Steering Neck Bearings

[-Lee-]

It's getting to be that time to think about changing them bearings. I have retightened a few times, but the "Click" keeps coming back.

Before I spend any money at the stealer, has anyone here got the aftermarket part number equivalent so that I can order these? Also where did you get yours from?

Looks like the Dremmel is going to get a workout taking out that bottom race!

Thanks in advance.

 

[davidon]

Don't use dremmel..weld a bead around the middle of the race and throw some water on it..it will fall out.At the very least you will have asomething to use a punch against

 

[firefly]

Don't use dremmel..weld a bead around the middle of the race and throw some water on it..it will fall out.At the very least you will have asomething to use a punch against

I heard that many times from Don old man and many say it works exactly this way, it falls right off, I personally took it to the dealer to save some money
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[-Lee-]

Folks,

I don't know how many of you have welders in your garage, but I do not. Nor do I have a friend with one. Nor is there a friendly machine shop around the corner. Etc...

I have been on VMOAChat and VMOATech since before they were called that. Over 10 years now. I have heard and tried lots of the recommendations that are on there. Thanks for the hints in any case. I appreciate it.

I have done it before using a Dremmel and it works just fine. Slow and easy and not one single nick in the frame.

Now about those part numbers....???

 

[shawn kloker]

When I replaced mine I welded on it and about 5 seconds after I quit it dropped right out.
I then wondered if anyone ever accidently welded theirs to the frame.That would be a bitch!

 

[mikemax04]

Lee, I've never replaced those bearings so I don't know if this would work. Have you tried a sharp screwdriver where the steel goes to the end? Don't know if it would cause any damage, but tapping each side of the race 180* apart gently, trying to wedge the screwdriver in and move the race up. It will only move a minute amount, but should move to where you can use a punch the rest of the way. Don't have any bearing numbers but the old bearings should have some I.D. numbers on them. Then, perhaps through the computer or a bearing place, you can cross reference them. I'm sure you know to stay with first quality bearings because there are a lot of replacements coming from China and Taiwan that are almost worthless. Timken is a reliable brand.

 

[-Lee-]

Thanks to everyone that offered their help on removing the lower race. I got it out with no problems using my dremmel, just like I said.

I ended up getting the bearings from the Yamaha dealer. They will work just fine for the next few thousand miles.

 

[firefly]

Thanks to everyone that offered their help on removing the lower race. I got it out with no problems using my dremmel, just like I said.

I ended up getting the bearings from the Yamaha dealer. They will work just fine for the next few thousand miles.

lee, I changed mine at the dealer because of being paranoid @ 23K and the mechanic told me I they had another 25k to go but since I asked them to do it they did what I asked for.
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[maleko89]

Lee, what dremel bit did you use?

 

[-Lee-]

Mark,

It is a set that I got from the German version of Home Depot. They are from Dremel and are Diamond cut off wheels. I went through 3 of them to get the race out.

The package says 545 Diamond cut-off and it comes with the mandrel to mount it. I have the flexible extension shaft so I was able to maneuver into the neck area.

As I said before it is slow going, but I did it.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

I heard that many times from Don old man and many say it works exactly this way, it falls right off, I personally took it to the dealer to save some money

I simply used a cheap propane torch to heat the steering neck AROUND the bearings. I did not even put enough heat on it to mess up the paint as it still shines like new.
The neck material responds to heat faster than the race material.
It won't just "fall out" but it was very easy at that point to pry out.
This was one of those jobs I struggled with for hours and gave up; gave it a day to think about it and went back and accomplished in 20 minutes what I could do before in several hours of cussing and hammering.