[partsbara]

think my frackin headtube is ovalized...

went riding and i didn t notice that the headset bolt was a little loose until i d hit a few drops etc... now the paint around the base of the bottom cup of the headset cup has a few small cracks... i tried to tighten the bolt but i can t seem to get the small amount of play out... king headset / 02' monster T / 01' rm 7 (not that it matters much)

think the b@stid is ovalized .... tell me i m wrong please... i can t tighten the headset bolt any tighter without burring it to shiat...

shame is that i love the way the frame rides... might have to hang it up as some wall art... either that i PITCH THE MONGREL UNDER A FVCKING TRUCK !

later

partsbara

i feel the CRF 450 R ... it is that close...

 

[reflux]

i remember someone somewhere mentioning a possible fix. i know that it involved jb weld and maybe some extra tubing shaved down to a slight taper to fit within the headtube. i could be wrong, but something like this could work. i suggest posting something in the 'mtb lounge' and the 'dh and ds' forum as someone there might know a possible fix. good luck.

 

[sub6]

I don't know if this would work, but it may be worth a shot. King Steelsets have ridiculously deep cups - they go like an inch down into the frame. If you got one of those, it would probably sit down far enough to get a decent bite. Combine that with the JB Weld trick and it might be rideable long enough for you to break the swingarm or something, then you have a great excuse to replace it..


____________________
~Dan

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the
morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
-Frank Sinatra


Big John saved my life!

 

[Certified Drunk]

The King Steelset would fix the problem. You will need to reem the head tube to 33.9 id by 25.4 + deep.
Cost $160 for headset
$40 reemer

 

[brock]

Are you sure the play you are feeling is the headset? I have the same set up (01 RM7, 01 Monster, King Headset). When you apply the front brake and rock the bike back and forth while standing next to it, it will feel like the headset is loose. That is actually the up/down needle bearing play in the rear end.

Sit on the bike. apply the front brake, then reach down and hold your fingers around the headset in various spots (where the cups go into the head tube, etc) while rocking it back and forth. This will help you to narrow down the exact location of play.

I had the same problem and found that if I used some big "Quick Grip" clamps to squeeze the top and bottom crowns together (therfore using the clamps to create your bearing preload instead of the star nut) before tightening the top cap into the star nut it tightens up alot better.

"they caught and drowned the front man of the worlds worst rock and roll band"

 

[Mtn Pete]

Its probally the headset. I fu**ed mine on my RM6 and bent the top tube and the swingarm. I am so mad at Rocky. I wreck all there bikes and only weigh 140. They stuff is so easy to wreck. I did not even crash. I was just ridding along

 

[partsbara]

hopefully i l lbe able to fix the sod without having to drop some serious bucks on a King steelset etc...

i like the idea of clamping the fork crowns together brock... sounds like the plan to begin with... i had that loose play feeling in the wishbone on the rear end before as well... the crew at rocky sent me some shims and they did the trick sweet...

as for you mtn-pete... the old JRA story huh ... i find that a little hard to believe... i ve had nothing but good experience with the guys at RM...

"i ve been so down lately, you ve been so low lately, nothin seems to work out for you.... and me........" go archers !

 

[Mtn Pete]

THE JRA was just a joke. But so is RMB waranty. I had the 2000 shich was the first year of the bike. Everything that I broke on the bike was overbuilt for the 2001 model. They knew there where issues. They just did not want to share it with me.

 

[Big hit]

warranty ?? did someone mention warranty for a frame defect ?? It happendd to a friend of mine's older Rocky...ovalized headtube and wondered if it would be covered.

 

[alex spencer]

ifyou flare or ovalise you headtube, you can use jb weld (or any other epoxy type stuff like araldite) along with strips of coke can and alu filings (use the 3" you cut off the seatpost) to help hold the cups in and stop them moving.

or (warning mad at work!!)

maybe it would be possible the have 1mm or so reamed out of the headtube and have a steel insert made that will press fit into the frame and hold the headset, i'm not sure how possible it would be, but with mucho loctite (330?) to help hold it together i'm pretty sure it would work.

 

[cadman]

Once aluminum starts to fatigue, thats it. There is no fix. Unlike steel, aluminum does not have a stress threshold. With steel, if the cycles of stress stays below this threshold level then theoretically it will last forever. Aluminum does not have this threshold and eventually will fail even at low levels of stress, so imagine what happens when your headtube ovalizes. Your frame is history. Hopefully you can get it warrantied.

 

[cadman]

Originally posted by rotecguy
Also, cadman, plastic deformation and fatigue are two entirely different things.

Yes, fatigue ( repeated stress causes fatigue which leads to fracture ) and plastic deformation ( permanent distortion of a material caused by stress ) are apples & oranges.
Here is what my post should've implied: Riding the bike with a loose headset is what probably ovalized the headtube (plastic deformation). Cranking down on the headset bolt will do nothing. Now when he rides there are fluctuating stresses at the headtube which eventually fatigues the headtube. Garage fixes like filling w/Loctite, epoxy, etc.. won't fix the problem either. I've seen two headtube fractures and one headtube that split at the bottom cup and completely ripped off of the frame (downhill fork on an old Alpinestar bike, no wonder). Considering that this is a dh bike, personally I wouldn't ride it anymore. I believe '01 M1s have had problems with ovalized headtubes so it should'nt be hard to have the frame warrantied, as long as there was no attempt to fix it. Intense warrantied Turnerboy's M1, so partsbara might pm him for specifics.