Steering slop
 

So my 2001 XC200 has had slop in the steering for a long time, and I finally got tired of it and ordered new head bearings. Turns out, the old ones weren't that bad, the grease on the lower was a bit mucked up and sticky, but I had a hard time discerning if there really was much play in it.

Now here's the part that I am 99% sure I know the answer to, but in case I'm wrong, I'd like to know. The steering stem is loose in the lower triple clamp. Like I could spin it all around (made locknut removal a pain), wobble it, and when it came time to get the bearing off, it was as easy as just tapping the stem out of the bearing. It obviously was not held into the tree how I expected it to be. Now, this is the first time I've had the triple trees off of a bike, so I don't really know, but I assume that the stem must be solidly pressed into place in the tree, in which case, I need a new lower clamp and stem. Am I right?

In my experience, it is generally just the nut under the triple clamps that is loose. Steering head bearings are very tough and overbuilt.

Yeah, you kinda misheard what I said. Nut was tight, stem was loose in the lower triple clamp. Like would fall out if not held in. I peened it in place with a centerpunch around the outer circumference, but that won't do much for very long.

Another way to explain the problem: with the lower triple clamp out of the bike, you could wobble the steering stem all around. Bad enough that as you tighten the nut under the upper triple, you would crush the bearings before taking the play out of the system.

I understand what you're saying. I would throw it away (unfortunately). If it pulls loose while riding you're going to have a bad experience. I don't remember how they're held or pressed together but peening it isn't going to withstand any shock loads when riding. That unit needs to be solid like a rock.

My KYB Yamaha one is pressed in and my old Magnum 45 looks pressed in too. Sounds like you might need a new lower triple clamp.

If memory serves me right (I'm not at home at the moment, so can't check) the stem is aluminum, right? In that case, it might be possible to weld it to the lower triple clamp, but I don't know what type of aluminum either of the parts are, so they may or may not be weldable.
I guess a new / secondhand triple clamp is a better option?

Best bet is to get an engineer to weld it up, turn it back down to an interference fit, and press it back in, or just buy a new one?

I thought my head bearings were gone just the same, turned out one of the handlebar clamp nuts had fallen off!! (just done 200 miles of hard offroad too haha!)

I'd just post on the Want to Buy forum for a used one. Odds are good that someone has one from a bike part out that would go for a reasonable price.