In the next days I'll undertake the replacement of the head bearings (shot after 30 000Km). There's a major kink right in the center. I guess the odd wheelie pays its toll...
Anybody has experience with this? (not the wheelies... the bearings...)
Some tips to share on things to do or to avoid besides standard procedure in the shop manual?
I've also heard that tapered bearings are much better than standard ball bearings (some VFR sites talk about it, but I've found nothing on VTR's). Can someone confirm this? Again, any experience to share?
Any info appreciated!
tapered bearing are better as they use roller bearing as opposed to ball bearings but the are harder to setup and sometimes the bearings (assembled) are slightly thicker than the standard honda ones so you may end up with having to pack out the ignition switch where it is bolt to the bottom of the tope yoke for the steering lock to work properly.
Easy parts:
Tapping out races from head stock - just do them evenly with abar and a hammer.
b8stard Parts:
Supporting bike properly, best thing to use is a moto mover, clamps the rear wheel and can be tied in, then use a trolley jack and a piece of wood to raise the bike- mind the headers and sump fins.
Installing new races into head stock and getting them square and seated - I use an old stem and bearings to push them in square. Have to be careful as the headstock is alloy and they are an interferance fit and it easy to scrape bits of alloy behind the seats - then they won't be square.
Removing and fitting the inner race for the bottom bearing on the steering stem/bottom yoke. (*you will need a new bottom dust seal - also if you use tapered bearing the dust seal will not fit over the bearing properly, either don't fit the dust seal=not good for everyday use as all the sh1t will get in. OR whilst the bearing is dry remove/grind the bearing cage down so it fits=more hassle but worth the work). Bearing seat is hard to remove, yoke needs the nut on it and clamp upsidedown in a large vice so that it is resting on the nut (to pretect thread) but clamped gentle in the vice - out with the club hammer and cold chisel and tw@ it off slowly and evenly being careful not to bend/distort stem/yoke. Once it's off decide whoch way you are going on the new bearings and then the seat is also an interferance fit - need a long thick tube to tap it on with - is good to use an old bearing that has been ground out inside (so it doesn't get stuck on the stem too) and wrap rags etc around the threads so the tube doesn't flatten them.
That's about it really, just grease it up, set it up and your done. I always use Moly Grease instead of LM Grease as it stays in place and repells water real good, up to you.
Did them myself a month or two ago, and I'm not great with the spanners. I put in a set of the tapered bearings. Hardest part, as Del says, was getting the race off the stem, and the new one on it straight.
If you don't have the proper kit to support it, do like I did! Trolley jack under the sump (block of wood between them), put a mate sitting on top of it and get him to hold onto the drain pipe on the wall beside him! The poor fecker was frozen after sittting there wothout moving for an hour or so! only cost me 4 pints too!
Stick the outer races in the freezer ovenight. They will shrink slightly due to the low temp and it makes it much easier to fit them into the steering head.
Also, taper rollers do not need to be pre-loaded in the same way as roller bearings. The castellated adjustment nut (under the top yoke) should be tightened up to seat the bearings properly, and then backed off enough allow the bars to fall to full lock with a light push, but with no free play. They will usually bed in within 100 miles, and then you need to adjust the bearings again.
