82 KZ750 Steering Stem bearings - tapered roller

I am swapping my steering stem bearings over to the all balls tapered roller setup but I have a couple questions:

1) What should I torque the top nut to when re-installing the stem? The shop manual gives a procedure for when ball bearings are used but I was thinking the swap to tapered roller bearings might change the values.

2) Any tricks to driving the bottom inner race onto the stem? I haven't gotten the old inner race off the stem yet as it was getting late when I finally got the stem removed but I do have a bearing splitter/puller that looks like it will make the job easy. I'm just not sure how I'm going to install the new bearing. Do I just set the bearing on the stem and use the nut to pull it all together?

Using the stock torque specs works fine. I verified this with All-Balls when I upgraded mine. I used a short piece of PVC pipe to tap my bearing in. ONLY tap against the outside race - never the inner race. Use gentle taps alternating around the race; don't try to clobber it in with a couple great whacks or you may get it jammed in at an angle. A little grease on the steering stem where the outer race seats helps too. Ed

I was always taught to remove the rollers from the bearing and install each race one at a time onto each part. I was talking about trying to install the inner race onto the stem itself so I don't see how I could do that without hitting the inner race unless I fit the bearing and outer race on it, at which point I feel like the bearing itself might get damaged in the process.

I think you are correct Zero.......that's what I did (removed outer bearing shell and bearings) then I used a press rather than the hammer approach and it worked great. It's highly unlikely/unusual but perhaps Ed got his innies and outies transposed :blush:

I used the old race to start it and finished it by tapping all around with a drift.
Steve

bluezbike wrote: I think you are correct Zero.......that's what I did (removed outer bearing shell and bearings) then I used a press rather than the hammer approach and it worked great. It's highly unlikely/unusual but perhaps Ed got his innies and outies transposed :blush:

No. Not transposed. The outer race seats against the steering stem portion of the frame. That is the one you tap on because that is the one that has friction against the frame. If you tap on the inner race it is then pushed against the rollers and then the rollers push against the outer race. This is not good because it can cause Brinnelling of the races. Brinelling is when the the rollers cause permanent indentations on the races. If you tap on the inner race you can cause Brinelling on both the inner and outer races as the energy from the hammer is transferred from the inner race to the rollers and from the rollers to the outer race.

UPDATE - sorry, I think I mis-read the question.

The inner race can be tapped onto the stem using PVC pipe too. Again, a little grease helps.

Ed

I replaced the roller bearings I had in before. Getting the lower race out was a bitch. Almost nothing to lock on to. Had to make a punch out of bar stock to get to it.
Steve

swest wrote: I replaced the roller bearings I had in before. Getting the lower race out was a bitch. Almost nothing to lock on to. Had to make a punch out of bar stock to get to it.
Steve

I had a hard time with that old lower bearing too! I had to use a Dremel cut off wheel to score the race then use a small sharp chisel to break it.

Long afterward I saw a tool like that in the image below. It might have helped, but I can't say for sure. Ed

I'm talking about the one in the steering neck. The stock one was easy compared to the tapered one.

I found the opposite to be true when I replaced mine. I had to Dremel & chisel the old one off the steering stem and drive the old outer race out of the neck. Putting the new one in I found to be relatively easy. Maybe I was lucky. Here's a pic of the new outer race installed in the neck. Ed

Are you talking about the stock ball bearing race? It was relatively easy. I installed tapered ones 20 years ago. They were rusty. I thought about putting in a ring for the next time. Didn't.
Steve

I found removing both stock races to be difficult. I had to cut/chisel the inner one off the stem, and I had a very hard time driving the outer one out of the neck; in fact, I may cracked it with a chisel too.

Installing the new All-Balls roller bearings was easy. Maybe I just was lucky? Ed