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Removing Lower Steering Head Bearing

  • Thread starter Thread starter J_C
  • Start date Start date
J

J_C

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I'm actually having fun times with all my bearings, so here we go... (I split this off of my Prepping for Powdercoat thread in appearance section since it's taken a decidedly technical twist)

Lower Steering Head... Does anyone have any recommendations for getting this thing off? The race is stuck on their pretty darn good... And I cant really see a way to get any leverage since the bearings seem to come lower than the race and its blocked by the triple clamp... Any suggestions? I'll be replacing these things with the allballs bearings...

Swingarm... yeah we pretty much killed one side... I've done research and seen how to wack at the race with a chisel and try and fold it over on itself. Is there a better way of getting the other side, besides wacking at it from the inside?

And lastly, installing the new swingarm bearings after the powdercoat. Can;t find any aftermarket swingarm bearings yet so it looks like I'm stuck with the OEMs... any tips (or links to a page where this has already been answered?) Thank you!!
 
J_C said:
I'm actually having fun times with all my bearings, so here we go... (I split this off of my Prepping for Powdercoat thread in appearance section since it's taken a decidedly technical twist)

Lower Steering Head... Does anyone have any recommendations for getting this thing off? The race is stuck on their pretty darn good... And I cant really see a way to get any leverage since the bearings seem to come lower than the race and its blocked by the triple clamp... Any suggestions? I'll be replacing these things with the allballs bearings...

Swingarm... yeah we pretty much killed one side... I've done research and seen how to wack at the race with a chisel and try and fold it over on itself. Is there a better way of getting the other side, besides wacking at it from the inside?

And lastly, installing the new swingarm bearings after the powdercoat. Can;t find any aftermarket swingarm bearings yet so it looks like I'm stuck with the OEMs... any tips (or links to a page where this has already been answered?) Thank you!!
Click to expand...

You need a special puller to get that lower bearing off. Any good motorcycle shop will have that puller. It would take they 60 seconds to pull your bearing with the proper tool. You MIGHT be able to put the stem assemble in the freezer overnight, then rapidly heat the bearing with propane, and slam the top on a block of wood to work the bearing off the shaft, but thats a long shot. That bearing is pressed pretty tight on the stem.

You also need a special "Suzuki" blind bearing puller to remove GS swingarm bearings. Again, a good Suzuki dealership will have that tool.
 
Thanks Bronze. Yep I already had that one bookmarked :)

Thanks Road clam for the info... I hope this swingarm tool is a tool that non Suzuki mechanics would have?
 
Wowwweee... So far not much luck. The local suzuki dealers either won't service anything that old or are charging $150, even with the parts disassembled. WOW
 
What's a drive rod? =]

Oh and where did you hit it? Did you drive it between the clamp and the bottom of the bearings?


Any reason why I can't just dremel the bearings off for better access to the race?
 
Last edited:
Lower Steering Head... Does anyone have any recommendations for getting this thing off? The race is stuck on their pretty darn good... And I cant really see a way to get any leverage since the bearings seem to come lower than the race and its blocked by the triple clamp... Any suggestions? I'll be replacing these things with the allballs bearings...

Doing mine (GS650), I destroyed the race with a screwdriver (that was fun) then I used the Dremel with an abrasive wheel and cut the ring through getting close to the shaft but being careful not to damage the shaft. I then spread the ring open with an old screwdriver in the slot I cut, using a good whack from a mallet. It then came right off.
 
J_C said:
What's a drive rod? =]

Oh and where did you hit it? Did you drive it between the clamp and the bottom of the bearings?


Any reason why I can't just dremel the bearings off for better access to the race?
Click to expand...

Ahh, I was thinking about the outer ring, I used a long brass rod to drive that out. I then realized that we're talking about the inner race and stuff. That's a job for Dremel. Sorry about that... A senior moment I guess :-D
 
Thanks for the help. I got the bearings off and started cutting through the ring. No luck yet, I decided to stop for the day. It's hard to get the side of the ring close to the clamp since I obviously don't want the cutting wheel to cut the clamp portion. As of now the screwdriver isn't having much luck splitting it, but I'll keep trying
 
Did the trick! I had totally forgotten about my carbide bit. Thank you thank you!

Also got the stuck swingarm bearing out by dropping the largest ratched head that would fit down the tube and then hitting hit via a piece of large rebar. Out it came in about 7 or 8 bit hits.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
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