Steering Stem Race/Bearing HELP. :)

I'm rebuilding my 82' KZ440 LTD and have recently replaced the steering stem bearings and races.
When reassembling, the manual simply said to make the lock nut "finger tight" and then it just moved on to tightening down the rest of the front end etc. The problem is.... i now have a bit of grease leaking out of the bottom race. I assume its either of 2 things:

1st: I just didn't tighten the stem lock nut enough. I cant find the info on how to tighten the lock nut to spec easily. I have the locknut wrench thingy that came in the factory (underseat) tool kit so needless to say, theres no way I could measure torque with it as far as i know. Any advice is appreciated.

2nd: And I hope this isn't the case...... Maybe I didn't get the lower race completely seated in the stem when I reinstalled it? I used a threaded rod, a nut, and some washers etc to do it. I had a really hard time getting it in there though and it would suuuuuck if I had to take the front end apart to do it again.

Ive attached a pic of the gap between the lower race, the bottom of the triple tree, and the stem. Does this look like a bigger gap then normal?

Thanks in advance y'all!!!

-Smallz

Looks normal.

Regarding how tight to make the steering stem, I grab the front brake and compress the suspension by pumping the front end. Slowly tighten down the adjuster nut until all the play is gone and then stop. With the front end off the ground the handlebars should flop to the side relatively easily. If it drags the bearings may be too tight.

You have to loosen the fork legs clamp screws from the upper triple before you tighten the steering stem bearings.
Otherwise you will put stress/tension to the upper neck bearing.
As Nessism said.

Slowly tighten down the adjuster nut until all the play is gone and then stop. With the front end off the ground the handlebars should flop to the side relatively easily.

Then tighten the big stem head bolt screw,(this will give an extra tension on the stem bearings),check swing to both sides goes easily again. If it drags, loosen the stem lock nut 1/8 turn back and try it again.

service manual



Michael

Ok cool thanks for this.
2 more questions I guess....

1. Is there a way to achieve the proper torque without that weird pusher type tool in the photo? It seems as if every little task requires the purchase of a new special tool ugh.

2. It says tighten it to “20kg” force. Isn’t that like 144 foot lbs? Seems really high to me. Not sure if it was a typo.

Thanks in advance!

Smallzphoto wrote: Ok cool thanks for this.
2 more questions I guess....

1. Is there a way to achieve the proper torque without that weird pusher type tool in the photo? It seems as if every little task requires the purchase of a new special tool ugh.

2. It says tighten it to “20kg” force. Isn’t that like 144 foot lbs? Seems really high to me. Not sure if it was a typo.

Thanks in advance!

144 foot pounds is WAY TOO HIGH! What manual says that? Notice in the image Scirocco posted above it shows the steering stem locknut should be tightened to 22 foot pounds. Ed

It says 20kg, but at 150mm, not a foot or a meter. I think that works out to about 21lb-ft.