Hello guys,
I recently had my Bike serviced at the SVC. Before the service, my bike would turn completely perfect. Now, it pulls to one side. This morning when I showed the incharge the bike, he said that the "bearing" has to be replaced. Quoted ₹3800 for the bearing, and total of ₹4200 including labour. I'm just surprised as to how the bearing got damaged only after the service. I had told a mechanic to ride the bike because there was spark plug cap trouble and he had to warm the engine.

Bike has completed 12k on the odo. And exactly 2 years this September.
Does the bearing need to be replaced every 12k Kms? Can it be ok after lubrication. It's very difficult to ride like this.

Most importantly, CAN THIS OCCUR DUE TO OVER-TIGHTENING OF THE BEARING BY THE MECHANIC?

Thank you.

Bearing for Rs. 3800 which bearing is he talking about? Check the alignment of wheels. Overtightening of forks can lead to such an issue.

Hello guys,

I just saw the manual mentioning to lubricate the steering bearing with grease every 12k Kms. Does this job need completely taking apart the handle bar assembly?

In the above post I mentioned the problems about handlebar pulling to one side. Can someone please guide whether to replace the bearing, which costs ₹4200 total, or simple have them greased. Which I'm guessing will cost labour of ₹400.

The SVC incharge said they have to be replaced. Also, any local mechanics that would do the greasing job in Thane?

Thank you

My friends R15's handle bar is also quite tight and is not free at all.
I have suggested him to get the bearing nut loosened a bit to let it free to rotate.

Thank you. My handle bar seem to be loose at certain places, and tight at one side, right side. The incharge said that the bearings have to be replaced. I'll have a local mechanic check it. Do let us know if loosening the bearing nut helps your friends bike.
Thanks

If you have the main stand attached to your bike, then you can ask someone to put some weight on the rear seat
This will lift the front wheel up.
Now you can move the handle and see if it moves freely, like how to front tyre would rotate.
If it is tight, it will not move freely and get stuck halfway.

If the bearing is bad, then it will move in steps telling you that there is a dent in the inner ring of the bearing assembly.

Potholes can damage the bearing if you go through them at high speed, willingly or by mistake.

something's happened to my bike's front end recently (about 100 kms ago)...at extremely low speeds the handle/front-end feels abnormal in the sense that it's kinda unstable/wobbly...the handle rotation is not uniform and smooth at all angles...initially i thought it was just in my head but this time it isn't..i have checked it a million times and almost every time at low speeds it's behaving like that...not really happening at high speeds so far...i dont exactly know how to describe but it's like when a bicycle's or scooty's front tyre is punctured so if you still ride it the front would feel non-uniform and the handle has a non-uniform and unsmooth feeling/rotation...it's kinda like that except it's not feeling like that continously, but comes and goes...it's the kind of stuff that's making the bike a little bit nervous when turned at slow speeds but not just at turning, even when i am going straight it's being felt..

i checked the tyre pressure thinking perhaps somehow it has gone too low (although in that case at higher speeds also front would behaved a bit abnormally) but it was alright...maybe a huge puncture has happened but havent checked it yet, but again if it's due to puncture then why is it not felt at higher speeds ? maybe wheel not aligned all of a sudden but again that should also be felt at higher speeds...god knows what it must be that manifests itself only at low speeds..and whatever it is it has happened sometime less than 100kms ago out of nothing.

anyone any ideas what must be wrong ? coneset damaged maybe or what (but isnt that also something that would have been felt at higher speeds too)?

my bike's 6th service is due in a couple of days and i will probably go to svc on wednesday but i dont know how to explain them, particularly because as we all know they dont like to open the bike up unless something explicit is pointed out....they also said there was no need to keep the bike at svc overnight and work the tappets the next morning, because it can be done the same day without having to wait a bunch of hours to cool the engine down, apparently that's not needed and that it gets cold enough during the time it takes to open things up to expose the engine...i can just hope they aren't just being lazy about it.

edit - just occurred to me a better analogy than previously written above to describe whats happening in my bike's front...imagine hanging a heavy polybag containing various things on one of the sides of the handlebar, as everyone must have done on their cycles or scooters or bikes many times in their lives...the new and uneven weight so away from the centre of mass due to that extra load (which also keeps on moving like a random pendulum once the vehicle is in motion) then makes the handlebar non-uniform in feel and rotation and one feels fluctuating forces at the front every now and again, more so at lower speeds (because the lower momentum makes it more prone to getting disturbed by any disturbances)...same also happens if on both sides of the handle one has hung 2 polybags/etc weighing enough to uneven-out the whole setup...that's what i am feeling from my front at low speeds..and as i said, it's not continuous (that is, not happening through out the duration it's in some low speed range), it comes and goes but still regular enough...

any ideas as to what exactly could be the issue will be helpful...sorry for the long post, that's what happens when one doesnt know the exact problem and has to describe too generally using analogies.

Hey bro,

Exact same thing has happened to my bike since the last one week. Googled and found your post. This morning, the SVC incharge said that the steering bearing is damaged. (Also called ball racer, inner t-racer) Can you please tell me if replacing that solved the problem completely?

I too checked the tire pressure suspecting the same. The bike does wobble for me to at low speeds. And it's scary.
Can you please let me know the cost of the whole job? And can only greasing solve the problem, as apposed to replacing the steering not bearing? The manual suggests greasing the bearing at 12k Kms.
The SVC quoted me ₹3800 for part and ₹4200 including labour.

Thanks.

I'm 6ft3 and after long rides I started getting lower back aches. Change the steering rod. Ask SVC guys to show you the damage. See if there is some twist on the rod. It could just be a misalignment. Did you drop the bike?

I had an accident like 10 months ago, i don't really remember that it was there before fall or after, as the svc guy is also saying that a fall could've cause this but on the other hand i had my bike insured so why didn't they checked that out when inspection of damage was undergoing?

I will look it out on the upcoming service, on the other hand how much does the rod costs?

If you had to point out that there is a misalignment in the handlebar, it's pretty obvious they didn't really take the insurance inspection very seriously. :P

I didn't replace it, he set it up, it was just out of alignment. So cannot help you with the price. Sorry!

Haha, i totally mis-read your reply.
Anyway i will check this out soon..!

How much does front brake pads last? I know it depends on how you ride,etc.. But what is the average life span?