advice with head bearings needed

bimota

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hi guys,

got a mobile mechanic coming out monday to do my head bearings, i have the 2 bearings to hand, also as the forks have been sent away for re chroming the front end is off,
so he agrees he,s coming monday asked me if i had a compressor i said no this was his reply Do i need to worry about him not being able to swop my bearings over as i don,t have a compressor how have you guys that do it yourself get on

(Ahh right ok... hopefully the races will come out OK if not won't be able to do it without compressor as would need a air grinder hopefully u got to cut out grooves in your frame where u knock the races out from.)

rob
 

RCinNC

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I can't imagine what he needs a compressor for. I knocked out the races with a 5/16" steel rod and a hammer. You won't have any problems removing them that way. I drove the new races in using the old races as a driver. To keep the old races from getting stuck when you're driving in the new ones, I cut a slot in the old races with an electric Dremel tool and a diamond cutting wheel.

Why would he need to cut grooves in your frame?? You don't need to cut anything in the frame to get the races out or to put bearings in.

I couldn't get the lower steering head bearing off using the chisel method, so I just took the steering head to the shop to have them remove the bearing from the steering stem.
 

RCinNC

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If you want, I'll send you copies of the service manual pages describing the race and bearing removal and installation procedure.
 

bimota

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i think he means i hope you have the grooves in the frame from the factory that you use to chisel them out, BORIS on here confirmed the grooves are there and races come out easy enough,
i think the only issue is the bearing getting stuck hard to remove from the shaft as he got somebody else to do it he thinks they used a dremel to cut it off i have 2 dremels to hand so we should be ok

rob
 

RCinNC

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that would be great

rob
If you PM me with your email, I can send you my own consolidated steering head removal and installation guide, plus the pages from the service manual that deal with the steering head bearing and race removal. They're ready to go as soon as you tell me where to send them.

Driving out the races is simple. You just have to do it evenly, so the race doesn't get cockeyed inside the steering head tube. Use a steel rod, a drift punch, or something similar. I hit the race in a cross pattern (top, bottom, left, right) and just worked my way around the race in that manner until rewarded with that lovely "ping" sound when it came out of the steering head and landed on the concrete floor. You don't have to wail on it like you're trying to drive a railroad spike. Just keep the hits even so the race comes out straight. Check it visually every few hits to make sure it isn't cockeyed.

Driving in the new race wasn't a big deal either. I put the new ones in the freezer overnight to shrink them a little so it would be easier to drive them in. I took the old race after I knocked it out and cut a relief slot in it with the Dremel and diamond wheel. It looks like this:



That relief slot allows the race to compress a little as you're using it to drive the new race into place, so the old race won't get stuck in the steering head tube. I used a very thin film of grease on the outside of the new race, got it positioned in the steering head, put the old race on top the new one, and just started hitting the old race evenly around the circumference until I drove the new one all the way in and it seated in a little lip inside the steering head. You can tell by feel and sound when it's positioned properly. I visually checked it frequently as I drove it in to make sure it was even. The lower race is the harder of the two, mainly because you have to be in kind of an awkward spot under the bike.

My biggest problem was removing the lower steering head bearing. The service manual describes using a chisel to wedge the bearing up the steering tube until it can be removed by hand. I couldn't get the bearing to budge using that method, and I was a little apprehensive about hammering on it any harder than I was. And anyway, I didn't have the appropriate tool (or even the right sized pipe) to use to drive a new bearing into place. It was easier to just take the steering head to the shop and have them remove the old bearing and install the new one.

Some guys cut the old lower steering head bearing off with a Dremel tool and a cutting wheel. I didn't feel comfortable doing that, because I didn't want to accidentally cut into the steering stem. Maybe your guy wants to use a die grinder to cut off the bearing, and needs a compressor for that.

This task intimidated me when I first contemplated doing it, mainly because I was worried about damaging the steering head tube by getting the races in sideways. I'd never replaced bearing races beforeI tried it last year, and it actually went a lot smoother that I thought it would.
 

~TABASCO~

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The races are easy to get out.... What is hard is the lower bearing that is pressed on the steer tube.... That is way harder than the two races........ Do not damage the lower ripple tree or steer tube while trying to get that bearing and 'dust seal' off............... Once this is all done, make sure he preps the bearings with grease the proper way, and the bearings are "loaded".....

Ive seen over the years the top race not "square" to the seat.... Make SURE that both races are square to the seat and properly seated.... Before you remove the top bearing and seat, check to see if you you have witness 'wear' all the way around the race..... or 180* of this or what % is way off......

Make sure your guy when re installing the top nut on the triple tree properly cleans the threads (from all the new grease installed) and adds a bit of lock-tight before properly torquing this nut....... I have some short videos of this bearing / race info, I don't know how to attach them......
 

Gerard

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Just make sure you follow the manual and tighten the bearing nut initially to 50 ft/lbs to settle the bearings and cups, fully loosen the the nut and then final tighten to ( i think) 15ft/lbs
 

Boris

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Torque figures
 
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