Went for a ride the other night 40 degrees. I thought my front tire pressure was low.. at low speed turns the bike kinda stuck as I changed lanes and turned........ I have put 600 miles and this was the first time,it occured.

!. Was it the cold?
2. Grease in bearings getting old?

there is no play at all so before I drop forks and replace tapered bearing I am going to ride it awhile. just wondered if anyone experienced this GLICH? I took it opn a 240 mile trip a few weeks ago and no problems....It was sitting for two weeks while I waited for the thermostat and cooling system flushed.


It is what it is...........25 year old Beemer. I may have some more wrenching to do.





Sprocket.
Ohio

Centre stand the bike. Face the bike from the front end and grab the bottom of each fork leg. Determine if there is any fore and aft play apparent. If it feels 'tight' then move the 'bars in their full arc from left to right and get a feel for the appropriate amount of resistance. As the bearing grease tends to just sit in a limited place since these bearings aren't intended to spin like a wheel bearing or even move a fair bit as a swingarm bearing would, when I get home from a ride and park the motorbike I move the 'bars from stop to stop a few times in the hope that the grease spreads round a bit more than it would normally.

My various bike's steering head bearings last a fair while using this technique.

If they're done they're done, but being the cheap bastard I am I have dropped a few sets of triple clamps over the years and carefully cleaned and re-greased old bearings with good result.

I got exactly the same problem when I bought my K100.
The old 25 years old grease had turned into a sticky varnish.
The solution: spray WD40 into the bearing. The WD40 will "soften" the old dried grease.
This is a temporary fix as you will have to remove the steering head to clean the bearing.

had exactly the same thing on mine
the bike felt 'drunk' at low speed (it lives outdoors all year round)
and followed the above advice

How do you get the W-d 40 inthe bearings......I know it may be a silly question????????? I,m just about ready to tear the damn thing apart. Yeah it acts like its DRUNK..


Sprocket

Just take the spray can with the small plastic tub and try to shoot at the bearings when turning the steering. They are tapered rollers bearings, and if you spray generously, some will enter between the races and the rollers.
It is important to keep moving the forks otherwise the WD40 will drip and won't have any effect. The adjusting nut #7 is acting as a cap to protect the bearing from dirt. You have to spray upward from the bottom of the cap.
As the cap is adjusting the play by pushing on the inner race, there is a gap between the outer race and the cap. This is where you have to spray.
If I remember correctly, the bottom bearing is easier to spray.



If you are not successful this way, you may have to partially remove the upper tee in order to loosen the adjusting nut #7 . The only problem is that you will have to bleed your front brakes as the line goes into the steering column.

Personally I don't rate WD 40 for anything more than dewatering spark plug caps. I would use spray chain lube as that has some real lubricant in it whilst the amount of lubricant in WD 40 is negligible considering the application for ball bearing duty.
Regards,
K-BIKE

K-Bike,

I think you missed the point.
The use of WD40 is not so much to lubricate, but to soften the old grease.
From personal experience, I know that it works for this application.
After the old dried grease has been dissolved, yes spray chain lube can be used.

Ok Gents:

Injected a little "Blaster" into Steering head..
Once again I used the hair dryer ,that I gave my wife for Christmas(she doesn't know,and I don't care).

Concentrated heat and then things went better ,the ride and 7o plus weather.The sticking hasn't returned.... Its in the 50's now and just got back all is still well.

If this does it again I an yanking and fixing right....
Hosestly I think there was a dried Bugger of Grease in there causing the havoc.....

I like things done right so ,it may reappear/it may not.

Again thanks for advise and input.

Sprocket.


NOTE: Hairdryer heat is around 126 degrees I would think...
I would never consider a torch or anything close....I have however used hairdryers in the past with good sucess.

Sproket,

First, you have found the problem and know what has to be done.

This 'repair' is temporary as eventually you will have to put the triple tee apart, clean the bearings and properly repack them.
As no new parts will be required (no sticking after this cleaning proves that the bearings are in decent shape), this gives you some time to plan the job on a rainy day keeping your bike on the road for the time being.

The job could be done in a couple of hours but as you will have to remove the brake line (between the master cylinder and the upper tee) it could be a good opportunity to totally drain the brake fluid and put the calipers apart for a cleanup and fluid replacement.
Ned just posted an excellent explanation of the procedure. This was for the back caliper, but the front are exactly the same.
If you decide to do the brake job at the same time, have the O rings in hand (see Ned's article in the tutorial section).
You should also have a new gasket ring #3 (aluminum ring if I remember) on hand. (BMW part # is 07 11 9 963 072).
Washer #4 is not installed on the K100rt
The job could be done without removing the fairing but you should plan a full day.

Bleeding the brakes:
What I found and may help people:
I am using a syringe and fill up the calipers before re-installing them on the bike (the caliper's pistons being pushed in).
I then reinstall the brake lines but don't connect them to the master cylinder. With the same syringe (I have a small piece of hose between the syringe and the bleed screw), I am pushing more fluid into the system until it start to flow at the highest point on the system.
I do this from both calipers. The goal is to fill up the system leaving an opening for the air to escape.
I then reconnect the hose to the master cylinder, fill it up then start pumping to bleed the brakes. At this time I am good for 1 of 2 cold ones. When I come back an hour later, all the air will have risen to the master cylinder and when gently and slowly pumping I can see all the tiny little air bubbles coming in the reservoir.

As always when working with brake fluid, be careful not to have any leaks onto the painted parts (fairing and tank). The brake fluid will dissolve the paint



Sproket, I got a bit confused when looking at your profile and seeing your bike as a R100rt. when reading your original post, I found that you were waiting for a thermostat which doesn't exist on a R100 . This procedure and schematics are for K bikes as i think the R bike has bushing in stead of bearings.

Thanks for the info Crazy Frog.
I`ve dreaded this job but it will have to be done.
The 22 years old grease will have to be renewed even if I don`t have a problem with it at this moment.
Cheers,Wikur!

I appreciate the suggestion of the WD 40 was to dissolve the grease but the WD 40 has little lubrication ability whereas the chain lubricant aerosol has the same solvent fluidity and grease dissolving ability PLUS good lubricant left behind if the dried up and then softened grease has been displaced out of the bearing. If we are moving on to brake pipe re-build and brake fluid I strongly recommend a bucket of clean water is kept on hand with a good cloth in it so one can immediately swamp any spilled brake fluid with the wet rag and wash away the liquid before it attacks. That is absolutely essential if you use a pressure bleeder as I had one of them leak once with copious quantities of brake fluid squirted everywhere. The bucket of water saved the paint.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Can anyone point me to a place to but stearing bearings for an 84 K100RS please?

Look at Motobins or Motorworks