I removed the front forks to install gaiters. All seemed right. It has ridden fine. But when attempting to install the forks I notice the upper tree  now has much play in it. I can rock the handlebars and see a gap between the center post nut and the large adjusting knurled ring.
Is this normal? Did I dislodge something? Everything moved smoothly a prior to disassembly, so I'm not suspecting
a bearing issue. I was expecting everything to stay neatly in place, but that is not the case.
What say you?


1985 K100

most of the handle bar brackets are rubber mounted into the top assembly

When you installed the gaiters, did you drop one fork at a time or both together?

Did you touch the upper triple tee in any way other than to loosen the upper fork tube clamping bolts?

It is not just the handlebars that have play in them, it is the whole upper tree.

I removed both forks together. At first the triple trees  seemed intact, but I did bump the upper trees as I was trying to align the forks to get them back up through the clamps.
This play is there without the forks reinstalled. Reinstalling may very well get rid of the play, but I wanted to see if this suggest a problem before I reinstall them.
It is almost like they have come unseated, which would normally not concerm me, but I was under the impression that this whole unit from the handlebars to the lower treees should remain tightly intact.

I would expect it to be down firm against the top bearing. I would suggest you reinstall the forks and then slack the top triple clamp bolts back off and see if the clamp will go down without any real force and then set the forks into the right place which is the lower edge of the cap at the top of the clamp.

There may be an adjuster nut on the top of the triple tree just above the stem. If that is too loose, you'll get play in the tree.  Other possibility is that the bearings are starting to wear and the load from the forks hides the play.

Agree with Keith.  The knurled nut adjusts the preload on the head bearings and this should be adjusted to have the forks gently settle to either side when first positioned in the center of its movement.  It should neither drop quickly (bearings too loose) nor have a need to be pushed (too tight).  Once the knurled nut is adjusted, the upper triple tree will closely fit around the top of the knurled nut and the adjuster nut is torqued down to secure the adjustment.  

When I add/remove my gaiters, I do so one fork at a time.  It's my preference.  I feel it helps to maintain alignment but that might be just my imagination.  I use the axle to realign the loose fork when reattaching the stanchion.

Thanks for the feedback. As all of your responses suggested that it was not a normal situation I did further investigation.
What I found was that the nut above the top yoke was extremely loose. But, with the locking nut and brake line bolt above, it didn't appear loose until the parts were separated. The play was able to rock and twist the upper yoke and handlebars all over the place.
The interesting thing is that the bike handled pretty well,( although new to me and I haven't taken long rides.) Apparently the solid lower yoke was able to stabilize everything. I would have never guessed that the nut could be that loose and yet not be readily obvious.
Looks like I need to check the situation on my 87.