Head Bearings

[darrenmartin]

Hi all im about to change the head bearings on me old girl and see iv got to use a "stearing stem socket" ...... i aint got one so is there anything i can use instead. thanks guys oh and photos of the bearing change to follow. i took adice from you guys and im replacing the ball bearings with needle roller type.

[scott02464]

Hi all im about to change the head bearings on me old girl and see iv got to use a "stearing stem socket" ...... i aint got one so is there anything i can use instead. thanks guys oh and photos of the bearing change to follow. i took adice from you guys and im replacing the ball bearings with needle roller type.

Hi mate, do you mean the castle nut? I just used a large screw driver and hammer to undo mine, just tap it round.

Or the large nut with the black cap on? I think it's a 27mm socket but not 100% sure, it was a while since I did mine lol but someone will confirm this soon

[popkat]

You don't need one, with just the yokes in place do the castle type nut up tight by hand then back off an eighth of a turn. when you have the rest of the front end on and tightened up check for play with the wheel off the ground, if you feel any clonking or movement loosen the top yoke and tighten up a bit. There should be little or no resistance to side to side steering movement, if it's stiff or slow loosen the castle nut.
Always do your check with the top yoke fully tightened.

[BigVeeGrin]

The very knowledgeable Mr McQ helped with mine at a workshop day. His top tip is to mark the yoke and nut with a marker pen at the position you think is good, prior to fine tuning, that way you have something to go back to, a kind of reference point.

[darrenmartin]

very good idea the old referance mark ill give it a go nice 1 and thanks lads

[AMCQ46]

as said, the castle nuts dont need a fancy tool, a punch [or a screwdriver] and a hammer will do fine.

setting instructions here
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 31&t=15681

[darrenmartin]

AMcQ, cheers buddy.

[tony.mon]

You can knock the old bearings out with a long bar, but then if you grind a smidgeon off the outside diameter you can use the old races to drift in the new ones, to stop accidentally denting them with a hammer.

[darrenmartin]

iv got the old ones out without much bother, the new races for the needle bearings are "deeper" i asume because the set was for a VTR these will fit ok

[tony.mon]

iv got the old ones out without much bother, the new races for the needle bearings are "deeper" i asume because the set was for a VTR these will fit ok

Yep, that's normal, as they have to allow for the length of the rollers rather than balls.
Just seat them into the stem down to the ledge; you can feel with a fingernail whether they're home but the hammer note changes as well, once they seat.

[Xenocide]

I just slice right through the old bearing race with an angle grinder to make it smaller to hammer in the new one.