Ok so I tackled the job - manual on the laptop and all the tools required ready - me and my son got down to it and stripped off all the front plastics and then got the handle bars loose so that we could get to the big nut and also remove the big top aluminum bracket holding the fork and the bearings - once the bracket came off and what a job it was - using two rubber mallets, hitting the bracket and only after using some penetrating oil did it move. once loose the fork dropped down and I had to put a block under the wheel to not let it drop down to far - now what is interesting is that there was a lot of rust in the top nut area and the bottom bearing was really bad which means water gets in at the top bearing and lies in the tube over the bottom bearing - I also noticed that there was very little grease in these bearings - the next step was to check for bearing damage and after cleaning both the top and bottom bearings and the housing and the top bracket assembly i decided all looked ok and was it time to re-assemble - I greased the bearings and made sure there was plenty to help maybe prevent water damage in the future and then put all back together - now my steering has never been this smooth and it feels almost to good to be true - i also figured that the bearing nut and lock nut was over tight from the factory causing the stiffness and lock feeling - once I was absolutely happy with the setting I locked the top nut and assembled the complete steering and handle bar - all the time checking to see if it was still moving freely - we then assembled the plastics and double checked if all was working including all front lights and speed cluster - all was good.
It is a big job to tackle at home and would I not recommend it to anybody who don't have the mechanical skills and the right tools but I believe I have saved a ton of labor costs had I sent it to a dealer and also the amount of possible damage to the plastics and scratches to the bike........as I am 100% sure that they do not take care about the cosmetics and is the job maybe even to big for a small in-experienced dealer or bike shop.
Now I hope I don't have to do this again soon but was it very rewarding to know that it could be done at home.
