V7-850 steering head bearings

[buck]

I have been noticing some strange handling characteristics on my ‘22 850, as if the bike changes its line randomly in a curve. So I jacked up the bike and checked, and sure enough at 10,000 miles there was a very pronounced notch/detent in the straight ahead position. Additionally, the steering seemed to be getting more stiff.

I did some research and cross referencing, and was able to confirm the same bearings are used in many MG and Aprilia models going back almost 20 years. Based on that, I took a chance and ordered an All Balls Racing tapered roller bearing kit for a 2009 Aprilia RSV, part # 22-1039. I have just finished the replacement and am pleased to say the kit contained the correct bearings and dust shields. For anyone who wants to do this conversion, I highly recommend you purchase either a steering bearing race puller kit, or what they call a blind bearing puller kit. Either of those items would make removal of the old races much, much easier. In my case I wound up having to use a cut off wheel on a dremel to cut a slot in the races, and then break them with an air hammer/chisel before they would come out of the frame. The stock bearings were clearly worn, with dimples in the races, as well as a large rust spot on the lower bearing race. This was probably due to MG’s stinginess with grease at the factory. The other hurdle was I did not have the right size 4 prong spanner wrench for the adjuster nut. I wound up substituting a large socket that had a bit larger circumference than the adjuster nut, and I placed a ball bearing in two of the slots on the nut, which engaged the valleys in the socket. This allowed me to try torquing the adjuster and measuring the amount of torque it took to get the bearings properly adjusted. It is important to note that torquing the adjuster nut to the 50 nm spec in the manual may work fine for the factory ball bearings, but it is way too tight for tapered roller bearings. When replacing ball bearings with tapered rollers, the extra surface area of the rollers requires less torque to eliminate free play and achieve the desired feel in the steering. I experimented with torque settings all the way down from the factory spec to about 8nm, which is where I left mine set at. Somewhere between 8 and 13 nm the steering starts to develop a bit of resistance. At 8nm with the front wheel off of the ground and pointed straight ahead, bumping the front wheel to the right just enough to move it would allow it to keep going until it hit the steering stop. With the bearings adjusted any tighter it would start to resist movement. When pulling fore/aft on the front end there is no play.

I have test ridden the bike and taken my hands off of the bars from 60 mph down to 30 mph and verified there is no wobble or shake. The bike handles better than it did when new. I’m very happy with the outcome.

What follows are some photos of the bike in various states of disassembly and reassembly. Hope someone is able to benefit from this info!

[guzzisteve]

Good job, only I would have used a better bearing. All Balls are junk from China, don't meet my standards for a bearing. Had them fail.

[buck]

Good job, only I would have used a better bearing. All Balls are junk from China, don't meet my standards for a bearing. Had them fail.

I won’t disagree. It was more a matter of convenience, hoping sizing would be right without having to first tear apart the bike, take measurements and wait on a set of timkens to show up. If I ever have to change them again I will pull the numbers off of the bearings and cross reference them to something else.

[blu guzz]

nice to have your daughter helping out in the shop.

[buck]

nice to have your daughter helping out in the shop.

That’s very kind of you! We are both on the long end of our 50’s!

[chrisfer]

Thank you for sharing. 
I will change them soon too. 

What tools can you advise me for the extraction?

[mechanicsavant]

You’re not alone ! I’ve seen a few such instances @ my favorite dealer . I’ve also got a 16V7II . I was replacing fork boots earlier this spring & thought it would be a good time to service the steering head . To my surprise , Tapered roller bearings with almost adequate grease ! I added a bit more grease & re-assembled . After seeing the junk bearing’s from a V85 TT I tools good look @ the boss on the frame of my V7/850 & yup it’s much smaller than my V7II .
I blame the “bean counters “ . Take X amount of $$ out of the product where it won’t show under warranty. I need another bonus !!

[mechanicsavant]

Almost forgot. Thanks for the research w/part numbers

[buck]

Thank you for sharing. 
I will change them soon too. 

What tools can you advise me for the extraction?

In terms of brands I have no recommendations. You will want to have either a blind bearing puller of the correct size, or a steering head bearing puller. You can google either one and find lots of options. A spanner to fit the adjuster nut is nice, but not absolutely necessary. You can improvise as I did with the socket and ball bearings, or you can even use a large pair of curved jaw Vice grips on the outer circumference of the adjuster. The only other thing I didn’t mention was I used a heat gun on the lower bearing on the steering stem to help remove it easier.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

Thanks for sharing this information. I had the same issue with the factory bearings notching on mine, but was traveling at the time so got them replaced with the same OEM parts just greased. Next time they're due will see what the tapered roller bearing options are.
https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=116677.0

Good job, only I would have used a better bearing. All Balls are junk from China, don't meet my standards for a bearing. Had them fail.

Do you have a better bearing brand to recommend that would fit the V7 850 headset?

[buck]

Thanks for sharing this information. I had the same issue with the factory bearings notching on mine, but was traveling at the time so got them replaced with the same OEM parts just greased. Next time they're due will see what the tapered roller bearing options are.
https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=116677.0

Do you have a better bearing brand to recommend that would fit the V7 850 headset?

They are a common size/type of bearing. I’d recommend you take the old bearings to a bearing supply, or cross reference them from the numbers on them. As for brand, I’ve always been a fan of Timken. And even though Guzzi Steve is correct that the All Balls Racing kits have cheaper bearings in them, they are still worlds better than the garbage my V7-850 came with.

[guido guzzi]

Do you have a better bearing brand to recommend that would fit the V7 850 headset?
[/quote]

My local bearing supplier likes Koyo and so do I...

[jannickz]

Thank you for sharing your experience with replacing the steering bearings on your '22 850. It sounds like it was a challenging task, but one that you were able to complete successfully. I'm sure that others will benefit from your tips and advice. I would like to recommend https://www.bearingforworld.com to your guys if you need to know bearing info.