Fork Head; Checking The Bearing Play; Adjusting The Bearing Play - APRILIA Scarabeo 50 I.E.-50 4T Workshop Manual

FORK HEAD

CHECKING THE BEARING PLAY

Carefully read p. 2 (GENERAL SAFETY RULES).
To check the steering it is necessary to:
♦ Place the vehicle on the center stand.
NOTE
Prepare a 200 mm (7.87 in) high support, the
base of which must measure 200 x 200 mm (7.87 x 7.87
in).
♦ Place the support (1) under the vehicle and a soft cloth
between them, so that the front wheel can move freely
and the vehicle cannot fall down.
WARNING
Make sure that the vehicle is stable. If it falls, it may
injure you or bystanders, as well as damaging
property, and being damaged itself.
♦ Grasp the lower fork legs and pull the fork fore and aft,
with the steering in a straight a head position.
NOTE
Be careful when performing this measurement
not to confuse play in the center stand with play in the
fork head. You should repeat this test several times
before deciding that the fork head needs to be adjusted.
♦ There should be no fore and aft slack. If you detect any
slack, the fork head bearings must be adjusted, see be-
low (ADJUSTING THE BEARING PLAY).

ADJUSTING THE BEARING PLAY

♦ Remove the front inner shield, see p. 25 (REMOVING
THE FRONT INNER SHIELD).
CAUTION
Proceed with care.
Handle the plastic and painted components with care
and avoid scraping or damaging them.
♦ Remove the snap-in plug (2).
♦ Working through the hole (3), prevent the screw (4) from
rotating with an appropriate Allen wrench.
Nut (5) tightening torque:
♦ Remove the nut (5).
NOTE
There is a groove in the steering column which
engages screw (4). This centers the handlebar, and pre-
vents it from accidentally coming off.
You must remove screw (4) as far as possible before
lifting the handlebar off.
♦ Pull screw (4) as far out of the tabs through which it
passes as possible (the rear handlebar cover makes it
impossible to remove it completely).
♦ Raise the handlebars a few centimeters.
♦ Remove the rubber gasket (6).
♦ Loosen the lock nut (7) using an appropriate open end
wrench.
CAUTION
Do not over tighten the adjusting nut (8). Over
tightening the nut could damage the steering bear-
ings.
♦ Tighten the adjusting nut (8) until all the bearing play is
removed.
♦ Check the play as described above. Make sure that the
front fork can move throughout its entire range, stop to
stop, in a free and smooth rotation.
♦ Hold the adjusting nut (8) in position using an appropriate
open end wrench and tighten the lock nut (7).
Check the bearing play again after you have tightened the
lock nut to insure that the adjustment is maintained.
66
50Nm (36.17 ftlb).
Release 00 2003-02
Scarabeo 50 I.E.-50/100 4T