i need some advice/help on steering head bearings

[awesome sauce]

hey guys so took my bike for a nice cruise and noticed that when i was coming to a harsh stop i had a shudder in the front. so i put my bike on the center stand and had a buddy sit on the back to lift the front end off the ground.  with the forks of the ground i could move the front forks forward and back a little bit. im thinking my steering bearings are either shot or loose... i tried to tighten them down but they require a special tool...i improvised with a hammer and a driver but i wasnt able to snug it up enough to stop the shudder when driving or the wobble when i had the bike on the stand.  
 
do i just need to nut up and tighten her up more or would a new bearing be the solution. im also kinda worried that it may be the neck that the bearing goes into? could it be damaged or is that not likely?  

as always your help is appreciated!  thanks in advance

[rrgunslinger]

Should be easy to tighten. Use a pipe wrench or a channel locks.  Should not need to bang on it.  

[shinyribs]

Gunslinger is right,that nut should be easy to turn. Is there any chance the adjuster nut is frozen? If the nut is loose you should be able to tighten it until it almost locks up. You are only looking for very light drag on those bearings. When you tighten the adjuster nut it only goes about as tight as a spark plug,or even less than that. The top clamp is what holds it from backing off,nut tension on the threads.

With your bike on the center stand and the front tire off the ground,when you turn the handle bars side to side can you feel a notch in the center position,or any roughness at all? If so,you need new bearings. It easy to do ( heck,i even managed pulled it off) and you can get them off ebay,shipped for under $40.

[robs750]

Since your bike is a 1980 model,the best thing you could do is to remove the bearings.Clean and inspect the bearings and races.Check for pitting.
Install using a quality wheel bearing grease.Reassemble per the SM.