Still had to open and check the two steering bearings. I postponed this for a while because I didn't have a steering nut wrench. That's what I thought... When my pushbike had a flat tire last week I found a combination tool in it's toolkit, including a steering nut wrench :)
The job is pretty straight forward; carefully remove the steering nut while holding the under bracket which can start to drop down. There're two bearings, each existing of two races and 19 steel balls. Over the years the grease in the bearings can become old and hard giving wear and rust a chance.
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| 2 top races with 19 balls partly covered in old grease |
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| Lower race with 44 years old dried out grease |
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| Collecting the steel bearing balls with a magnet |
When I took of the ball race (bearing) cover 5 balls fell out and it took me a while to find them all..#@!<" Anyway I soaked them in old petrol for a while and cleaned the 4 races with wax and grease remover.
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| Cleaned race - Yamaha LS3 |
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| Steel race balls after cleaning -Yamaha LS3 |
After cleaning I filled the races with high temp bearing grease which I bought once for the rear wheel bearings of my Volvo 122S. All the 38 balls still look like new, no corrosion and no flat spots. Now it was a matter of simply pushing the balls in the grease filled races.
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| Fresh grease ready for the top race |
In the meanwhile the ball race cover and steering nut where nickel-plated for a bit over 3 hours.
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| Nickel plating the ball race cover and steering nut |
When finally tightening the steering nut after reassembly take care not to overtighten but make sure you got rid of any play. The steering rod must be able to move freely.
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| Steering head section Yamaha LS3 1972 |
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| Steering head section Yamaha after reassembly |
I also started the reassembly of the painted frame. Still a long way to go ;)
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| Reassembling frame - Middle and side stand - Yamaha LS3 |
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| Reassembling frame - using old shocker to keep it together |
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