Front end issues

[air]

This is more confirmation than a question.
Ropey cornering on the rvf, checked the front wheel and with the forks stationary theres a small left-right movement, wheel bearings finished?, i'm assuming this is it.

Also, tightened the head bearings to get rid of chatter through the bars, moving the front end with the wheel off the ground gives a notch feeling when the wheel is facing dead straight, worn rusted bearings or just over-tightened?
(The chatter went away by the way)

Cornering seems uneasy or unstable. I'll be changing the wheel bearings when i get a chance, anyone have an opinions on the head bearings?
thanks

[CMSMJ1]

Wheel bearings sound dead...

Head bearings sound dead too - have you tried to regrease them and torque them to the right settings?

If it was over tight it would rotate througyh it's motion like a body popper - click click click all the way round and not be smooth. If yours is notchy dead ahead only then seems like you need to get the bearings out, clean and grease them and see if moving them in the headstock removes the notch. It may give you a few months more of riding before an MOT guy fails you for it...

[monkeywithaplan]

had new head bearings in late last year. some nice taper roller ones. have had to retighten them twice since and on the third yesterday, i had to strip the whole front end as i couldnt get rid of a damned tiny knock at low speeds/minimal braking. turned out they were as new, just a clean and regrease, and to sort the whole front end again. still there, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. tightened the crap outta it, helped a bit, but it still happens

lession for me, use standard roller bearings, not worth the hastle.

you can get front wheel bearings dirt cheap off the bay, just do a search for 6004-2rs c3 . size 20x42x12. they are pennies

[1990nc30]

I have a front end knocking noise that just doesn't go away. I think it is the pads rattling about because when i break the knocking goes away, but then i get a juddery feeling when i hit the breaks, like my disk is maybe a bit warped or something. I just haven't got the know how to take the front end apart and experimrnt with it
I did tighten my head bearings up yesterday though and i have to say the cornering is sublime and pretty much feels alot sturdier all round! :D

[air]

What was bothering me was moving the headstock from lock to lock was smooth and silky despite that notch in the center (which other people maintain isn't there....)
I have spares for all the bearings so thats no issue. I have bugger all time to actually do the work and less still to ride the bike, thats the problem.
I'll put in new wheel bearings over this weekend and give that a shot, i may grease up the head stock if i have time.
As for the MOT, one of the few bonuses of living in the south of ireland, theres no MOT for bikes. You can drive around on a bike that sounds like its either very powerful or very broken and you're not braking the law, or like me, you can drive it for ten minutes once a month.

[air]

Just in case anyone else has this problem, heres what my solution turned out to be.

Bear in mind, my head bearings were replaced about 1000 miles ago.....alledgedly.
Dismantled, looked ok top and bottom. Lower dust seal looked like someone
went to town on it with a hammer when installing the lower bearings.
The rubber seal had come loose and was interfering with the bearings, the seal metal
had been whacked around and was coming into contact with the head at one point (hence
the single kink in the steering)
Put back together with clean grease, torqued up and sorted.
Irish mechanics.....great.