Race removal

Anyone have any pointers on removing both the Lower and upper race 1978 kz1000a2??

Could it possibly be welded in?

Hit with a 2lb slide hammer. Didn’t budge for nothing. Converting over to better bearings.

Drift punch, long bolt, a steel bar, drive it out from the other end.


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I tried tapping it out from the inside and outwards but still wouldn’t budge. That’s why I tried the slide hammer. Do you think maybe heating up the stem?? It does not appear to be welded.

They are not welded... Heating them is not necessary and will only damage the paint and your head sticker... You need to drift them out from the top to get the bottom out and from the bottom to get the top out... Make sure you are on the bearing race... Drift out by tapping at 12,3,6, and 9 o'clock evenly... If they get cocked they will jamb up and possibly damage the head pipe... I use about a 12' long piece of 3/8 solid brass bar stock... I have switched 2 bikes over to tapered style bearings...

I used a dremel cut off wheel to create a deep channel in it and then cracked it the rest of the way through with a hammer and drift.

Bowserpup32 wrote: I tried tapping it out from the inside and outwards but still wouldn’t budge. That’s why I tried the slide hammer. Do you think maybe heating up the stem?? It does not appear to be welded.

Get a bigger hammer.


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I just replaced the stock head bearings in my '77 KZ-1000A1 a couple of weeks ago and the bear races were not welded in place. As has been suggested a long solid punch will do the job, but you have to make sure you are not jamming up the race by cocking it to one side. It takes a bit of a push to get it moving, but once it starts things go pretty easy. Use a large punch or drift and good sized hammer and go around the race in a circular fashion but looking every few hits to make sure the race is not cocked to one side. Even a slide hammer can cock a bearing race. Don't be afraid to hit the race to get it moving, just keep it as straight as possible coming out.
Rick H.

I used my MIG welder, and ran a small bead around 1/3 of the diameter of the outer races. The contraction of the weld when cooling allowed the races to come right out with little resistance. And the heat was not enough to damage the paint or the VIN sticker. Worked like a charm...

Interesting way of accomplishing the task. I didn't realize you already had tapered bearings in your bike already. Perhaps that is why the races were tighter and more difficult to remove. Still, my races went in fairly easy so I wouldn't anticipate a hard time removing them if I had to. Were you actually able to place a drift on the edge of the race when you tried to hammer them out initially?

Rick H.

There wasn't a big enough "step" between the steering head and the bearing ID on my bike. I had to resort to other methods.

Got it. Now makes sense.
Rick H.

welding the races around such as skidmark done works a charm to shrink them and release them.
you can also weld a lil something(flatbar washer etc) across the race and knock them out from the other side with a long punch.

leon