Top steering head bearing outer race

[Kenny Dave]

So mother of god, that's hard to get out of the frame. Can anyone who's done it give me some pointers? I'm well stuck, and of course it's not something I can drop in at the shop.

The bottom one I've got, as there are some big groves scored into the frame so I can get a purchase behind it with my makeshift drift.

I'm going to go down to my local general purpose tool shop and see if they can sell me something more suitable to use as a drift... any good tips on what's best to use? Bend it, file it sharp along one edge etc? Would a heat gun at the top help?

How about if I just drilled through the damn thing? This would make it easy to flip off, but of course I'd go into the frame behind. Would this have safety and handling implications?

Thanks if you can help. I'm having a bit of a tilt at the moment, I thought it would just come straight off and I've been at it for a good 3 hours. I've done it on my little FZR before and they just fall off, I don't get why they have to be so tight - and so f**king inaccessible - on the fazer 

[AdieR]

These bearings are an interference fit, hence why they're so difficult to remove - heat may help here.
I wouldn't drill it if it means going into the frame - it'll be weakened.
Bearing pullers can be expensive, but useful in these situations: it might not be worth buying for a one-off job, but if you try somewhere like HSS, you should be able to hire a set.

[CRH]

A dremil may help!!!!....with a cutting disc in it?....as long as your carefull ?

[Fazerider]

This is something I've been putting off doing since the MOT tester gave me an advisory a few months ago, so I'll be interested to hear how it goes!
I recall having a struggle when I changed them on my GPz305 ages ago. The bottom race in the headstock had virtually nothing to get a purchase on, in the end I used Dremel with a grindstone... inevitably, working upside-down I did a small amount of damage to the headstock too, but not enough to matter. Note the surface of the bearing is too smooth and hard for most drill bits.
Another possibility might be to weld a bridge of scrap steel across the bearing and that could give you something for the drift to act on.
Good luck!

[Tiberius Onklevaart]

Trying to remember when i done them, so if i'm wrong here then let me know, but i think the race is a ring sitting inside a cylindrical cut out at the headstock?

So if i remember rightly, you'll need a narrow enough drift to go up through the underside of the headstock. Bear in mind the business end of the drift should have a right angled edge because theres very little of the race protruding out.

I had no real issues getting the old one out aside from my drift being a bit rounded but its gonna be fiddly

Cheap blowtorch from DIY shop and LIGHTLY heat the outside of the headstock around where the race is seated and the area above. Just a bit at first, don't go mental. Take the heat off and go up and under and lightly tap one side of the race with a couople of wee dinks, then do the same at the opposite side. It should gradually make its way out if you repeat that process.

You shouldn't have to make it too hot. It is an interference fit but it won't need Thor wiedling teh hammer. Heat, tap/tap----tap/tap. and so on.

For the new one, stick the race on the freezer for an hour or so before you go to fit it, it will contract the metal. This too should be inserted with light taps (MATRON!!!!) at either side.


Or am i thinking of a completely different set up and bike?

[Kenny Dave]

That's the set up. Thanks for the responses, I've got a plan of action now from it and have calmed down a bit

I've got a heat gun, and a blow torch can if I need it. A bearing puller from HSS if I fail.

I think I'll try with the dremmel first if I'm honest... a bit off the head stock underneath so I can get a good purchase and then some heat and taps. Even 1mm will make it immeasurably easier.

I'm sure once it's shifted even a little bit it will be fine... it'd just getting that purchase to get it under way. Thanks again.

Here's my garage half way through "fork weekend" by the way

[Tiberius Onklevaart]

if you do the dremel things and you're nicking the inside face of the housing turn that might cause you more problems. heat gun and some patience and you'll be sorted

[Bias]

You have my sympathy Kenny as I tried to do my head races and 2 hours later put it all back together as it was. Like you I couldnt get any purchase on the outers that sit in the frame.
Only found this out after Id put the new lower bearing on a new botton yoke of course ....  :\ 
I'll probably give it another go over the winter sometime
GL with yours anyway 

[Captain Haddock]

If your good with a welder run a ring of weld around the inside of the bearing (don't weld it to the frame!!!!) and let it cool, the weld will make the bearing contract as it cools and become quite loose, done it before with valve seats.
If you go for this option cover everything else to protect from spatter.

[69oldskool]

Not done the Job on a Fazer but have on other bikes.

Either it goes smoothly or turns into a pig.

Just a few thoughts.

1st apply plenty of wd40 on offending item then walk away, roll a fag, make a brew or whatever.

I'm thinking freezer spray on the bearing race might be potentially less destructive than blowlamp on the headstock? blowlamps being quite good for removing paint. 

As to a tool for drifting- screwdrivers tend to slip, a set of metal punches should be fairly cheap off the market or wherever.
The one i found most usefull in the set for this job was a  thin round flat ended one- say 3mm ish diameter at tip.
Next grow an extra hand as the trick is to hold hammer,& punch whilst applying outwards sideways pressure to the punch so it doesn't slip.
Some sharp blows spaced round the circumference of the race should hopefully get things moving.
Once you can see its moved a mm or two the rest of the journey is relatively plain sailing.

Good Luck!

[Kenny Dave]

Ok, so it's all done and I won

I did a bit of dremelling behind the race and it worked a treat. A gentle pop with my new and more suitable stick, er, I mean drift, and it came out no trouble. my thinking with the dremelling is that I didn't have a surface that the drift didn't just slip off before, so how tight or loose it was was of secondary importance. I went maybe a mm deep, I'm sure that won't make much difference to structural strength. There's 2 much bigger ones at the bottom anyway from a previous owner. I ground a notch and got it shifted a mm or so. Then did the same again at about 120 degrees to the first, and then a third... then just tapped it out a bit at a time.

The new race has a much bigger lip, so will come off no sweat. I don't think the one's I've taken out are original since there are pre-existing notches at the bottom, so maybe they are just particularly skinny ones. I've tried taking pictures for others attempting it, but my camera isn't up to it.

I did dremel into the race itself slightly, but I used a flat top grinding  piece, putting in a new unworn one to do the mm vertically just below the race so it was flat. Because the ground surface of the race is still perpendicular to the drift it still knocked it out. The races are a lot harder than the steel of the frame as well of course; impressively hard in fact. I don't know what alloy they are made of but on experimenting I could barely make a scratch with a hacksaw.

Putting them in wasn't much trouble, having used the freezer trick (ta ) although I put together a puller using a M10 thread thingummy and massive washers which I got off the forum somewhere and is in the Haynes.

The top of the top race is flush with the top of the frame housing when right in, so that will go in no problem with an 'ammer, just tap it flat. The bottom one would go in using the hammer and the old one on top as a guide so it can push further than flush with the edge of the frame tube if that makes sense. It's deeper in than the top.

So I thought I'd brain dump for if anyone else is doing it. If you are and the above might be helpful but I haven't been clear or owt then let me know and I'll try and let you know what I did, assuming I can remember

Here's a picture, which I did before noticing that 69oldskool has described the same idea of pushing the drift away from the tube to keep it tight under the race 



The drift I've used is a 30cm long 10cm diameter rod of silver steel which is nice and hard with a suitable edge for the dremelled ditches, and you can get from a decent trade shop for 3 or 4 quid.

Cheers for all the suggestions on here. Even the ones I haven't done are good tips and I've learned something for the mental toolbox for the next problem, and for the next people doing this

[Tiberius Onklevaart]

:thumbup