Front fork bearings

[ChrisTheChippy]

Hi felt guilty about hijacking the thread in the help section so I've moved over here . An update as promised . as I had to give the frame a thorough clean for repainting I degreased all the bearing areas and as I thought the top bearing race in the bottom of the frame is missing. There are witness marks in the groove where the ball bearings have been running .
The manual just says fit the bearings and races packed in grease . I guess this just assumes that you would have 2 sets of races and 2 sets of ball bearings.
Anyway another thing to add to the list of spare parts required.
I wasn't going to strip this bike and if the frame hadn't been in a bit of a state I would have just done a light recommision and ridden it.
I'm glad I decided to go through it now !

[SPRIDDLER]

Deleted.
I seem to be getting too old to follow the plot.

[Reynard24]

Only 2 races (top and bottom) for the frame required - part 000806. Steering stem bottom race is 000805 and handlebar lug top race is 012620.

[Duncan]

Any chance of a picture Chris?
If the race was omitted something else will probably be missing to make the headlamp ears fit in the slightly smaller space.

[ChrisTheChippy]

Getting slightly confused now. When you say only 2 races required do you mean 2pairs ? Ie top and bottom half to make one pair in each section of the frame?
Sorry Duncan I'm not the best at this computer lark so find it hard to post a picture at least without the aid of one of the kids and they are all out partying ! Oh to be 18 again .
However I take your point about the ears not fitting correctly unfortunately I have completely stripped the frame now but I checked the diagram in the manual and all the bits seem to be there .
If the races are in pairs it's just one half of a pair missing in top of the bottom of the frame if that makes sense. The other half rests atop of the forks
This is better than a quiz spriddler.

[ChrisTheChippy]

OK having reread your post James I think I get it now.
If I'm getting it correctly I am missing one half of one race ie part number 000806 x 1 frame race ?
Sorry to be thick but never overhauled the forks before.
It's always the little bits and pieces that get you.

[Reynard24]

Yes Chris, the frame uses the 000806 races top and bottom and the other half of each of these is made up by 000805 on the steering stem and 012620 on the handlebar lug, so you are missing 1x 000806 from the frame.
The bodgery that some people (usually a “retired engineer!”) are prepared to pass off on to an unsuspecting purchaser never ceases to amaze me. I know the phrase “caveat emptor” should always be borne in mind but it would seem, that for some people, the pursuit of cash overrides everything particularly the safety of subsequent owners.

[clive]

Seems very unlikely to me that the bearing is missing, as Duncan says this would introduce problems with the headlight ears although bits could be left out. However I am struggling to understand how the small ball bearings could be held in place by the rather large cup of the frame if there was no bearing in it. In the thread you originally hi jacked Rob suggested that he had seen, (and others have suggested on the forum) a "fix" for a loose bearing in the cup is to glue it in place. Are you sure this is not what has been done? If the bearing slops about in the cup the steering can be a bit wobbly, I think this may be the problem on one of my bikes which has been retired to the back of the garage since the IJR in Portugal. Quite likely to use the JB weld as a solution but it's ok as I am not a retired engineer.

[ajsph]

here are 2 pictures of the parts one with parts for the lower yoke and one with the parts for upper yoke
regards Poul

20221224_121702.jpg

20221224_121556.jpg

[ChrisTheChippy]

Thanks all for your contributions to this thread . I fully understand what parts are required and what I am looking at now.
Just to answer your point clive . I did take robs advice on board and went back and had a thorough look at the frame after degreasing it ready for painting . He suggested that the race may be in there and maybe stuck in by someone in the past but unfortunately that was not the case and there are witness marks where the ball bearings have been running directly in the frame. As you rightly pointed out this probably made the steering a bit wobbly but as this is a project and I haven't ever ridden the bike let alone heard it run I can't comment on this . My aim is just to over haul and fix any problems I spot. Bike has been standing since 1974 . If I dont know something or I'm not sure I will definitely ask . Hope to have this running by the spring and if possible ready for next jampot rally. Kent is not too far.
Have a happy Xmas everyone and happy fettling to you all.