Chief Gunner 2 Posted June 5, 2009 I started noticing some stiffness in the steering on my '06 XRL. I was planning on tearing down and re-packing the steering stem bearings to fix this issue and I suspected that the grease had all but dried up and worn out. I felt like I just had to share this with all the XR owners here. This mod can be done to many other bikes as well..... After doing some reading in this performance manual for dirtbikes I have. I found an article that was written by a guy who worked at Summers Racing (SRC) and it gave me some really usefull info on a "Must have" modification for all of Honda's Air cooled XR models that I am now going to do on my 2006 XR650L. Being Air cooled the XR's are subjected to allot more heat related issues than liquid cooled bikes because the downtube part of the frames on many of the XR models is used as the oil sump. So when the engine gets really hot, so does the oil and it leads to the breakdown of the grease in the steering stem bearings through heat transfer from the engine to the frame and then to the stem itself. It is this heat that causes the grease to melt and loose it's lubricating properties and it often results in the stiff steering that my bike is experiencing..... The fix is to disasemble the steering stem, clean up the bearings and internals of the stem and replace any excessively worn parts. Before re-assembly you drill 2 holes in the steering stem tube, with the top hole being 2 inches from the top of the stem and on the right side of the stem tube and the other 2 inches from the bottom of the stem on the left side of the stem tube and then tap them using a 6x1mm threaded tap (the zerks I bought have a 6x1mm thread pattern). Once the holes are drilled out and the metal shavings are thoughroughly cleaned out of the tube you install the Zerk fittings. Re-assemble the steering stem and now you can pump the steering stem full of high temp waterproof grease before or after each ride so the steering bearings are always coated with fresh grease....No more stiffness! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DigDug 0 Posted June 5, 2009 That's a good idea on the zerks... Another thing I learned (the hard way) on Mickey's bike about the steering stem: Many riders tuck the vent hose from their gas tank into the hole on top of the stem (motocross style). Well, gas does an excellent job of washing away grease... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 559 Posted June 5, 2009 That's a good idea on the zerks...Another thing I learned (the hard way) on Mickey's bike about the steering stem: Many riders tuck the vent hose from their gas tank into the hole on top of the stem (motocross style). Well, gas does an excellent job of washing away grease... What I did to my KLX to stop this problem was to tape those two holes shut that are on the stem. I don't know why they put a couple of holes in the middle of the steering stem. (I don't remember any of my other bikes having any holes in the stem wall.) Water gets in on the bearings when you ride in wet weather or wash the bike. Haven't had any problems at all since then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
forrest1 0 Posted June 6, 2009 That's a great idea! On my old XR600 (1990) the steering started sticking one time while I was riding. I gotta tell you, it's no fun to be sailing through woops and suddenly the bars won't turn...it was a looooong ride back to the truck. When I got home and took it apart, the stem bearings were rusty and pitted, both top and bottom. I had bought the bike used, so I chalked it up to previous use and abuse, but what you say makes sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
