Lloyd,
When it is bad enough, Honda will warranty the bearings, but my point was that they will only authorize the dealer to install roller bearings, not tapered bearings. So if you want the job done and over with, you have to buy the kit yourself and have it installed. This is what I'm having done, I have the same issue. And it's not balance, I have Dyna Beads in both tires.
This issue started years ago. Dunlop has always been the OEM supplier of tires that came with the Wing. Owners started complaining about the tire cupping on the fronts, and just like someone said here, they went back to the dealer, thinking it was a tire issue.
So the dealers, unaware of the root cause of the problem, warrantied the tire for the customer. Dunlop, however, after receiving many of these tires under "warranty", investigated this with their engineers. It turned out that all the tires were fine, the root cause was loose roller bearings (excessive play) in the steering head. And as you may or may not know, roller bearings cannot be adjusted for preload to adjust for clearance.
So Dunlop notified their dealers that should a customer come in with tires cupping on one side, that this WAS NOT a tire issue. Dunlop themselves produced a kit that contained the proper tapered roller bearings and instructions for installation that would fix the problem. I am not positive, but I believe that the dealer had to tell the customer that they had a fix, but the customer would have to pay for it. If the customer would not do this, Dunlop would not authorize the tire replacement under warranty.
This is how Honda became aware of the issue, but their stance on this is unusual, in that the proper solution has been identified and proven to be correct, but they refuse to authorize the dealers to install anything other than new roller bearings, which essentially guarantees this same issue popping up in 14K to 15K (normally) down the road.
At this point, I believe that Dunlop no longer produces the kits, but the cause and effect remain the same. If you want it fixed, then you have to purchase the kit and have the dealer install it.
I'm having mine done this coming Tuesday at B&L Trikes in Des Moine. I'm going to take a look at this just out of curiosity so I understand it completely from a mechanical standpoint. I also want to see what the suggested preload has to be, because later on, they may have to be tightened up again, although that probably won't be necessary if it's done right the first time and the bearing quality is good. Timken is the long standing originator of the tapered roller bearing, but I'm sure that now it's an offshore brand.