Steering stem bearing replacement tips

Kawman wrote: "When the steering is placed in the middle it sticks. And it is kind of difficult to drive straight when you are going really slow. It has always stuck in the middle. So what do I do. Do I replace with tapered bearings or what?"

The symptoms you decribe above are the absolute classic sign of steering stem bearing race dimpling. The balls hammer against the races everytime you hit a bump, especially if things aren't adjusted just right and lubed well, resulting in tiny dimples in the races the balls then tend to seek and stay in the dimples. You will need to replace the bearings to correct this.
Tapered roller bearings give much more bearing surface area than ball bearings. Think of the bearing contact area of a tapered roller as a "stripe" for each roller that goes from one end of the roller to the other where the roller contacts the race. Then consider the bearing contact area of a ball as a single small "spot" for each ball where the ball contacts the race. The total contact area of the roller bearing "stripes" is much greater than that of the ball bearing "spots." This additional contact area spreads the load reducing the pounds per square inch of pressure at the contact area and eliminates the "dimpling" that is common on ball bearing steering stem races. This reduced pressure also makes tapered roller bearings last longer than ball bearings. The reason is is easy to visualize when you consider the roller bearings making contact with the full width of the bearing races compared to the ball bearings running in a single line near the center of the races. I highly recommend using tapered roller bearings when you replace the steering stem bearings. Having done so on my KZ650C1 I can attest to the fact that the roller bearings are dead smooth and feel more solid than the ball bearings. Ed

Sounds good to me Ed. Great explanation on the problem. I would have never thought of that. I'm gonna change them to tapered bearings. Thanks

Hey Kawman,

I did the tapered head bearing upgrade a few weeks ago...

Sorry, just realized timebomb already said all this, but...

Definitely recommend hanging your chassis (motor back) from something like Bluemeanie + timebomb said; it makes things a lot less sketchy. When I disassembled all the wiring at the headlight, I marked all the wires with different colored tape. The big connectors don't really need tape though . Ummmm, definitely recommend having a manual at hand, although kzrider is a good resource too. I'll keep checking this thread in case you need any help!

NOTE:
Both stock bearing races pop out with a punch and a hammer, BUT I had a hell of a time getting the lower race off the steering stem. I had no puller long enough, any leverage, nor hammering room so I had to grind/dremel away the race. In the end I was able to hammer it off, but that was 1.5 hours later. Kinda tricky...

After that I heavily greased the tapered races and tapped them into the head. With one bearing on top and the other tapped down on the steering stem, assembly went very quickly and I had my bike ready to go within the next hour.

Good luck and godspeed!


P.S. - I had the same problem where the stock bearings stuck while rotating through the middle portion of the steering. The tapered bearings make the bike ride completely different. Now I don't have to work or lean compensate for my bad bearings!