I'm in the process of cleaning up / overhauling a new-to-me '77 Moby 50V. It's generally in quite good condition save for a few dings and scratches, and is pretty unmolested; nobody seems to have put a single wrench to it in 42 years.
I pulled the forks and headset off, being careful not to lose any bearing balls, as there are a bunch of them and they're not caged.
After cleaning them up, I counted a total of 46 balls --- presumably 23 for the upper and 23 for the lower.
BUT .......
1) Rebel Moby says there should be 25 in the each, for a total of 50 balls.
http://mabecanemobylette.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=684
2) The Moby repair manual says there should be 26 in each, or 52 total. (EDIT: The Moby parts manual agrees with the repair manual, though that shouldn't be a surprise.)
p. 65: http://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Image:Motobecane_manual.pdf
3) The Treats replacement has caged bearings. I could buy that, but my races are in good shape, so I don't really want to replace the whole setup. Also---and it probably doesn't matter here---more bearing balls is stronger, stiffer, and smoother than fewer bearing balls.
https://www.treatland.tv/motobecane-headset-bearings-p/motobecane-headset-bearings.htm
Anyone have a definitive answer as to how many there should be in each of the bearings? 23? 25? 26? Something else? I'm leaning towards putting 26 in there.
Side note: They measure to 5/32" diameter. I'm sure I can pick up extras at any hardware store, but I just don't know how many to put in there. And before I get any "just try 23, 25, and 26, and see which fits best" comments, it's really hard to tell what the 'correct' number is based on feel; much harder than, say, with a wheel bearing which only has about 12 or whatever larger diameter balls. (edited)
