The workshop manual says to replace the steering head bearings at 80.000klms on a2008 FXST.

Mine has clocked up 81,500 ks so decided to change them.

Was quite surprised with the condition of the ones I took out, much less wear than I'd imagined.

One of the bonuses with that year bike and model was that it had a grease nipple on the steering head.

Not hard to put a grease nipple there, would be good if they all had it.

Sometimes you have to laugh at the factory workshop manual.

In this case the manual says that to remove the bearing in the lower triple tree, "Turn the triple tree upside down and heat the bearing and it will simply drop off the treeing stem.

I would be interested if any one has had luck doing that.

First I tried a heat gun, no dropping bearing.

Next welded a bead around the bearing face.....nope, no movement.

Ended up grinding the cunt off.

But job is done and it is sunshine and lollipops for the next 80,000ks

I know of bikes that NEVER get the headstock regreased. Dynas are a fave for that because they are such a cunt to do, folks don't bother. Forks off, triple trees of blah blah...

Softails with the grease nipples are apples of course, just a day or 2 after check for dripping excess grease...

After changing the steering head bearings in my 2008 FXST with the 81 thousand ks on it. Today I had a crack at my 84 wide glide with 20 something thousand miles on it. I was a bit sus on this one cause it had sat for over 30 years and on top of that it had taken a hit at some point evidenced by the badly dented front rim (rooted) and dented back rim (salvage-able) and busted seat.

Was expecting this one to be a walk in the park compared to the softail as it was made in less complicated days.

Badly miss-judged the job though.

Instead of putting the outer race of the bearings in the steering head like the softail, the shovel wide glide has whats called a steering head cup that fits into the steering head like an outer race and then the outer race fits into the steering head cup.

I can only imagine the designers at HD had been to a mescalin, peyote, mushroom and acid party the night before they designed this set up. I have left the parts on top of the steering head in the photo in case you think I am mad.

Anyway realised the job was not going to be finished today as you are supposed to discard the steering head cups each bearing change so had to order a pair of those. I did go to town to buy a couple of new bearings though and while in the bearing shop noticed they sold grease nipples so I bought one for $1.20. You can see in another photo that my shovel now has a grease nipple in it after drilling a hole and tapping a 6mm thread. The lower steering head bearing was more of a cunt to remove than the softail due to the external steering lock but got that fucker off too after some agricultural grinding.

You got any neighbours with horses ?

Some hoof nippers might move El Cunto bearing.

AND. It's not just a case of replacing the bearings,,, you need to have the right spacer,,, there is a set of three spacers that you get so as the bearings wear , you put a shorter  spacer in.. you will not know which spacer you have in there now,,, 

I did this job a few years ago,, what a nightmare,,, you cannot buy the spacer kits any more,,, although I did find out the lengths of them,, I think they are about 12 thou difference in length between each one,, now you have to find a machinist to make them for you,,,, although you only need the longest one as you are replacing the bearings.i had 2 made and were both different lengths,,, in the end I used the one that was too long and spun it in the lathe and used a file to get it the perfect length,,, hahahaha you don't know what you have got yourself in for,,, read up about changing these bearings and find out the correct length of the spacer for new bearings.. I even bought the correct tools for removing and replacing the cones,,, very expensive for a one off,,. It's not hard,,, but you have to have the right spacer,, call if I can be of assistance,,, good luck...

GG408, I do actually have neighbours with horses, but have already got el cuntos off.

Stewy, not sure where you are coming from but glad I dont have you doing the job for me with due respect.

The netral indicator switch on the Sporty just shit itself. Got one online today.

Looking at the manual It says:- remove exhaust, remove cover, remove drive belt, remove drive sprocket, remove switch then replace in reverse order. Adjust belt and test switch.

What do you reckon the labour on that would be, for a $26 switch.

Glad I own a set of spanners!

I presume you got the heads drilled off okay and then popped the forks apart with no issues.  How was it removing the bolt remains from the smaller tube?

I will post a pic

Did exactly the same to the other fork leg today, got both off with nil issue. No dramas getting the stud outta the fork, just pinched it in copper jaws on the vice and applied a touch of heat to the stuff and they backed out easily.

Before assembling again I'll be drilling into the cartridge a tiny bit and installing grub screws through the rod to the cartridge. 

But in the case of the Sporty the bolts are locked in solid and not moving at all.