Triumphrat

blacktiger

Just changed my head bearings at 28600 miles. A fairly easy job on the 955i.

For information for those likely to do the job themselves at sometime. The bearings are :-
TOP, 6205DDUNR This is a ball race with a snap ring around the O.D. & 2xgrease seals.
BOTTOM, 32006JRRS This is a taper roller with a seal moulded onto the inner race that will seal into the headstock bore.

These bearings were availabe from a bearing specialist at prices 30% lower than Triumph wanted.....if they had them!
Take note before the thread is lost.

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H
'02 Tiger955i in black.

pigpen955

Excellent info but here is a naive question. Why did you replace them? Is it standard maintenace and I missed it or was there some symptom?

Fred

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No such thing as cold weather, just inappropriate clothing.

tango

A pity you hadn't taken a photo' of them and put it in the 'hints and tips album', that way it's permanent.

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davie.

I,ve got a mountain of dreams to climb.

Do unto others as they are doing unto you.

tcowjww

Just wondering how many other 955i owners have had their head bearings replaced, and at what kind of mileage?

Mine's on about 32000 at the moment (which included more motorway than I'd have liked) and has developed a bit of a tramline/shimmy/mind-of-its-own which I'm relatively confident is the head bearings. It's not any of the wheel bearings, and the suspension linkage is all within spec. And I really hope it's not the new tyres.

I've replaced head bearings on other bikes with *less* mileage than this so I'm happy to indulge it, but just thought I'd see what others' experiences are.

I also seem to have some tyre slime in the front tube too, which I need to get rid of ASAP.

Blacktiger, you mention that it was an easy job - was it just the usual of putting the new bearings in the freezer overnight so that they drop straight in? :wink:

Cheers,
Tim.

glgavin

I replaced the bearings on my 00 885fi at 60k miles or so. Since I purchased the bike used I don't know if they had been done before. It had 40k on it when I bought it. My 98 TBS, same bearings were replaced at 30k miles or so. IMHO Triumph and/or the dealers over tightens the bearings. I have 90k on the TBS and have not had to replace the bearings since I did the work.

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Gary
Oahu, Hawaii

TucsonBill

I replaced my 99's bearings at about 25k miles. There was a definite problem when I got the bike, I expect over-tightening might have been the cause. The top bearings had dented the races and you could feel the bearings move from dent to dent. This made for some nasty handling characteristics. I simply took the bearing dimensions to my local baering outfit and got matching sizes for lots less than Triumph wanted. I went ahead and replaced the top bearing with a roller set, the extra contact area should reduce wear in the future. I'm past 45k miles and all's well!

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William Fee
Iron Butt #26777
Tucson, Arizona

Sandgrounder

Glad you guys got over 20k before bearing failure: the head bearing on my 2003 955i failed at just under 13,000 miles.

My dealer phoned me today to inform me that the road test undertaken by the mechanic, who had just finished the 12k service for me, so scared him that he immediately returned to the workshop to give me the bad news. Total bill for this little lot will be £550 - ouch!

I don't doubt that there was a problem, the bike was getting increasingly difficult to turn into corners at low speed and so something was definitely wrong. However, I had checked for free play in the steering with the bike on the centre stand but found it to be rock solid. There was also no 'notchinness' in the steering. The dealer said that this wasn't uncommon and that bearing problems can only really be checked with the bike under load (ie. off the stand). All of which left me wondering why the service manual suggests doing free play checks: the only sure way to know it seems is to ride the bike and check out its behaviour.

I like my Tiger but the servicing costs are very high: I hear that BMW GSs are easier for the - anyone got any views on this?

marauder2

550 quid for head bearings and a 12k service....you were robbed,i put steeering head bearings in mine twice in 50,000 miles nad it cost my 12 quid each time,and a 12k service on the bike cost me 70 quid,genuine triumph oil,pattern filters (air and oil) shim check (made a tool to do it with) new iridium plugs and a few various bits.

Chocorello

I had them replaced at 20000 and they were very much damaged.

the cause was propably road conditions and SAE20 fork oil....

No I do not know how to wheelie...