Originally Posted by
bertinjim
skou -
Not a coincidence, it is exactly what one would expect. In riding a bike, the fork almost always stays pointed nearly straight ahead. This means that any impact damage to the headset cups tends to be at center or just slightly off center. The "wants to point straight ahead" seems to indicate that the headset is too tight and binding the ball bearings, not allowing them to turn freely. When you hold a bike off the groun and tilt it, the front wheel should flop over freely to the right or the left without binding or jamming part way. Check the headset bearing tightness or have a bike shop do this and loosen the headset if necessary. A potential result of over tightness is that the headset cups get dimpled which leads to notchiness when the headset rotates which should be checked for as well. You will likely be tearing down the headset, bottom bracket and wheel bearings for re-greasing so check them all for over tightness and damage as well.
Sorry for the late answer! I took the headset apart, and surprisingly enough, it was very well greased and seemed to be in "OK" shape (when age is considered as well). I cleaned it up and regreased the whole thing and adjusted it. Now it runs smoother than it did when it came out the factory, ha!
Thank you very much.
I made a thread in another subforum if you are curious. There are some photos in there:
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...ls-locked.html