How hard is this going to be or should I spend an extra 200 for the shop to do it?

 

By "steering bearing" do you mean the wheel bearings for the front wheel? If so, that's covered in the service manual. Seems like as long as you have some basic tools you should be fine doing it yourself.

 

I'm going to assume you meant steering-head/tripple tree bearings.

First thing, be sure that you get roller-bearings, not ball-bearings for the replacement.
OEM is a ball, which is why you are replacing them.

As far as technical challenge, if you are a decent mechanic, it's about a 4-5 on a scale
of ten. The biggest challenge is the AMOUNT of disassembly required. Yeah, you can
do it with the fairings, etc in place, but really, (trust me) it's easier to pull it down.

The only two technical challenges-A: driving the new bearings in squarely and
B: torquing the steering-head nut to spec.

A: If you use a piece of 1/2" all-thread and some big washers, seating the bearings is easy.

B: You really need the special socket to torque the steering head nut down properly.
If you can rent one great (good luck though), I made one from a 35mm socket, just
used a dremel to cut the teeth out for the head-nut. Buying one is a good write-off
against the cost you would have paid a mechanic, so is do-able. I've used a pipe-wrench
to tighten the nut to a 'guess-timate' torque. However, I was not satisfied with the
result, so ended up going back and doing it over.

Here's a pick of the steering-head socket I made, by the way...



Hope this helps, Ern

 

The people the shop told me that I needed it fixed the part was like 20 bucks and service was like 200.

 

just replaced the steering stem bearings on my f3 about a month ago. wasnt exactly "hard" just time consuming. my fairings were already off the bike from where i was getting ready to paint them. i suspended the fron tof my bike from the deck that is over my driveway with 2 ratchet/tie-down straps. then used the downloadable repair manual i found for my bike to take everything apart and replace the bearings. be sure to be very careful not to damage the new bearings or races when seating them into the frame, and onto the steering stem. i dont have any pics of the bearing replacement or i would post them. but over all not a very hard job just takes some time

 

That sounds about right for a quote. I paid $25 with shipping from allballsracing.com,
for my F3. As mentioned it's labor-intensive, so the labor bill sounds reasonable,
as well. They'll make a profit, but their not gouging you.

While not technically difficult, it is critical enough, from a safety point-of-view,
that if you don't feel confident...pay to have this done. Only you can decide,
but don't over-reach if you don't have the skills/tools.

Hope this helps, Ern

 

Thanks guys

 

do you happen to have a part number from the allballsracing?

 

ahhh found it myself. Here it is 22-1020 All ***** Racing

 

My bearings are shot big time. I can do the work but I live in an apartment and there is no way to suspend my bike in my garage. Any suggestions?