The initial torque is 35-37 ft lbs. then it is backed off and tightened to 13 ft lbs. The top nut is just lightly touching the rubber spacer.

Just a little update....not intended to pick a fight.

I went and looked at the manual to see what kind of job I had in store, and it said that if the front end didn't pivot freely after bumping the end of the grip until it came to rest against the fork stop, then it was to tight. I gathered from that, that they don't expect it to stay put at the halfway mark.
They say that with the front wheel off the ground, and pointing straight ahead, you are supposed to bump the grip, and it should roll to the fork stop on the opposite side, without stopping.
I can't detect any play in mine up and down etc. when I had it up yesterday to put the Ride-On in the tires, so for now, I'll leave well enough alone. Drifter was talking about doing fork springs and oil this fall, so I may check it then, and repack the bearings at that time.


Opps Scott's on it... the second torque is 26 inch pounds.....edit correction 13 ft lbs........ after loosening the first nut one full turn, according to Clymers, and then compress the rubber washer with the locking nut after contact, until the lock washer fits the slots.

texasscott1 wrote:
The initial torque is 35-37 ft lbs. then it is backed off and tightened to 13 ft lbs. The top nut is just lightly touching the rubber spacer.

Thought I read tighten 37 ft lbs then back off to 2.2? Another one of those manual typos?

SKWEARpeg:

Which manual are you using? Can't find that anywhere in my Yamaha Service Manual.

Clymers 2nd edition, page 370.

The Clymers manual is incorrect. The 2.2 ft lbs (26.4 inch lbs) in the early service manual is also incorrect. The final torque is 13 ft lbs. Anyone with a 2008 and up manual will find the correct torque.

I brought this to Yamaha's attention but haven't seen an update yet.

Don't compress the rubber washer. Just run the nut down to it and if necessary turn it a little more to line up the grooves for the locking piece.

Mine also shows the 37/2.2. Guess It's up in the air. I'll keep on tightening them 'till I like 'em. I would never let one off the lift that fell stop to stop from neutral, but hey, that's just me I guess. That being said, never have lost a set of steering head bearings.

texasscott1 wrote:
The Clymers manual is incorrect. The 2.2 ft lbs (26.4 inch lbs) in the early service manual is also incorrect. The final torque is 13 ft lbs. Anyone with a 2008 and up manual will find the correct torque.

I brought this to Yamaha's attention but haven't seen an update yet.



Whoa!!Thanks Scott. I'll make a note. Thankyou sir


Just a quickie Scott....if its torqued to the 13 ft pounds, will it still freely fall to one side or the other from a stop at center when bumped, or does it stay put at any mid point like JD mentioned earlier on thread one or two???????

What else is wrong in my 2004 manual?

Just for clarity, I'm cool with manuals, but when my personal experience has shown that something works better even when it's not right by the book on my bike, I share.

My bikes all steer smooth as glass, with light effort, at speed or at a crawl. I check the flop cuz that's what I learned from old men, and when the front starts feeling loose to me, 10 times out of 10 it will flop. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused, but we did find out that there's "issues" with the maintenance bible, didn't we?