Cost to lube tri glide neck bearings

Rogue1 · Jan 6, 2023

Has anyone paid a dealer to lube your 14 and up tri glide neck bearings? I've called all over North Carolina and got an estimates from $155, which I know is ridiculously low, to over $600 which I thought was very high. My manual says it should be done at 25,000 miles. So it should be included in the 25,000 mi service. But it's not. One dealer told me they shouldn't have to be serviced until 50 or 75,000 miles. I could do them myself but if it was only a matter of a couple of hundred dollars I would have it done as it's a real pain in the ass. I know it's a big job but what is the going price?

rhino 2 · Jan 6, 2023

Rogue1 said:
Has anyone paid a dealer to lube your 14 and up tri glide neck bearings? I've called all over North Carolina and got an estimates from $155, which I know is ridiculously low, to over $600 which I thought was very high. My manual says it should be done at 25,000 miles. So it should be included in the 25,000 mi service. But it's not. One dealer told me they shouldn't have to be serviced until 50 or 75,000 miles. I could do them myself but if it was only a matter of a couple of hundred dollars I would have it done as it's a real pain in the ass. I know it's a big job but what is the going price?

My 2011 triglide had a grease nipples jerk fitting on the neck but it’s hard to see and that’s a simple job. I don’t know what year ? But with Later triglides they stopped with the grease fitting so now becomes a job maybe somebody can help you on what year they discontinued the fitting (Jerk fitting..?)..

Rogue1 · Jan 6, 2023

rhino 2 said:
My 2011 triglide had a grease nipples jerk fitting on the neck but it’s hard to see and that’s a simple job. I don’t know what year ? But with Later triglides they stopped with the grease fitting so now becomes a job maybe somebody can help you on what year they discontinued the fitting (Jerk fitting..?)..

'14 and later models do not have the zerk fitting.

rhino 2 · Jan 6, 2023

Rogue1 said:
14 and later models do not have the zerk fitting.

I guess Harley figured they would throw their dealers a bone so that they could charge more than it would be for a simple jerk fitting grease job ..

..

ultrafxr · Jan 6, 2023

The 2017 flat rate manual calls for 2.4 hours labor. Doubt that has changed much if any since no changes made to the trike. And if your dealer is like mine they bump up the flat rate hours by 50% so my dealer would charge 3.6 hours labor at $125 per hour plus 5% for shop supplies making it about $475 in labor plus any sales tax and parts. Earlier this year I had the dealer flush the clutch and brake lines on my 2020 TG and the final bill was $446.98 for labor, fluid, supplies and tax. I won't be doing that again . . . and I won't be having the steering stem serviced any time soon. Got 32k on my 2020 TG and it handles just fine. No matter the mother ship says to service at 25k I'm just not doing it until I perceive a need. JMHO and your mileage may vary.

Olddog · Jan 6, 2023

ultrafxr said:
The 2017 flat rate manual calls for 2.4 hours labor. Doubt that has changed much if any since no changes made to the trike. And if your dealer is like mine they bump up the flat rate hours by 50% so my dealer would charge 3.6 hours labor at $125 per hour plus 5% for shop supplies making it about $475 in labor plus any sales tax and parts. Earlier this year I had the dealer flush the clutch and brake lines on my 2020 TG and the final bill was $446.98 for labor, fluid, supplies and tax. I won't be doing that again . . . and I won't be having the steering stem serviced any time soon. Got 32k on my 2020 TG and it handles just fine. No matter the mother ship says to service at 25k I'm just not doing it until I perceive a need. JMHO and your mileage may vary.

I’m wondering if it’s worth the price to drill and tap for zerks?

Rogue1 · Jan 6, 2023

Olddog said:
I’m wondering if it’s worth the price to drill and tap for zerks?

I think if you put a zerk fitting on the newer bikes you would be filling a void in the neck with grease and I don't think it would even come close to the bearings. I think the older frames were partitioned so the grease went to the bearings. I could also be mistaken.

rhino 2 · Jan 6, 2023

Rogue1 said:
I think if you put a zerk fitting on the newer bikes you would be filling a void in the neck with grease and I don't think it would even come close to the bearings. I think the older frames were partitioned so the grease went to the bearings. I could also be mistaken.

I do know when they used to have the jerk fittings. There was a complaint if you grease too much the grease would drip down the tube and onto the front of the engine never bothered me I just wiped up the mess but then again I don’t have a trailer queen that has to be spotless..

..

Jack Klarich · Jan 6, 2023

Rogue1 said:
I think if you put a zerk fitting on the newer bikes you would be filling a void in the neck with grease and I don't think it would even come close to the bearings. I think the older frames were partitioned so the grease went to the bearings. I could also be mistaken.

When they changed the Touring frame is when this no longer worked with a grease fitting

The change was also made to later Dyna frames also

Dan SC · Jan 7, 2023

The grease fitting was hit or miss as far as lubricating the steering head bearings.

Often the grease would not get to the top bearing.

I think the grease fittings were discontinued because the factory has deemed it necessary to actually inspect the bearings at 25K.

Rogue1 · Jan 7, 2023

To update the post, has anyone lubed the bearings themselves and if so how long did it take?

Notgrownup · Jan 7, 2023

To be sure there is a way to put a Zerk fitting on there to DIY the greasing. On my 07 I pumped almost a whole damn tube of red n tacky in there until it started to ooze out. I knew it had grease in there then. Never had an issue yet with dripping.

Olddog · Jan 7, 2023

Notgrownup said:
To be sure there is a way to put a Zerk fitting on there to DIY the greasing. On my 07 I pumped almost a whole damn tube of red n tacky in there until it started to ooze out. I knew it had grease in there then. Never had an issue yet with dripping.

Sure sounds like the way that farmer/rancher lubes equipment. I also have to be very careful with "farmer tight' on fasteners. Working on Harleys made me resort to torque wrenches and locktite. I'm still wondering if installing a zerk can be done?

ultrafxr · Jan 7, 2023

Olddog said:
Sure sounds like the way that farmer/rancher lubes equipment. I also have to be very careful with "farmer tight' on fasteners. Working on Harleys made me resort to torque wrenches and locktite. I'm still wondering if installing a zerk can be done?

I sure think it can be done but with the limited amount of space around the steering stem I do think it would be a pia. The $64 question however is this: since H-D did not plan for the bearings to be lubed via a zerk fitting in the steering stem would the grease even get to the area that needs the lube? I've not seen a late model steering stem disassembled and am not smart enough to tell from the parts diagram if this would work.

Olddog · Jan 7, 2023

ultrafxr said:
I sure think it can be done but with the limited amount of space around the steering stem I do think it would be a pia. The $64 question however is this: since H-D did not plan for the bearings to be lubed via a zerk fitting in the steering stem would the grease even get to the area that needs the lube? I've not seen a late model steering stem disassembled and am not smart enough to tell from the parts diagram if this would work.

Totally agree. I'm hoping that someone who has had the the "new" model steering head assembly apart will comment on this.

Jack Klarich · Jan 7, 2023

ultrafxr said:
I sure think it can be done but with the limited amount of space around the steering stem I do think it would be a pia. The $64 question however is this: since H-D did not plan for the bearings to be lubed via a zerk fitting in the steering stem would the grease even get to the area that needs the lube? I've not seen a late model steering stem disassembled and am not smart enough to tell from the parts diagram if this would work.

Olddog said:
Totally agree. I'm hoping that someone who has had the the "new" model steering head assembly apart will comment on this.

If the neck was drilled and tapped for a fitting, dead center it would service both of the bearings and stem, much the same as the grease fitting on the shift shart( no longer done at the factory) but I still do them on late model Harleys

The problem with doing late model Harley necks is there is soooo much clutter to get thru before you could even start to drill

I had a 97 Electra Glide Standard I bought new that had no grease fitting in the neck, there was a raised boss where the neck should have one, so I drilled and tapped that one as soon as I got it home

Jack Klarich · Jan 7, 2023

In this picture of the newer Trike frames I would drill and tap dead center between the top and bottom of the neck

windsurfed · Jan 8, 2023

ultrafxr said:
The 2017 flat rate manual calls for 2.4 hours labor. Doubt that has changed much if any since no changes made to the trike. And if your dealer is like mine they bump up the flat rate hours by 50% so my dealer would charge 3.6 hours labor at $125 per hour plus 5% for shop supplies making it about $475 in labor plus any sales tax and parts. Earlier this year I had the dealer flush the clutch and brake lines on my 2020 TG and the final bill was $446.98 for labor, fluid, supplies and tax. I won't be doing that again . . . and I won't be having the steering stem serviced any time soon. Got 32k on my 2020 TG and it handles just fine. No matter the mother ship says to service at 25k I'm just not doing it until I perceive a need. JMHO and your mileage may vary.

I'm right there with you on this one. I'm just not doing it until I perceive a need. Very seldom in my life have I ever done a stearing head bearing grease job on my motorcycles. If I bought a used motorcycle with a condition that maybe required a look into the stearing head bearing, then I would tackle it. Example: purchase a motorcycle that is pretty weathered. This is in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Now more technology had been poured into the bearings. New Motorcycle, such as mine, I would just check it the old fashion way by lifting the front wheel off the ground and checking for free play and if there is any then I would be looking into it. If you find free play then something is going on in there that probably needs attention.

headheaded · Jan 8, 2023

Big question here, is the neck open to the frame ? If it is you would be filling the frame full of grease while pumping away. Maybe someone has the front end off of a 14 and newer touring bike and can take a look.

Olddog · Jan 8, 2023

headheaded said:
Big question here, is the neck open to the frame ? If it is you would be filling the frame full of grease while pumping away. Maybe someone has the front end off of a 14 and newer touring bike and can take a look.

Good question! That would be exactly my luck! I'm hoping that someone can answer this from first hand experience.

Cost to lube tri glide neck bearings

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