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So I loaded my bike up after a race (bike steered fine) and when I got home i couldn't steer. It snags and sounds crunchy. Its obvious they are shot. So what about being tied down that made it go all the way bad? Side note, I am pretty sure the cause was an enduro where i crashed between 2 trees. It tweaked front end. I think that was the beginning of the end.

I would recommend dropping the fork out of the frame and inspecting the steering head bearings. Mine seemed OK when I first got the bike, but up on the stand, the steering was kind of notchey. Found the steering bearings were freshly greased, but the bearings themselves were shot.

You might first try resetting the adjusting nuts. That enduro crash could have changed the settings.

Your crash may have packed dirt into your bearings or somehow thrown off your adjusting nut.
As pumpguy said, drop the front end off and have a look.
You can probably get away with just giving them a good cleaning, grease them back up, and slap it back together.

Take it all apart and get to inspecting.

Check for a bent steering stem, as well as the normal checks.

Its really bad... Like to the point where I cant steer at all. It is virtually seized. I have replaced before and its no big deal. The strange thing is I loaded the bike after the race and it felt fine.... When I unloaded it it was seized... Its just strange.

JASON, What is the tolerance for the stem? any good points on checking it for bend?

I think the manual just says replace if bent. A straight edge would be good. Also, a piece of glass on the edge of a table to roll check it.

sounds like the bearing cage gave up, as most of us use tie downs on the bars ratcheted down it puts a lot of strain on the steering bearings...likely they were getting ready to go and that just helped them along. Should be an easy fix, drop the front, new bearings (hopefully the races are still good) and go.

Thanks. That's helpful. Tied down for a 600mi road trip too. That makes sense.

Reuse races huh?

zepplin153 wrote:Reuse races huh?

No it's never good to re-use races in any case it will case premature wear 100% of the time. Bearings once installed the cup and cone wear into each other causing a matched pair don't replace one without the other. Repair it right the first time not the second, third.........

KDXohio wrote:

No it's never good to re-use races in any case it will case premature wear 100% of the time. Bearings once installed the cup and cone wear into each other causing a matched pair don't replace one without the other. Repair it right the first time not the second, third.........

This was my thinking. And its only a few extra min worth of work.

Just figured I would give an update. Replaced bearings and races a few days after this post.Bearings were shot. I mean really bad. I think the initial damage came from an impact with a tree about 2 months prior, and deteriorated from there. The final blow was the road trip. Replaced and working perfectly.

i just paid $24 for bearings and races on ebay. you may as well replace em.