scot taco Posted February 10, 2013 Report Share Posted February 10, 2013 I took the front end on the TY apart to clean and grease and I,m having some trouble reassembling it.I tighten the spanner nut on the steering stem just enough to feel no back and forth movement.Then I tighten the bolt on top of the top triple clamp that threads into the stem and it tightens up to where it will not turn freely.I tried to just snug the top bolt and it still does it.If I back off the stem spanner nut enough that it doesn,t bind then I have back and forth movement.What am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony283 Posted February 10, 2013 Report Share Posted February 10, 2013 Doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong, perhaps more a lack of experience or "feel". Assuming you cleaned the balls and cups from all the dead grease and then regreased and put 19 balls in the lower and 22 in the top then you are heading in the right direction. Tighten down the stem nut with either a C spanner or light hammer and punch and now turn the lower yoke back and forth a few times to feel the tension. It will tend to bind on the full locks and may feel a bit "gritty" if you are using the old balls. Fit the upper yoke and stem bolt and now line up the yokes and fit the forks. I would fit the wheel and brake cable and now give it a few turns left and right on full lock. It will be slightly tighter at the full lock position. Test the fore and aft movement by applying the front brake with the bike off the stand and adjust the C nut if required. Tighten down the stem nut and then the rear horizontal bolt when its lined up. Most likely you will need to adjust this all again as the grease squeezes out and beds in the balls Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scot taco Posted February 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Thanks Tony,I,ve been admiring your Yamahas on your Blackcat site for quite a while.Your make over on Super Glitz turned out great! I haven,t been able to get back out in the garage today,but hope to tomorrow.I just didn,t understand how it turned fine until I tightend that top clamp bolt into the stem.I would think that all that would do is tighten the top clamp against the stem nut and shouldn,t be able to cause the whole works to get tight.How tight do you get that top clamp bolt? I will take it back apart tomorrow to double check the balls and races.I did not pay attention to how many went top and bottom so I may have that screwed up.Thanks for that heads up.Keep up the good work with ITSA,sounds like and looks like you have started up a nice series out there. Cheers, Scot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 The reason it gets tighter when you fit the top bolt is that there is a small amount of axial clearance in the threads of the stem and the castellated nut, so when you tighten the top bolt, the castellated nut moves downwards slightly, which tightens the clearance on the ball races. I find I have to set the castellated nut slightly loose so that when I tighten the top bolt it ends up perfect. Sometimes it takes a couple of goes to get it right. I suggest you leave the stem clamp bolt and the tube clamp bolts on the top triple clamp loose until you have got the top bolt tight and the castellated nut set in the right spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old trials fanatic Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 I was wondering what the hell a "triple tree" was? I assume you mean fork yokes ? dont get where the triple or even tree comes into it but interesting problem now i know what you're on about. Never had the problem myself but please keep us posted as to the outcome. What with triple trees and perches, allegedly the part of a brake or clutch lever that clamps to the handlebar, LOL you colonials are so funny (only joking guys). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scot taco Posted February 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 That,s funny OTF,LOL.I guess I,m not sure where I got the termm "triple trees",but now that you have me thinking about it,that term really makes no sense.I can see "triple clamps" but I don,t know where the "tree" part would come in. I did what feetupfun suggested and got it to work acceptably,but not slick.I decided to take it all apart again to re-clean and inspect more thoroughly.There were 23 balls on top,not 22 as Tony said there should be so maybe that was causing it to bind a little.The balls are in good shape (always a good thing!) and appear to maybe be new so maybe the guy I bought it from added one too many. The other problem I see is the very top race is pitted from what was probably rust.It,s only about a quarter or so of it,but maybe enough to cause it to feel a bit rough.I,m going to polish on it and will report back after it,s back together. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 That,s funny OTF,LOL.I guess I,m not sure where I got the termm "triple trees",but now that you have me thinking about it,that term really makes no sense.I can see "triple clamps" but I don,t know where the "tree" part would come in. I did what feetupfun suggested and got it to work acceptably,but not slick.I decided to take it all apart again to re-clean and inspect more thoroughly.There were 23 balls on top,not 22 as Tony said there should be so maybe that was causing it to bind a little.The balls are in good shape (always a good thing!) and appear to maybe be new so maybe the guy I bought it from added one too many. The other problem I see is the very top race is pitted from what was probably rust.It,s only about a quarter or so of it,but maybe enough to cause it to feel a bit rough.I,m going to polish on it and will report back after it,s back together. Roughness of the race will definitely cause you grief. I hope you know for about $50 you can buy a full set of tapered needle roller bearings, or if you are an originality-is-important type person, you can still buy the standard Yamaha races and use loose balls for about $80. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 I was wondering what the hell a "triple tree" was? I assume you mean fork yokes ? dont get where the triple or even tree comes into it but interesting problem now i know what you're on about. Never had the problem myself but please keep us posted as to the outcome. What with triple trees and perches, allegedly the part of a brake or clutch lever that clamps to the handlebar, LOL you colonials are so funny (only joking guys). Despite being a colonial, I don't know where the term "triple trees" comes from. I call them "triple clamps" because each "yoke" has three clamps (for clamping the two fork tubes and the one steering stem) I find the alternate spelling often used for "yokes" quite amusing ("yolks") 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 I just thought of something else. Some people just call them "triples", which can get mixed up with another "triples" (three jumps in a row on an MX track) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy53 Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Triple tee's is also use by '' colonial '' OTF, if only you knew half the terms we use in the '' New World '' Guy :hyper: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2stroke4stroke Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Triple clamp was in use to describe a yoke decades ago in the American magazines (come back Cycle and Motorcyclist, where are you now) and I always thought the trees bit was used to describe the combination of top and bottom yokes together with the spindle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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