Steady Rest Set Up for Motorcycle Fork Leg

[NP317]

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steady rest with ball bearing guides

RussN

[Bill Shields]

You can add a bearing holder onto the end of your existing legs as long as you have enough internal clearance include of the steady frame

[Bill Shields]

Before I did that, I would take a piece of shim stock

Catch one end of it in the steady split line.

Close the steady and wrap when shim around the part.

Get everything tight and centered, soak the contact area with oil.

Now the leg is rotating inside a big brass bush and should not alter the dimensions of the steady legs.

[mcman56]

What type of shim would you use? Stainless steel or brass? 0.010 thick? Where can you get shim stock these days?

Looking at the tips of the steady rest now, they may sort of been honed to fit the shape of the fork leg. It seems really odd to me that the aluminium leg would shape the brass tips. Maybe something else was loose.

[Bill Shields]

brass or steel...stay away from stainless....but in reality, if you have stainless on hand....keep it lubricated and should be OK.

mcmaster.com is one place.
MSC direct another....

[mcman56]

Is copper too soft? I have some 0.010 copper. I see they sell some bearing ends but they could seem to drastically reduce the diameter.

[Bill Shields]

I would not use copper

It will squish under the leg contacts and cause looseness