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Number of balls in steering bearing

Gorankh

Gorankh

Well-known Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2020
Total Posts
66
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Location
Oslo, Norway
I counted 18 in bottom bearing and 17 in top bearing on a CB350K4. Is that correct?
 
There's nothing special about the balls - you can buy them at most hardware stores - I forget what size they are but they're common.
I wouldn't ride it till it got fixed.
 
tbpmusic said:
There's nothing special about the balls - you can buy them at most hardware stores - I forget what size they are but they're common.
I wouldn't ride it till it got fixed.
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They are size 1/4” and I see that easy to find
 
ancientdad said:
You would be better off using modern tapered bearings instead of balls and races, since the original parts are old and may have flat spots on them that lead to stiff feeling steering at low speeds. AllBalls and Rising Sun make bearing kits for your bike and you would never have to replace them again.

https://www.amazon.com/All-Balls-22-1011-Steering-Bearing/dp/B01BOZE064

https://www.amazon.com/Rising-Sun-Tapered-Steering-Bearing/dp/B07BGR2T5P
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I’m planning to do a bigger restoration some years from now. Will then probably change to tapered bearing. Till then I’ll keep the original bearings
 
Inspect the races carefully looking for odd marks. You can give them a shot of paint and after it dries run 2000+ grit sand paper or a pot scrubber over them, remaining paint shows the damage. Also inspect each ball for any damage. Better yet just replace all of the balls since you already have to go buy some.
 
Gorankh said:
I’m planning to do a bigger restoration some years from now. Will then probably change to tapered bearing. Till then I’ll keep the original bearings
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Completely understood. I'll say my peace and move along ;) The original ball bearing races are 50 years old or nearing it. Pitting from corrosion, riding with loose bearings, etc can cause small divets in the races that the balls can "catch" in. It usually happens when your going fast or hit a hole in the road when your least expecting it. This can induce a wobble that can cause you to crash. On a motorcycle I've been lucky enough to never experience this kind of crash, on a mountain bike with ball bearings, I met and unwillingly hugged a tree because of it.

My tip with a new bike is

replace Steering bearings with Tapered
Replace your wheel bearings
Replace your steel swing arm bushings with brass versions.
Consider new fork seals and at least change the oil ( I personally run 10 Wt BelRay, some like 15 wt)
 
I inspected bearing races and all the balls. Everything looked ok so I didn’t change to tapered bearings. Will however do it when I do the planned restoration. I did change fork seals and fork oil. The oil in one of the forks looked more like mud than oil, grey and thick, the volume must have been less than 100ml.
 
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