I have fitted a JE/NW steering head kit to my recently acquired Rapide. I bought a new FF35 felt washer to replace the very narrow section o-ring (which did not seem to be serving any purpose because there was a gap around it) fitted by the previous owner.
There's not a chance of adjusting the steering head bearings with the FF35 in place, without the steering head virtually seizing-up. The felt washer is much too thick for the space available and too dense to compress easily and still allow free movement of the bearings.
Searching through the forum, I find several references to how a new FF35 takes time to wear-in/compress and also several comments about the steering feeling like the steering damper was overtightened, causing a barrel-roll effect. Great!
There is also mention of substituting the FF35 with an o-ring - I wish I knew that beforehand.....
I've no intention of stripping everything down again, so I'll try to slice the FF35 in two around the circumference whilst in-situ and remove half of it to see if that works. Failing that, it's coming out altogether. I may then try to fit a spliced o-ring, as some have mentioned, but can anyone please tell me why the FF35 even exists? I've had lots of old British bikes with loose-ball steering heads. Not one had a seal of any kind on the bottom race.
Also, given that it seems to be common knowledge that the FF35 causes problems, why on earth is it still being made and sold? I assume that the only people buying them are new owners like me who have not encountered this problem, or, perhaps, rivet-counters whose bikes are never ridden. If that's the case, the suppliers should add a warning on the product details!
I'm sorry if I sound tetchy. The FF35 costs hardly anything, but it creates problems and unnecessary work and it would seem to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
Allan.
There's not a chance of adjusting the steering head bearings with the FF35 in place, without the steering head virtually seizing-up. The felt washer is much too thick for the space available and too dense to compress easily and still allow free movement of the bearings.
Searching through the forum, I find several references to how a new FF35 takes time to wear-in/compress and also several comments about the steering feeling like the steering damper was overtightened, causing a barrel-roll effect. Great!
There is also mention of substituting the FF35 with an o-ring - I wish I knew that beforehand.....
I've no intention of stripping everything down again, so I'll try to slice the FF35 in two around the circumference whilst in-situ and remove half of it to see if that works. Failing that, it's coming out altogether. I may then try to fit a spliced o-ring, as some have mentioned, but can anyone please tell me why the FF35 even exists? I've had lots of old British bikes with loose-ball steering heads. Not one had a seal of any kind on the bottom race.
Also, given that it seems to be common knowledge that the FF35 causes problems, why on earth is it still being made and sold? I assume that the only people buying them are new owners like me who have not encountered this problem, or, perhaps, rivet-counters whose bikes are never ridden. If that's the case, the suppliers should add a warning on the product details!
I'm sorry if I sound tetchy. The FF35 costs hardly anything, but it creates problems and unnecessary work and it would seem to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
Allan.
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