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1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

germancarguy
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon May 09, 2022 9:28 am

1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by germancarguy »

I am upgrading my steering head from ball bearings to tapered roller bearings. While doing a dry run to verify fit I noticed the stem for the fork doesn't draw up enough to properly engage the "Steering head safety washer" for the damper. I verified both races bearings are seated. The ball bearing went all over the floor during disassembly, so I can't compare stack height.

Thanks
Paul
1962 R69s
2013 R1200GS

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schrader7032
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by schrader7032 »

The tapered roller bearings are a special size...Vech offered these through his site which are now at MaxBMW. Hopefully you are using the right bearings.
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.

germancarguy
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon May 09, 2022 9:28 am

Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by germancarguy »

I purchased the bearings from Max BMW, part number "31 42 2 000 000"
1962 R69s
2013 R1200GS

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vechorik1373
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by vechorik1373 »

A silly question, but:

You DID remove the lower ball race from the base of the steering stem, didn't you? If not, then that is why it appears not to fit.

I sold, and personally installed LOTS of the tapered 31 42 1 000 000 tapered bearings for over 20 years and I never encountered any problems with them. The only time a customer complained to me about them, was that he did not realize that there was a ball race at the bottom of the steering stem, (that he failed to remove) and he installed the tapered bearing on the stem, above that race, and that WAS the problem.
Vech
Technical Adviser, Former owner, Bench Mark Works
662 312 2838 cell 9 am to 4pm CST PLEASE!

germancarguy
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by germancarguy »

All the old ball bearing races were removed. I will get in there tomorrow and take another look.
1962 R69s
2013 R1200GS

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skychs
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by skychs »

I just replaced the ball bearings with tapered bearings in my R69S. No issues.
1966 R60/2, 1967 R69S, 1975 R90S, 2020 R1250GSA

germancarguy
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by germancarguy »

After taking it all apart and reassembling it, I found the "Adjusting Washer" was in the wrong location. It all looks good now, thanks for all the feed back

Paul
1962 R69s
2013 R1200GS

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skychs
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by skychs »

germancarguy wrote:
Fri Aug 05, 2022 3:31 pm
After taking it all apart and reassembling it, I found the "Adjusting Washer" was in the wrong location. It all looks good now, thanks for all the feed back

Paul
Exactly where did you put it? Just curious.
1966 R60/2, 1967 R69S, 1975 R90S, 2020 R1250GSA

germancarguy
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by germancarguy »

Below the Fork yoke
1962 R69s
2013 R1200GS

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wa1nca
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Re: 1965 R69s steering head tapered bearings

Post by wa1nca »

Tommy Byrnes
54 R51/3, 55 R50/Velorex 560 sidecar, 64 R27, 68 R69US, 75 R75/6
Ashfield, Ma
USA

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