www.zxrworld.co.uk

OK,

I am not an idjut, just not as gifted as some, plus years of copious amounts of green smoking and alcohol have eroded my active brain cells....so i checked the manual (scared me, didnt understand it!) and had a search here, but havent found anything about replacing the head bearings.

I have seen a post on checking them, but i am pretty sure mine are a bit wobbly like, and wondered if its worth me doing it myself, jacking the bike up on bricks etc dropping the forks (i know all the spanner monkey lingo here!) or is it better in these recession times to not save money and give it to my spanner monkey to fix for £100?

basically my bike twitches at slow spped steering, and almost sticks when steering..very scary!

if i have missed a thread on this, then i apologise and will smear my body in marmite and run through leeds city centre sobbing in embarassment.

i shall sell my bike and campaign for thos evil bikers to be eliminated and the test made harder!

cheers
Bestie

do it yourself. its a piece of piss tbh. i must admit if i had taken complete photos of what i have had to do to my bike, Bazs' workshop section would be nigh on full. another thing to think bout while the forks are out is a fork seal replacement. make sure your wheel bearing is good too.

Its a piece of piss mate honest. The hardest part is figuring how to suspend the bike in mid air.

Scott221 wrote:Its a piece of piss mate honest. The hardest part is figuring how to suspend the bike in mid air.

good point. if u r in a garage get someone to pull the bike over on its stand so the front wheel is off the ground then tie a rope round frame etc to hold it up. worked for me.

Well i dont want to see you running round in marmite although im sure theres people who would.

Its actaully quite simple to do.

Firstly, itll cost you at least 70 quid to get the right bearings, they are in the region of 35 quid each for the top and bottom set. Dont waste your time trying to find them elsewhere cos you wont, ive tried.

secondly, once you have recovered from the outlay, youll need to think about getting the bike apart, id say get the front nose cone and side panels off. Then get the front in the air, best way would be to lift the front and sit the downpipes on some bricks. You cant use a front stand because that will use either the bottom yoke or the fork bottoms, all of which will need to be removed to change the bearings.

3rdly you now need to get the front fork legs off by first taking the calipers off (leave the lines attached), mudguard and removing the front wheel, then removing each leg by undoing the bolts on the yokes. You could possibly do the whole lot in one go so you dont need to take the wheel off but thats up to you.

You should then just have the yokes left at which point you need to undo the top yoke nut. Youll also note youll have the clipons floating around, just leave as they are

Once you have the top yoke off, the bottom half should fall out. Youll then see the bearings, if they are brown and gritty then they really have had it. I think with scotts head bearings they fell to pieces the second the yokes were removed. The top race should come out no problem but the bottom set will be a bit more akward to remove from the yoke stem, i took mine to my local dealer to be removed but all he said he did was use a chisel to drift the bearing off.

Youll then need to remove the bearing cups, these sit in the frame themselves and you need to use a metal drift to knock them out. Theres gaps in the head stock under each cup for you to knock them out, one each side so alternate each side of the cup so it comes out evenly. Then do the other. Once you see it all it becomes quite self explanatory.

If youve got this far with no problems your doing well

Then all you need to do is install the new bearing cups, Each bearing is different so check with the microfiche for which one goes where by the part number, once you have done that, you need to place the bearing cups in the frame. Simply place the cups in and press them in as far as they go, at this point you are supposed to use a tool to squash the cups into place, but i used a rubber mallet to whack them as far as they will go, i also assumed that if they go in any further ill simply re adjust after a few miles done riding.

Once thats done place the bottom bearing onto the yoke stem, cover with copious amounts of fresh grease and do the same for the top bearing. Then just re-assemble the lot.

Check the tightness as per the manual and the guide ive written in the workshop on the main site.

Do you have a set of Microns? What we did was to take the link pipe off, two axel stands either side of the bike, get a big chunky bit of wood and stick it under the sump. It was abit front heavy but I countered that by putting some bricks on the pillion seat (on a towel). It worked a treat.

You can get the bearings from wemoto http://shop.wemoto.com/pictures.dyn?u=1914495qqq25618 £25 +postage for the set.

Bearings are bearings at the end of the day, I used Wemoto ones and they were exactly the same as the ones I pulled out. Which, I'm guessing, we're originals.

Ooooooo thats an excellent find! There you go, only 50 quid then for a set

Awwww thats just swell guys,

tbh rob, im still a ittle onfused, but i reckon once i start, like you said, it will become self explanatory!

My biggest concern is buying the bearings, as you state i need 2 sets for top and bottom, so do i order 2 of thos at webmoto or these ---------> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5508-5508-Steerin ... 240%3A1318

seem to be exactly the same thing, just unsure if i get 2 sets.

So defo need to order 2 items from webmoto or this chap then?

cheers
andy

Like everyone else has said, its an easy enough job.
Use a large close fitting spanner if you have one to drive the new bottom bearing race home( slide open end over the race and twat the spanner with hammer), much better than the screwdriver thing.
I also use a nice fitting old socket to do the races in the frame. You can get them really flat without scratching or deforming them.

That ebay link looks like you get the set, so the top and bottom set, email them to make sure. Thats a very good price (if for the set) when you look at OEM items, hopefully they are just as good!

HOLA AMIGO'S,

Just emailed the ebay fella, and his lightning fast response was:

Dear geezerbestie,

The auction is for a pair of bearings.

i.e. both top AND bottom.

So, you need only order a quantity of one.

Plenty in stock - thank you for your interest.

kind regards,


- gear4bikescom

Now THAT is a bargain, so much so i shall order some within the week and in the new year sort em out seen as i am working all over chrimbo! (cant complain lucky to have a sodding job!)

As soon as i get em fitted ill let you know, cheers all for the help so far, inshallah, i will be in touch!

GB

excellent news! If you get stuck you know where to ask