What would make steering effort increase?

[Wannaviper]

I installed Bill Mohr's spring on my XTX and it lightened steering effort considerably, but then after riding the steering progressively required more effort. I lifted the front end off the ground, and it was still hard to turn. I took off the boots and saw that the whole area was full of ice chunks, and figured that was the culprit. After everything melted out, it was much easier to turn the handlebars, but still, even when off the ground, it requires some effort, noticeably more effort than on my other Viper. Would a broken bracket do that, or possibly something being bent by the ice? How hard is it to get into the steering to see/fix any issues?

 

[cannondale27]

Check steering stem bracket. Especially when hot from engine heat they can get tight.

 

[Wannaviper]

Check steering stem bracket. Especially when hot from engine heat they can get tight.

Will do, thank you.