P11 loose steering head

Is the 5 way junction connector designed to release both male and female bullets? This one seems to have at least the female side molded in because the ends seem tapered to hug the bullets. I think the only way to remove the bullets is to cut the 5 way connector.

It looks like British Wiring has the best pricing.

Lucas connectors are female/female.
Lucas wire ends are all male. I cant think of a female bullet wire end on a P11.
There are, of course, some Lucas female flag ends.....horn, brake switch, coils, main switch, etc.
British wiring has all these items in stock.
You need a special crimp tool to install new Lucas bullets....and it makes life much simpler.

I just cut open the connector down the sides with an x-acto knife, bullets were not coming out any other way.
Wiring now can be hidden under the tank. If I ever put back on the headlamp, I will consider using individual connectors rather than the rubber 5 way.

Did some test riding and took a few speed bumps at different speeds. The G80CS front end swap with the P11 lower yoke works very good on Bel Ray 20wt.

The rear suspension is another story, too hard.

mdt-son said:

Hi Elefantrider,
Would you elaborate on your head stock rebuild? I have a P11 (122xxx) which suffered damage to the headstock during shipping. The casting wasn't great anyway (it should have been rejected at the factory), so I am looking at making all new bearing seats,
preferably for metric angular bearings. Have you written about the work you did in another thread?

Regards,
Knut

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My original bearing seats or cups were good, not pitted. I just cleaned them and re-used.
I bought a bag of ball bearings from a ball bearing vendor on Ebay. They were high quality, Japan or US made, I don't remember.
I put white moly grease on the bottom seat, to hold the balls to the bottom cup. Fitted the bottom yoke/stem assembly through to the top, held up by a friend. Then did the same for the top cup.

The next time I do this, I will probably epoxy in the cups to the frame. Or tack weld a specially machined ring around the cups. There is too much play between the frame and the cups which cause a slight movement if you hold the front brake and rock back and forth. I am not sure why the factory allowed for a loose tolerance here.

I guess P11's didn't all leave the factory with loose steering head bearing races. I don't have any movement in the bearing races on the front end of my P11. The bearing races definitely do not move in the frame. The races were good and I did not remove them from the frame when I installed the Betor forks in the early 70's. Are you sure it is the races moving and not the bearings being a little undersize, or the head spindle (crown lug) in need of re-tightening?

Not trying to tell you anything you don't already know, just saying the bearing races aren't loose in the frame of my P11, so not all of them came from the factory loose.

Yes, rather sure the top race/cup is moving in the head. I was able to move it when I set it in there.
The spindle is very tight. I will try to post a video the next time I get the bike out.

Maybe it was originaly glued in on some bikes?

elefantrider said:

Yes, rather sure the top race/cup is moving in the head. I was able to move it when I set it in there.
The spindle is very tight. I will try to post a video the next time I get the bike out.

Maybe it was originaly glued in on some bikes?

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Curious as to how you resolved this issue.

Really can be annoying with a strong front brake.

The races in all three of my P11's are a nice tight fit. There are three different races, one for the top triple tree, one for the bottom triple tree and two of the same race for the top and bottom steering neck on the frame.

Ron L said:

The races in all three of my P11's are a nice tight fit. There are three different races, one for the top triple tree, one for the bottom triple tree and two of the same race for the top and bottom steering neck on the frame.

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I found a source for those in the USA a while ago and purchased a set along with some bearings of the correct diameter off Amazon. Anyway, I have an unusual setup using the Betor triple trees and stem. The races in the frame are tight enough. I have other issues that have very little to do with the OEM triple tree or front forks.

Am curious to see if elefantrider found out what his particular problem was.

Always wondered if one bearing should be left out like was done in some old bicycles, rather than filling the races with bearings butted up edged to edge.

Hardest part of that job is getting my front wheel back in between the forks. Heavy thing a big 4LS in a wheel with the tire on it is to get in a very tight space. A third arm would be helpful. ha

Races were not a precision fit. On the loose side actually. With knobbies and the stock drum, you don't really notice it much. Been a while but I think I left at least one ball out. Somewhere I believe it says the exact quantity to use.

elefantrider said:

Races were not a precision fit. On the loose side actually. With knobbies and the stock drum, you don't really notice it much. Been a while but I think I left at least one ball out. Somewhere I believe it says the exact quantity to use.

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Red Scramblers book says total of 56 balls between the top and lower sets of steering head races. Should be 28 per set. I get to do it over again.