I need some help. With a lot of things, but from this group, with installation of an old DT headsteady on my 73 850. I bought the headsteady ten years ago, and it sat unused until recently, along with lots of other parts and the bike. I have finally started reassembling things - the gearbox is rebuilt and re-installed, the Mick Hemmings vernier iso adjusters are installed. So I started installing the headsteady, and found that the cylinder head mounting plate holes needed drilling and filing to fit, they were too close together to screw the allen bolts in. Then I found that my frame appears to be metric, the 1" tube is actually 25.0 mm including paint, so I had to shim the aluminum clamp. When I reached the point in the instructions about installing the Heim joint I found that the out-of-the box preset Heim joint, ball end rod joint/Rose joint was too short to fit.
This was a bit of a surprise to me, so I grabbed a wrench to unscrew and lengthen it. No dice, solic as a rock. So, thougth I, must be left hand thread, tried it the other way. Rock solid. I ended up putting the male end in my vice and a wrench and pipe on the flats on the female fitting, and with my heart in my mouth, was able, just, to unscrew it. Seems like it was epoxied together. I grabbed a tap and die set to clean it up, and found to my surprise, again, it appears to be metric, 8 X 1.25 mm to be exact? WTF?
Cleaned up the threads, and reassembled, adjusted to fit between the head mount and the frame mount, and found I had about 2 threads holding it together. Thinking something was out of alignment, I put the original box section head steady back on, and it fits perfectly. The engine offset is slightly over 1/8" to the left, the iso's didn't need any pushing around to get the vernier adjusters in place, and the frame appears undamaged as far as I can tell.
So I am baffled. I can't use the supplied heim as it doesn't thread in far enough for me to trust it, so I need to buy a substitute. Any reason not to go for 5/16 x 24 size heim joint?
Has anyone else had issues with fitting these headsteadies? I guess I could go back to the supplier (RGM??? I'd have to check the invoice) but after a decade, I doubt they would be helpful, and frankly, I wouldn't expect them to be.
Anyone's experience in fitting and fettling these would be helpful. I have searched this forum, and found nothing to suggest anyone else had had similar issues.
This was a bit of a surprise to me, so I grabbed a wrench to unscrew and lengthen it. No dice, solic as a rock. So, thougth I, must be left hand thread, tried it the other way. Rock solid. I ended up putting the male end in my vice and a wrench and pipe on the flats on the female fitting, and with my heart in my mouth, was able, just, to unscrew it. Seems like it was epoxied together. I grabbed a tap and die set to clean it up, and found to my surprise, again, it appears to be metric, 8 X 1.25 mm to be exact? WTF?
Cleaned up the threads, and reassembled, adjusted to fit between the head mount and the frame mount, and found I had about 2 threads holding it together. Thinking something was out of alignment, I put the original box section head steady back on, and it fits perfectly. The engine offset is slightly over 1/8" to the left, the iso's didn't need any pushing around to get the vernier adjusters in place, and the frame appears undamaged as far as I can tell.
So I am baffled. I can't use the supplied heim as it doesn't thread in far enough for me to trust it, so I need to buy a substitute. Any reason not to go for 5/16 x 24 size heim joint?
Has anyone else had issues with fitting these headsteadies? I guess I could go back to the supplier (RGM??? I'd have to check the invoice) but after a decade, I doubt they would be helpful, and frankly, I wouldn't expect them to be.
Anyone's experience in fitting and fettling these would be helpful. I have searched this forum, and found nothing to suggest anyone else had had similar issues.
