Front fork after disassembly.  Ref 1

Sarolea 350 1951
Steering bearing
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Update
2010-04-02
The mounting of the shock absober on the fork. Ref. 1

Light bulb for the speedometer. This one must be taken away. Ref 1

The way I put the headlight and steering arm on the tank. All electrical equipment was not disassembled. Ref 1

The old placement of the speedometer with it's fastening nut ans plate for friction locking. Ref. 1

Locking nut for the bearings. Ref 1

Overview for the steering system. Ref 1The center pipe for the fork showing its fine thread and the plate ring. Ref 1

The new place for the speedometer. Ref 1This shows the fastening arms for the steering arm. Note turned to the front. Ref 1

This picture shows the balls in the lower bearing after assembly. Ref 1Preheating the ring.  Ref 1

Lower bearing ring in place again. Ref 1The ring forced in place with help of a suitable pipe and copper hammer.  Ref 1

Before the inspection 2009 I had noticed that there was a too big play in the steering bearings. I did not expect this to be approved.  This is a type of fault that the inspector can control. Another thing was that I wanted to change the handlebar as it had a design too near my seat position.

I will try to show with pictures and text how I adjusted the steering bearings. In this kind of operation one will only dismount as little as possible. It showed that this way was a no good planning and everything became more worse than if I had done a full dismount. The headlight with all the electrical wires is not nice to take away, furthermore brake, clutch and wire to carburettor did complicate the work.

Well I started to dismount the  bent holder for the handlebar. These were to be remounted later, turned 180°. This was the way to get a better driving position. Also the speedometer was taken away. The nuts for the front fork were unscrewed after the center nut for the friction system was loosened. Catch the center pin otherwise it will fall down and make a mark in the front fender. Now the handlebar with its wires and also the headlight could be fastened with the help of tape as far back on the petrol tank that was possible. Note that the small lamp for speedometer had to be taken away. The picture is taken later when the front fork had been dismounted. The complete front fork was taken away. First off with the wheel. Read earlier description. Now we are getting close the main problem. Unscrew the upper tensioning bearing nut. This nut is a combination of nut and ball path. I had earlier hanged the MC in my engine lifter. A good device.

Now raise the cycle so far that the axle holding the lower axial bearing opens up. It is good to have an old carpet under. This will keep all small balls from jumping all over your garage floor. Now you can put your front fork against a wall. Don't lay it down on the floor as all oil will pour out. About balls you can take time to take away by hand, a magnet and a tweezers. I got extra balls from a ball bearing The rollers came from this bearing. Ref 1named SKF6202. Easy to buy almost at all hobby parts supplier and is much cheaper than to buy separate balls with the diameter of 6.20 mm. Measured with a a sliding caliper. It may be a good practice as you later must put them in place by hand. A good thing is that you can take the upper bearing ring to your nearest SKF supplier and ask for a closed ring that fits. The lower outer ring is almost impossible to dismantle and if, it is just the same to bring back. I know.
Note that I put the loose balls in a fat-layer so they will stay in place when mounting. Also count them so you don't miss anyone.

See picture about the two springs sliding up. The center nut with it's ball path has the same thread as the nut for the spings. This center nut shall only be mounted with a low moment. Just as much as the center axle don't get any play. The force from this nut brings the two bearings together. The nut covered with chrome shall only get a moment that the steering friction is acceptable. Wait with this nut till you remount the headlight and also have all wires in the right place. Note also that the speedometer holding plate is placed under one of the fork arm nuts.

Now what's left is to remount the fork holder. It shall be mounted over the ring plate, picture, that protect the fine thread. Secure it rather hard after you have mounted the bearing play. Then you mount the holder for the handlebar. The nuts for the forks springs and the speedometer are the next job. There will be a little close limits for the speedometer cable.
On the pictures you see  how it looks like with the speedometer and the handlebar and how the fork holder look like when pointing front.
The last three pictures how I managed the lower bearing ring back again. You must heat and quickly drive the ring in place with the help of a suitable pipe. Avoid this last job.

Use table of content for next chapter.