Steering stem bearings ??

[cb750stu]

Hi Folks

Just wondering how to get these rings off they are solid if i put it in the freezer will that work ??

I looks like there are 4 parts there , 

Does all that assembly come off or just the top 2 rings

Cheers

[LesterPiglet]

The very top is a spacer. It all comes off up to the spacer, unless the spacer is the wrong size then that comes off too. I just used a bfh and an old screwdriver. Just work your way around the bearings a bit at a time and it should come off.

[cb750stu]

Cheers !!!

As you can see in the top picture i have tried the BFH route i think i will go and hit it a bit harder !!!

Cheers

[the-chauffeur]

Stu

I've always found the lower races a bloody nightmare to remove.  I've finally settled on a somewhat unconventional - but effective - solution.  I use a small axe head (like a wide bladed cold chisel) against the bottom race edge and strike the back of it with a heavy hammer.  Since both tools are hardened, I wear goggles and gloves, just in case. 

The other thing I do is brace the top end against a piece of wood up against a wall.  With the whack I need to give these things, I find that vices just don't cope.

Alternatively there's always the elegant solution of using a Dremel to cut through 2/3rds-3/4trs of the race width and then snap the remainder with your hammer/cold chisel . . .

[cb750stu]

Yeah ive just finished with my Dremmel worked a treat !!

I just test fitted my new bearings,i take it when i put it back together they will move down when tightening up because at the moment they dont go all the way down to the bottom they seem a bit snug ??

Cheers for the advice 

[LesterPiglet]

I just fitted tapers a few months ago and I'm still trying to set them right. Either too tight or too loose. 

[the-chauffeur]

The bearings need to go all the way to the bottom of the steering stem - and yes, that's a bastard of a job if you don't happen to have exactly the right diameter piece of pipe knocking about to belt them on with.  Or even better, a hydraulic press.

I've just done the same job on my Pan European.  The interference fit between the stem and the lower race is incredibly tight - I used a variety of tools to get them down, but the most useful thing was the old bearing race lower half, which I could put over the new one to protect it when I was bearing (ha - see what I did there?) down on the whole assembly.

And don't forget, the seal with the rubber edges goes on first, then the bearing . . . been there, done that.