headstock bearings

[mancman]

hi guys , can someone give me a bit of advice on the correct procedure when converting from original loose ball bearings to tapered races ? i bought a kit which contained 2 sets of bearings and 2 dust seals . after removing the old races and inserting the new, i fitted the larger lipped seal onto the fork stem followed by the lower bearing and lifted up through the frame. it was at this point that i realised that the upper race even though bedded in , stood proud of the headstock and once the top bearing was fitted along with the top seal it just didnt look right ! it left the domed screw cap not siiting flush with the frame . i realise i could ditch this seal but it still wouldnt leave the domed cap fitting as snug as before! its the height of the upper race thats the problem . i have since read that this is a caracteristic of upgrading to tapered bearings  and you just live with it . the trouble is that now the top yoke sits a little higher than it should it leaves the chrome headlight brackets loose . is there a fix ? what have you guys done ? also should there be a spacer washer under the bottom dust seal and bearing ? thanks for reading and by the way its a 1974 cb 750k4    garry

[K2-K6]

This may help understand your problem but possibly not solve it with the components you have.

Many original kits for this era bikes supplied during the eighties had a a component set that when made up would give a correct spacing......but I think they included one part of one bearing that had been ground to a different dimension to allow this to happen.....i.e. of the two bearings supplied, one of them was made to bespoke spec to mimic the Honda ball-race type.

The Dresda frame specialist (Dave Degens) used to supply these kits (unsure if others did too) so worth maybe searching to see if he still does.

I think it's correct to say that if you get a kit made up of off the shelf bearings to suit the application, then you can end up with the compromise you've explained.

Maybe someone with more knowledge about this than me can add something to this.......

[gasman]

Hi Guys
I had same problem, just used big spacer washers both on top and bottom yokes, some kits come with these, others obviously dont;
regards neal