Adjusting The Handle Bars; Tightening The Steering Column - MINSK Repair Manual

Adjusting the Handle Bars
Two bolts and two nuts keep the handle bars from moving around. The two #12
bolts that you can see on top of the two braces around the middle of the handle bars
allow the height of the handle bars to be changed. Just loosen them, move the handle
bars higher or lower and then retighten the two bolts. The two #17 nuts under the two
braces holding the handle bars to the frame must always be tight. If they become
loose then the handle bars will rock back and forth in a dangerous manner. They
might even fall off if both nuts fall off. Just keep them tight and you will have no
problems.
Tightening the Steering Column
Inside the steering column are a number of ball bearings wrapped in grease
which allow the handle bars and front wheel to turn with ease. If these ball
bearings become damaged or the housing containing them becomes loose then the
front steering will begin to wobble and the use of the front brakes will cause the
front wheel to vibrate up and down in a dangerous manner.
To confirm this problem, lean the bike over on its kick-stand so that the front
wheel is in the air. Then grab the front wheel and see if you can move it up an
down a little, independently of the bike. If you can then you have to tighten the
large bolt at the top of the steering column. But first you must loosen the small
locking nut on the side of the steering column and the washer lock nut around the
large bolt (use the exhaust pipe removing tool). If you tighten it too much then you
will not be able to turn the handle bars. So just play around with the large bolt until
you get it right.
With luck this is all you will have to do to fix the problem. If, however, the ball
bearings inside the steering column are the culprits then you will need to head for a
mechanic as the process of repairing them is quite complicated.
©Digby Greenhalgh 2000
Minsk Repair Manual
washer
lock nut
42
large bolt
small
locking
nut