Head stock bearing life expectancy?

(I know, I jest)

shame you're not closer, you could be forums mechanic

agree a few beers in the mix will defo make things take a tad longer

[MJC-DEV]

I changed my bearings to taper roller ones at 20K miles, about £160 all in at my Devon independant garage, so £200 for London isn't bad. Was 'slightly nochy' on the MOT as well but the taper rollers made a great difference, much lighter, so well worth doing.

All this talk about lack of grease- I've put checking my steering stem bearings on my off season maintenance list.
Thought I'd read through the procedure for my unfaired bike.
Remove-
Front wheel
Headlight and housing
Brake hose joint
Front brake assy. (don't turn M/C upside down!)
Handlebars and holder
Speedo assy.
Horn
Front forks
Headlight housing bracket
Top fork brace (hope the nut isn't seized on)
Now we're down to the steering stem and bearing removal.
Use the special tool to remove the steering stem nut. (Maybe I can make one)
If necessary, remove bearing races with chisel and punch.
Install new bearings.
Re-assemble everything. Be glad I don't also have fairings to put back on.
Check steering tension and adjust as necessary.
Sounds like maybe 4 hours if everything goes well and I hit the tension adjustment right the first time. Add some time for making a special tool. Add some more time for something not going well. Maybe I can get away with just cleaning and re-greasing the original bearings. That would be nice. Save some time.
Something to look forward to. Now that I think about it, I've never checked and greased the steering stem bearings on the RC-51, and it's been 50,000 miles since I did it on the CB900F.... OK, plenty of off season work!

[Spanner Man]

Good morning all.


When it comes to taper roller bearings you can't beat Koyo bearings.
You will need a 32006JRRS beaaring for the bottom, & a 32006JR for the top.
The JRRS bearing has a built in seal.

If you wish to use the original caged ball type of bearing go to a Honda dealer & get two of part number; 91016-KT8-005 It's an identical bearing to the Suzuki one, & considerably cheaper at around £28.50 inc VAT each. Also the seal required, part number; 53214-371-010 is identical to the Suzuki one, & around half the price at around £6.

Pack the new bearings with a good quality high melting point grease when fitting.
We typically charge 2.5 hours for a headrace bearing swap.


Cheers.

[rapidgaz]

Is there a way of greasing these bearings without a strip down. Or minimal strip down.

[Bibio]

yes but still requires you to get the front in the air without a headstock or paddock stand. i used to use two axle stands with a SS bar threw that hole in the bottom of the block once the front is in the air its just a matter of undoing the yoke then all the nuts under it (get the right tool) the dropping the front and greasing the bottom bearing then greasing the top bearing, its fiddly and a pain but you don't have to take wheel or nowt off. if its a faired version you have to take the top fairing off as its much much easier.

[rapidgaz]

Cheers bibio. Might give it ago.


Sent down the wires from home

[muzikill]

Can anyone show me a link where to buy a castellated tool for doing the nuts on the top yoke? Is it suzuki only?

[Bibio]

ebay is your friend. search for sv650 steering stem tool.

[muzikill]

Originally Posted by Bibio

ebay is your friend. search for sv650 steering stem tool.

Cheers buddy, sometimes you just need to know the right thing to type in! - i might do a maintainence thread with pics for regrease & adjusting (pointy faired)