Seems you were tasked with pushing a 2 tonne cube up the mountain… Is there anything that lug nut didn’t touch?
Sneezles61

He didn't touch the stuff he should have touched and touched the stuff he shouldn't have.

Sounds like this guy is vying for the poster child for the old saying:

"Those who can... do!
Those who can't do... teach."


Of course, most if not nearly all teachers are incredibly talented and fantastic individuals. But there are those few that belong on the above mentioned poster... or I guess these days, meme.

Came to pull the steering stem. I no longer felt any trepidation as to what I would find inside.

That was long gone. What I felt now was just tired resignation as I undid the adjuster nut..

Resigned to seeing some more of his botched antics.


And I was not disappointed. The guy is not just a buffoon, he is a dangerous buffoon that has no business calling himself a motor industry professional. As suspected, rusty balls and tracks. I bet when he tried to adjust the races, they were as notchy as feck, so he loosened them off till they felt smoother.
All he had done was rub away the rust with sandpaper.

By now I had developed a nervous twitch, a hunted look in my eyes and the feeling that the old git was sat in a nearby tree with binoculars watching me, eating his mouldy cheese sandwiches and cackling to himself.

Yet another order for new hardware going in.  I had ten pound notes flying out of my pocket faster than a GAU8 Avenger can fire 30mm shells.

What respectable person with the slightest amount of mechanical knowledge, or indeed, access to a workshop manual and a pair of reading glasses would ever call those bearing tracks serviceable?

Intermission…
I need to grab a few brews and more corn nuts..
Sneezles61

Took the steering stem to work, stuck it in the beadblaster and then gave it four coats of tough black satin paint.
A day or so later the new hardware arrived and it was all put together the next Saturday morning.


Looking much better.  How it should have looked in the first place.


New bearings and dust seals fitted, and stem put back together.


It was time to strip the forks.
 

I enjoy watching over you, puny human.  I have much more fun to place at your disposal yet....
And to think, you thought that just this once, if you bought from me, you would not have to get your hands dirty.
Mwahahaaaa, MMWAHAAAAAAHAAAA!
​​​​​​


 

Cough.. cough…!! I about choked on my corn nuts…
Well, your still here, reliving the past, so I’ll believe weren’t afflicted by the wretched demon!
Sneezles61

I'll liven up the party lol.
Stem looks bent. Ok probably just the photo.
One more--& a Yamaha failing--the shiny 6 threads are where the top cone runs.
Yamaha should have calculated all that & Not had it sitting on the threads because over the years it flattens the thread tops & produces play forward & aft under braking.
Have seen some super bad cases with people trail riding over the years & absolutely buggered it.
You can tighten it untill its like damped steering & feel the lumps with old bearings, but it'll still do it under heavy braking & go forward & hold. Then next time you back it out of the shed & grab the front brake it goes CLICK, wtf was that.--was 'that'!!.
One of mine i did a dodgy thing & bronzed the adjuster nut to the top cone which fixed it 100%.
I then had to come up with a plan for a cover call it shield as distance had doubled from top of adjuser to head stock whatever ya call it.
But can't remember what i did now. Probably cut a hole in a bake bean tin haha.
Hope yours isn't bad enought to worry about but thought you needed one more thing to--worry about.
Bronze the threads up & machine smooth & a snug cone fit. Adjuster nut might have a large taper lead in on one side which would allow for adjusting past thread end for a couple of mm.
You'll be asleep so something to wake up to. [looking for a devils smiley, wish i knew how to find & use them].

That stem does look bent, and that is a great idea to fix the threads that are too low on the stem. Good Luck Tinkicker