you.
38 in total. Pretty sure they are 1/4" Since you still have some, you can verify size on one of them.
yamsrus
XS650 New Member
Hi thanks for your reply allready fitted taper bearings not happy with the fit the top one sits proud of the head race by about 4mm every thing seated fine just wanted the option of going back with new ball bearings got a size of 6mm just needed the quantity the third reply gave me 38 cheers anyway
That's normal for tapered rollers. All I've done sit proud like that... and all I've done work just fine.
yamsrus
XS650 New Member
Thanks for all your replys
The only issue is the extra gap at the headlight ears that is easily cured by adding an o-ring
FWIW, I have decided that I prefer the OE ball bearings. Not that it’s a big deal, but it’s always easier to replace stock with stock. And the ball bearings are quicker. Mostly, I want to point out that the tapered roller bearings aren’t necessary. If your OE bearings are ruined, then tapered roller bearings are cheaper than OE.
I agree with Marty it's not a big deal. I'm not a good enough road rider to notice a difference between them.
Kinda like swingarm bushings if factory ones are tight they are just as good as aftermarket.
JJames
XS650 Addict
I built/rebuilt a few bicycles back in the day. I always noted big improvement just having ball bearings clean, properly lubed and adjusted. I'm sure the same is true with rollers.
The original ball bearings can suffer brinelling more readily than the tapered roller bearings do.
The tapered roller bearings are not immune to this, but it is not as common as with ball bearings.
I found the torque spec for the ball bearings in the FSM. Maintaining that will surely help. My side by side Specials, one with tapered roller bearings and the other with OE ball bearings feel different from one another. Both steer just fine. I definitely prefer the ball bearings.
This pic shows a “good” set of original 77 up ball bearing races.
Being a lathe machinist for many years, the races seem well designed and have an appealing shape to me.
If the original ball bearings were not ignored and were kept greased and set properly they feel just fine for everyday street riding.
Perhaps for track riding either dirt oval or road stronger tapered roller bearings would be beneficial is how I see this.
AUTOMAN
XS650 Addict
So I ask, what improvements are the taper v. ball in race if both new?
cliff
cliff
Longevity and durability. For a given diameter, rollers will have much more contact area than balls. With the load spread out over a greater area, wear will be substantially less.
They will also take a much larger loading because of the added contact area.
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My XS650SK was factory a equipped with ball bearings. They suffered brinelling. I probably didn’t take proper care of them. I replaced with tapered rollers.
My XS1100SG was factory equipped with tapered rollers. It weighs about 100 pounds more than the 650. It has a 500 lb load capacity and it’s a mile eater. I replaced those as well, but I don’t remember why.
The ball bearings offer less resistance in steering, so may be preferable in some applications.
I recently replaced brinelled tapered bearings in 2004 Kawasaki Concourse. So, they aren’t impervious to this damage.
As far as me and my XS650, If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They do require proper torque and fresh grease once in a while.
But yeah, what @Jim said.
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Yes, there's nothing wrong with the ball bearings if they're good. The problem is, I've never found any good ones on these old bikes, lol. Good ball bearings do give nice steering input and "feel", so much so that I read in some bike magazine that some of the newer sport bikes have gone back to using them.
AUTOMAN
XS650 Addict
Thanx to all for the replies.
cliff
cliff
