Tapered roller steering head bearings

The bike is a 1980 Z1r D3 that is undergoing a complete restoration. The frame has been sand blasted and painted and new swingarm bearings installed. I have just completed the installation of tapered roller steering head bearings but have discovered two issues. The first is that the steering stem head nut only needs hand tightening before the steering gets tight. My workshop manual doesn't have a torque setting for this nut but to me it doesn't seem tight enough when the steering stem can be moved easily from side to side without binding. The other issue is that after installation of the top triple clamp, when I measure the distance between both triple clamps and then compare the measurement to that of the fork cover that sits between the top and bottom triple clamp there is about a 6mm difference - ie. the gap between the triple clamps is 6mm longer than the length of the fork cover. I'm not sure if this is correct, but again, it doesn't seem right. It looks as though the top triple clamp is not sitting low enough because the steering stem head nut is not going on far enough.
I have measured the bearings as best I can and they look to be correct (although measuring the thickness of bottom one is a bit hard due to the proximity of the grease seal) . Both top and bottom races were pressed in using threaded rod and appropriate sized washers and are seated correctly. In another post, someone experienced a similar issue on a 1975 Z1 (I think) and they ended up machining a few mil off the steering stem nut to fix it but I don't have that sort of equipment.
Has anyone experienced similar issues and is there a suitable fix? Thanks.

Sounds to me like you have not removed either the top or bottom stem half of the ball race cup from the stem. Consequently the taper bearing is not sitting up inside the stem properly.

The ball race cup was removed from the stem. It is like the bearings are too thick. The sizes I was supplied were 30 x 52 x 17 and 30 x 48 x 14. Does anyone know if these sizes are correct?

Ball race bearings have a upper and lower cup to a set. Are you sure you removed both halves to both sets of bearings. It is normally the half to the lower race which is up inside the frame head that gets over looked. The fact that your triple tree stem appears to be too short means that your taper bearings are not sitting correctly.
Does there appear to be a gap between the lower triple tree and the bottom of the frame head ? if there is then its the lower one which is wrong. If there isn't then it is the upper one which is wrong.
Either that or you have the wrong taper bearings.

This is how my KZ650 looked after removing the original ball races and installing the new upper and lower frame head tapered roller bearing races. Ed

Are you sure that both races are pushed all the way in? When I did mine last year I had real trouble getting the outer race of the lower stem to seat all the way in - I ended up pressing them in as best as I could, attaching the triple tree, heated up the steering stem with a heat gun and then tightening up the bolts to pull them into place.

I believe my bike took the same bearings as yours does (part no. 22-1014 from pyramid parts/all balls) and it's working fine. I didn't measure any lengths before or after, but it seemed to go together the same as it was.

I think I have solved the problem.
I rang the supplier of the bearings and he mentioned that there was a known problem with the bottom seal in that it was a bit too large to fit into the steering stem and was causing some binding when the triple tree was assembled. He recommended shaving off some of the outer rubber which I did. I also noticed that the seal wasn't centred quite correctly, so I eased the bearing up slightly, centred the seal and then pressed the bearing back down. When I assembled the upper and lower triple clamps and tightened the top bolt, I inserted one of the fork covers between the top and lower triple clamps and the fit was now almost perfect. The supplier now stocks Allballs bearings which have a better fitting bottom seal. Thanks to those who responded.
I still have one question though - does anyone know the torque setting for the steering stem head adjuster nut? My Clymer manual does not specify one.

I suggest you toss the Clymer manual in the trash can. Use the Kawasaki Service Manual instead. If you do not own one you may want to use the one at the KZRider link below. Take a look at Page 288 for the torque specs for the steering stem locknut and headbolt. Also see Page 286 for specific instructions. Ed

www.kzrider.com/modules/ServiceManuals/K...Service%20Manual.pdf

Thanks for the link. The Clymer was the best I could find but I thought there would be better ones out there. Thanks again.