Loose balls (oo-er!) or race bearing for steering bearings?

[Pompeydave]

Doing an overhaul of my steering bearings as they take a fair bit of stick from a very efficient front disc brake. Is the old racers trick of loose balls still a good upgrade, or do we now prefer the cage bearing kits? I’m wondering if the cage type kits are overkill?

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

Loose balls are an upgrade worth doing (apart from wearing boxers) I've not even ridden a converted front end & don't doubt the improvement but.....I've seen conversions then have a steering damper fitted, so go figure

The roller conversion is something that can be done DIY which TBH I intend, but last of my priorities. As I have a lathe, my intention is to machine the OEM frame bottom bearing (basically, the inner radius is too large to take a standard taper roller bearing)

A very, very effective front brake will not in itself cause raceway issues IMHO. Wheelies would though. Are you a 'Wheelie King?'

[Pompeydave]

Not with only 12hp on tap. Think my over cautious timing probably causes it to be that low. Ok, I’m going to try the loose balls idea and see how it goes. Just found some in an old packet earlier but don’t know if they’re the right size.

[ULC Soulagent]

My balls are always loose i have them on my Jet and steering input has improved but not by much. Bit of a ball ache getting them all in seated properly and setting the required squeeze without that bearing cage getting involved
My endurance gp racer for next year is getting the taper setup so will see how that goes next year