Headset Overhaul

I had nothing interesting to do today so I thought I'd do some winter bike maintenance. My old Dawes always had a clunky feel from the headset bearings, so I thought I'd try to fix that. I first loosened the handlebar stem bolt:

Next I loosened the top nut on the headset:

 

The front brake cable was just barely stopping me from removing the handlebars, so I unhooked the straddle wire for more clearance:

Bars, top nut, and cable bracket removed:

Carefully unscrew the top race. On most bikes the ball bearings are held in retainers, so they don't all fall out when you service your bike. Not this one. It helps to hold a rag or paper towel by the bearing cup to catch anything that falls out.

You can slide the fork straight out after removing the top race:

Now clean all the headset parts and repack the bearings with marine grease:

The lower cup gets exposed to rainwater, so that's why I recommend some kind of water resistant grease. If you have fenders or never ride in the rain then use whatever grease you like. Now you can reinstall the fork:

Screw on the top race, then reinstall any spacers, brackets, and the top nut in the same order that you removed them:

Now you can reinstall the bars and dial in the bearing adjustment:

Use the top race (in this case, the round piece with the knurled finish) to set the preload, then tighten down the top nut to lock in the adjustment. Tightening that top nut might increase the pressure on the bearings, so screw in the top race until the bearings have a very small amount of play first. Then tighten the top nut. The fork should turn easily without play when you're finished. It's difficult to get the adjustment right the first time, so keep trying until it's perfect.