okay, so ive got my new bearing kit for the steering on my vfr 400. ive also managed to remove that fucked up lower bearing that was stuck on my steering stem. and removed my outer races from the steering head. but now im having trouble fitting in the new outer races into the steering head, ive watched videos online and they suggest using a bearing driver, but has to be exactly the same diameter as the outer bearing so they can be hammered in. well i was wondering what size of bearing driver i would need, does anyone know? cheers.

Use a block of wood to start and once it's flush turn the old outer upside down Finnish it off with that .

i just hope you didn't go for pyramid parts bearings!

pyramids parts bearings? i went for those all balls racing bearings from wemoto... well they are on wemoto, but i bought mine from ebay, same price. and marcus, i cant belive i didnt think of that :D cheers. but im headed to b&q tomorrow. and im gonna buy a threaded bar along with some nice thick washers and a sturdy nut so i can screw it in flush. its suggested on the Hayned so might aswell do that haha. (admins can delete this post)

I use the old race as a driver! The bar and washer thing didn't really work and end up bending the washers. They probably weren't thick enough in my instance, but you have more control with a driver and hammer.

yep just use a bit of wood to start knocking them in and the old races to tap them home ,
i used a threaded bar and washers to pull in the needle bearing on the swingarm but even then i needed loads of thick washers to stop them bending , i dont think that would work on the headraces unless you used 2 steel plates or similar

ahh i see, okay i shall use the wood and the hammer

oh and one more thing, what sort of grease shall i use for the bearings? cheers.

I think your a danger to all things mechanical.

Also, you seem to be confusing everyone with your terminology.



The new bearings, are they needle rollers (like in the above picture?)

I believe that your old ones fell apart when you tried to remove them, the new bearings should come as a complete unit. In this case you can fit the LOWER and UPPER bearings as two complete units, you don't need to take them apart to fit them.

With regards to fitting;

Firstly, the steering stem needs to be clean. Any imperfections like surface rust or gunk will make fitting the bearings 1000x more difficult.

Clean it down with some degreaser and then go over it with some very fine wet and dry or wire wool etc to remove any surface crap.

All of the grease information is available in the Honda service manual, you should read it before doing any work.



Don't go overboard with the grease either.

You only need to do a bit of looking to find many guides and answers

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/s ... index.html

This website seems to be straight forward enough, good pictures and lots of information. Read it fully and make sure you understand it all before proceeding.

You won't go far wrong if you.

A. Buy the right parts
B. Understand the task before beginning
C. Patience, don't try to rush or bodge things.
D. Use the correct tools.

^ Good advice Neo!