Hey guys

Finally got the bike all stripped down last night, now my bedroom looks like a garage. I've almost totally stripped the frame for powdercoating, and was just having issues removing the steering stem, since I didn't have the Honda toolkit that comes with the bike. Anyways, just got it off, much to my surprise, by bashing a screwdriver in those grooves of the bottom steering stem nut. Got the nut off, and the whole stem just dropped out....along with the bearings. This was a little confusing, as I'd read in other posts that I would have to be bashing races and stuff to get this out, and that I'd need new bearings from...all the bashing. Well, this might not be the case...but I also found some interesting stuff in there as well. Cue picture one:




Yeah, some metal shavings, never a good sight. But then again, these just dropped right out under the frame, they could have just been there from break in of the bike. Anyway. I'm just wondering if I can re-use the bearings, since I didn't (as far as I know) damage them in any way...can I just clean them, repack them with new grease and put them back in? I'm not really sure of the order, since it all just dropped out of the frame, and do they need to sit or be wedged in the 'races'? Pic 2:



Also, am I going to have to pound the races out to get the bearings back in, or even just for the powdercoating?

I'm assuming these are the races...

 

Alright, I just cleaned the bearings, and they seem to be fine, no evidence of scarring or anything, at least as far as I can tell.

 

IMHO, you need to drive out the races and replace those oeball bearings with tapered roller bearings.

There is a popular source for these whose name is "ALL *****". Their name says ***** but they are tapered rollers.

They come complete with races.

I would never get this far into dissasembly and not replace the head bearings.

Each bearing (upper and lower) has an inner and an outer race.

Your photo shows theouter races in the steering head. There is aninner raceon the stem where it meets the lower tree.

They should all be removed.

This task can be done at home but there are special tools that make it go quickly and accurately without damaging the new bearings.

You may want to let someone who has done the task do this install and school you for future jobs.

Make sure your powder coater does not get paint in this area or the swingarm pivot.

 

Metal shavings are M'kay.

Haha, anyways, yeah, If I found metal shavings like that, for any reason, I would just feel better (especially after all the work you've already done) to install new bearings and be done with it. They can't be THAT expensive. Just my opinion.

 

i can't believe your front end never felt sloppy, or did you not ever feel a klunking of any sort?
like joe says, replace with tapered.
also, make sure you set the race correctly...not too tight or loose...or else it'll klunk once everything starts to settle.

 

Alright, I checked out pricing on the steering stem bearings and they're pretty cheap. I think I'll cover the races on the steering stem, reuse all the old parts and see how it goes. I havn't actually had a chance to ride the bike, so I have no idea how the steering feels. If its crap, I'll disassemble the front end and replace the bearings with the rollers from All *****. Keep in mind, this is a stuntbike, so I'm going to be breaking **** anyway, haha.


For the swingarm, I'm a little concerned. The pivot bearings are in there real good, but I'm sure I can get them out. I'm just wondering where I can get replacement bearings for those? I don't think All ***** makes them.

 

Oh right....and for the 'races' that come from AllBalls, they say the kit comes with 2. Are those the two that are still stuck in the frame stem, or the ones that fell out with the bearings?

 

They will be the ones in the frame if you got the tapered roller bearings. Here isa little tip when putting the races back in the frame. Put the races in the freezer overnight. That will shrink them and help when installing them.

 

Ah yeah, someone else just told me about the freezing trick, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

I took a look at the swingarm again, and I'm starting to lean towards just painting it. There's three sets of bearings in it, and they're all a bitch to get out, and not cheap to replace; I'd have to get them OEM from somewhere like MRCyles, and I'd probably pay around $70 just for the swingarm ones. That just adds too much to the powdercoating process versus just painting it. I think I'll just get the frame PC'd. I know I'm going to scratch the swingarm during sprocket and wheel changes, even if it is powdercoated, so with paint at least I'll have lots of easy touch-up ability and supplies.

I'm debating just ordering the All ***** steering kit anyways, just for the sake of it.

 

I highly recommend getting the tapered rollers. If your going to be stunting it, you'll have to tighten the the steering stem everytime you do a wheelie if you keep the ball bearings. I got my tapered kit from CBR Bearings (nothing to do with Honda, just coincidence) for around $35.