The other week I found myself using the Speed Twin in the wet to get to work. At the weekend I inspected the bike and noticed a spot of rust on the chrome steering nut. I went to rub the rust off with my thumb nail and was shocked to discover the nut was rotating and was completely loose. Upon unscrewing the nut I noticed the thread inside was completly devoid of any thread lock. This nut is supposed to be torqued to 90 N/m. I have no idea it had been like that. No adverse steering or braking symptoms but maybe something for other users to be aware of.
I assume that the nut was never torqued correctly as at a fairly hefty 90Nm it should never come loose and threadlock is unnecessary. Has the nut been removed at any point for adjusting or greasing the bearings?
Not that I am aware of, nothing in the service history to denote that happened. I am waiting for a new (and different) nut to arrive and then I will torque it down myself.
I had the same on my 2018 Speedmaster. The front end was feeling 'clunky' under braking and after a few weeks of not managing to work out the cause, was on my way to dealers (bike was under warranty) when I thought to check that head nut.
