steering bearing replacement

I took out the steering column and the ball bearings fell out. I'm missing 1. But I see online there's replacement bearings that aren't ball bearings? They are called all balls?

That's the distributor. Have you completed all the other projects yet? One thing at a time, then move on.
Steve

Yes,...ALL BALLS bearings are what I installed on my 78 KZ1000 and I am very happy with them. If fact I am not sure you can even get real ball bearing bearing replacements any longer. I ordered mine from Z1 enterprises but you can get them from multiple sources. They are easy to install also. Don't even bother putting the old ones back in,...go with the upgraded ALL BALLS bearings.
Jim

JimB wrote: Yes,...ALL BALLS bearings are what I installed on my 78 KZ1000 and I am very happy with them. If fact I am not sure you can even get real ball bearing bearing replacements any longer. I ordered mine from Z1 enterprises but you can get them from multiple sources. They are easy to install also. Don't even bother putting the old ones back in,...go with the upgraded ALL BALLS bearings.
Jim

Alright will do but I'm not sure how to put them in

Look in your manual.
Steve

There are also plenty of You tube videos that show how. Search for "ALL BALLS steering bearing replacement" and you'll get lots of hits.

A press may help with the races on the steering stem. I had a local shop press the top one on for me, took about 20 seconds. Definitely don't get out the sledgehammer unless you know what you are doing.
Definitely take the time to carefully remove the factory bearings/races and save all the parts till you have the All Balls bearings installed. It will help you get everything in the right order.

Replacing the stock ball bearings in the steering head with tapered roller bearing is a common "upgrade," because the tapered roller bearings with more contact area are less prone to creating dimples in the races.

May view some examples of tapered roller bearings in this link to Z1E offerings:
Click here > www.z1enterprises.com/ListItems.aspx?keywords=steering+bearing

Good Fortune!

Patton wrote: Replacing the stock ball bearings in the steering head with tapered roller bearing is a common "upgrade," because the tapered roller bearings with more contact area are less prone to creating dimples in the races.

May view some examples of tapered roller bearings in this link to Z1E offerings:
Click here > www.z1enterprises.com/ListItems.aspx?keywords=steering+bearing

Good Fortune!

What size bearings do I need for the steering and also what size bearings do I need for the swing arm because I'm gonna have to replace those too

Just go to the Z1E or All Balls website and order them for your bike's year, make and model.

I put the tapered bearings in 3 KZ650s, and a KZ1000 and can't say I could tell any real improvement. They were before the Chinese all balls though, so maybe chinese bearings have a better feel . As to the swing arm bearings, why do you think virtually everything needs to be replaced? They used 4 good quality needle bearings in the 78. Those aren't bad I'll wager to bet. The 77 with the sleeve, yes, it's bad, but 78 the bearings most likely are fine.

RonKZ650 wrote: I put the tapered bearings in 3 KZ650s, and a KZ1000 and can't say I could tell any real improvement. They were before the Chinese all balls though, so maybe chinese bearings have a better feel . As to the swing arm bearings, why do you think virtually everything needs to be replaced? They used 4 good quality needle bearings in the 78. Those aren't bad I'll wager to bet. The 77 with the sleeve, yes, it's bad, but 78 the bearings most likely are fine.

Well one side of the swing arms bearings are rusted frozen. I'm just replacing them since I have it apart. Because I don't wanna have to take this apart again anytime soon.