BEARINGS STEERING STEM

[DiscoPotato]

Hey de dee, I went ahead and cleaned and regreased the upper and lower steering head bearings with synthetic bearing grease because something didn't feel right with the steering ever since I got this scooter. It has 2000 miles on it now, I bought it with 1500 miles. I thought the bearings were starting to notch but when I inspected them they looked brand new. The problem with my dt300 is that it follows imperfections on the road too easily and also easily disrupts the steering when going over bumps and it's down right scary when going over bumps slightly leaned over. At 70-80 mph the steering seems to move left and right ever so slightly causing the entire bike to ever so slightly wobble...I thought the bearings had a notch because of that, like it was riding in and out of the notch but I didn't find any notches. What do you think the problem could be?

[mousejunks]

What are your tyre pressures? A few psi difference on the front tyre can cause unstable steering. Pump it to 28-30psi and see how it goes.

[DiscoPotato]

What are your tyre pressures? A few psi difference on the front tyre can cause unstable steering. Pump it to 28-30psi and see how it goes.

Thanks Mousejunks, the tire pressure is at 28-29 psi front and  back. Any other ideas? I have a givi trunk on my down town but it's usually empty when I'm riding since it holds all of my gear so I doubt that's contributing to the problem. I weigh 145 lbs and I mostly ride solo.

[kneeslider]

Try a higher psi. I do mine around F 31 and R 33.

[de dee]

get a straight edge and check the wheel alignment, ( I don't know how to re- align a scooter ) you would have to check the web,.  my dirt scoot has adjustment screws on the rear wheel,.

[mousejunks]

The front suspension forks could be seized up. Try pushing the handlebars down when the bike is on the centrestand. The DT has quite soft suspension.

[DiscoPotato]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try upping the tire pressure and checking the forks first since those are easy to do.

[de dee]

  what kind of tires do you have?, I put city grips on the back wheel and power pure on the front tire, and my scooter runs well over most roads and RR tracks

[DiscoPotato]

  what kind of tires do you have?, I put city grips on the back wheel and power pure on the front tire, and my scooter runs well over most roads and RR tracks

I'm still on the stock Maxxis tires. Have you tried the Metzler FeelFree tires? I took the handlebar off again and tightened the steering head nut some more until it wouldn't tighten anymore, that seemed to have helped tighten up the steering a bit, now there is a bit more resistance when turning the handlebar left and right but riding over cracks on the road will still disturb the bike, also riding at high speeds 75+ mph will oscillate the bike left and right ever so slightly, is this normal?

[CROSSBOLT]

The Maxxis tires are BAD about following everything. Metzelers are HUGE improvement as are nearly every major aftermarket brand. I could not believe the difference when I put 'em on my original DT300i.

Karl

[ole two wheels]

What do you think about drilling and tapping a hole in the neck, screwing in a grease fitting and just filling that sucker up? Sounds like a lot less trouble.


Mac

[DiscoPotato]

The Maxxis tires are BAD about following everything. Metzelers are HUGE improvement as are nearly every major aftermarket brand. I could not believe the difference when I put 'em on my original DT300i.

Karl

Thanks for your feedback Karl. I look forward to changing them out now!

What do you think about drilling and tapping a hole in the neck, screwing in a grease fitting and just filling that sucker up? Sounds like a lot less trouble.


Mac

That sounds like a great idea, although I can't imagine how it would be done in my head... Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal taking the wheel/forks/handlebar off. If you can figure out an easier way that would be great! Although I think I would still prefer to take the thing apart just to be able to clean the old grease out and inspect the races.

[kneeslider]

The original head bearings seem to be the worse part of the scooter..... Mine notched terribly and had them replaced with NTN Japan bearings.

But I think the shop fitted back the front end wrong, there is a slight clunk over small bumps and she now headshakes gently at 60km/h when I take my hands off the bars.

[de dee]

It could be the shop did not put the outer race all the way in,  and you have a loose steering shaft, it should not clunk,.      for the steering try heavyer steering bar weights, I read that in here way back,in our Zomby years,  miss his storys,.  de dee

[kneeslider]

Yeah, pretty sure it wasn't installed back properly.