Hi guys!

I'm going to replace the steering head bearings with tapered ones, and as I look through the shop manual it seems I need a whole lot of special tools for this job. Please take a look at the attached image. Do I need to order all the parts marked with red? And check out the part marked with BLUE..! Not sure if I can fit a hydraulic press in my garage..!

By the way, I see myself as a "hobby mechanic", and NOT a pro by any means. Done a some maintenance on me ol' Ninja, but I've never seen the inside of a steering stem before.. In other words, if you have any good advice regarding how to get this job done, I'm listening!

Someone posted that they had drifted the old races out using a hammer and punch. They warned to use small steps and work your way around the race so it came out even. They then cooled the new race in a freezer and used the old race to help drive the new race in.

I haven't done this yet myself, but I think you could use a piece of all-thread and some washers to make a installation tool. Put the races in position, washers outside of them, and put the piece of all-thread through the center of the assembly. You could then tighten nuts on both side of the all-thread to pull the races in.

What ever you do, make sure you have no burrs on the head, and have lubricate the races well.

Warchild and Pete in PA made great posts on doing this task. They had pictures and everything.

I made a tool for installing the races using the threaded rod as you mentioned. It worked great. When I get home tonight I'll post some pictures and a description.




Here's the link

head bearing install

Thanks a million guys!

EDIT: Looks like the only special tool I'll need is the one for for torquing the upper brace. Bet I can find a pipe and a driver at fraction of the Honda OEM tool price..

Here's mine.

http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forums/index.php?...c=30221&hl=

I know no pics, not as fancy as Warchild's.