)Are taper roller bearings the way to go? And if so, how does that effect the stated torque figures when doing stuff up again?
Ta in advance.
Steering head bearings
-
Lutin
- Posts: 648
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:52 pm
- Location: Just across the border in the Republic
- Has thanked: 258 times
- Been thanked: 332 times
Steering head bearings
Any hints or tips on changing the steering head bearings? Bike's a Honda Transalp 650, if you're interested (and even if you're not it's still a Honda Transalp )
Are taper roller bearings the way to go? And if so, how does that effect the stated torque figures when doing stuff up again?
Ta in advance.
)Are taper roller bearings the way to go? And if so, how does that effect the stated torque figures when doing stuff up again?
Ta in advance.
Blundering about trying not to make too much of a hash of things.
-
Le_Fromage_Grande
- Posts: 11236
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:40 pm
- Location: The road of many manky motorcycles
- Has thanked: 607 times
- Been thanked: 4124 times
Re: Steering head bearings
Fit tapers, torque them to the recomended torque, which will feel a bit tight initially
Honda Owner
-
KungFooBob
- Posts: 14223
- Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:04 pm
- Location: The content of this post is not AI generated.
- Has thanked: 539 times
- Been thanked: 7539 times
Re: Steering head bearings
I put tapers in Fireblade. iirc the most difficult part was getting the bottom race off the stem, for the others Honda provided nice little cuttaways in the frame to allow you to get a drift on them.
-
Le_Fromage_Grande
- Posts: 11236
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:40 pm
- Location: The road of many manky motorcycles
- Has thanked: 607 times
- Been thanked: 4124 times
Re: Steering head bearings
Some bikes have a little cut away on the bottom yoke you can use to separate the race from the yokeKungFooBob wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 9:32 am I put tapers in Fireblade. iirc the most difficult part was getting the bottom race off the stem, for the others Honda provided nice little cuttaways in the frame to allow you to get a drift on them.
Honda Owner
-
GuzziPaul
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:45 pm
- Location: Chelmsford
- Has thanked: 59 times
- Been thanked: 195 times
Re: Steering head bearings
Taper bearings.
Drift the top outer race out from the bottom and visa versa, use a socket handle. The inner race which will be attached to the stem, maybe use a bit of heat. The bottom one will be a pain in the arse as you can't get under it to drift it. I would suggest usinga Dremel with a cutting disk and cut through the majority of it top to bottom, then stick a big flat blade screwdriver in it and twist. It should crack and then easily slide off.
To install. Stick the outer races in the freezer ( I currently have the big bearing for the bevel drive for the Le mans in the freezer). Get a length of threaded bar and a suitable sized socket, nuts, washers and a flat bit of bar or strong wood with a hole. Take one of the outer races from the freezer and place on top of the socket. Put the threaded bar through the steering stem, then the wood washer and nut on the opposite side of the stem and tighten to pull the outer race in. Repeat for the other end.
Inner race. Stick the stem in the freezer Get a bit of tube that just fits over the stem and is longer. Warm the bottom inner race with a hot air gun. Take the stem out the freeezer and drift the warmed bottom race down. Stick the bottom bearing on the stem and insert into the frame, drop the top bearing in and drift the warmed inner bearing into the stem and tighten down the nut, maybe with a couple of additional washer initially to push the inner race all the way down.
Drift the top outer race out from the bottom and visa versa, use a socket handle. The inner race which will be attached to the stem, maybe use a bit of heat. The bottom one will be a pain in the arse as you can't get under it to drift it. I would suggest usinga Dremel with a cutting disk and cut through the majority of it top to bottom, then stick a big flat blade screwdriver in it and twist. It should crack and then easily slide off.
To install. Stick the outer races in the freezer ( I currently have the big bearing for the bevel drive for the Le mans in the freezer). Get a length of threaded bar and a suitable sized socket, nuts, washers and a flat bit of bar or strong wood with a hole. Take one of the outer races from the freezer and place on top of the socket. Put the threaded bar through the steering stem, then the wood washer and nut on the opposite side of the stem and tighten to pull the outer race in. Repeat for the other end.
Inner race. Stick the stem in the freezer Get a bit of tube that just fits over the stem and is longer. Warm the bottom inner race with a hot air gun. Take the stem out the freeezer and drift the warmed bottom race down. Stick the bottom bearing on the stem and insert into the frame, drop the top bearing in and drift the warmed inner bearing into the stem and tighten down the nut, maybe with a couple of additional washer initially to push the inner race all the way down.
Re: Steering head bearings
^^^
Using heating and cooling works in so many applications it ain't funny. An old oven in the garage works wonders for popping bearings out of engine casings and seals out of fork legs.
Using heating and cooling works in so many applications it ain't funny. An old oven in the garage works wonders for popping bearings out of engine casings and seals out of fork legs.