Warchild Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Alright, then....... Installing the tapered steering stem bearings proved to be a piece of cake. You need three items to do this: 1) a 10” steel or brass drift 2) a 5lb mallet or heavy-duty hammer 3) a foot-long section of 1 ¼” I.D. steel pipe. Below is the part number of the AllBallsRacing.com tapered beariong kit that I installed: Using a nice Harbor Freight 10" hardened steel drift and 5lb mallet, I popped the old races out easy as could be. As you look down the steering neck opening, you will see there are two large opposing notches near the bearing races. These notches provide an ample perch oportunity for your drift. You'll be able to place a large section of the drift directly on the bearing race you’re driving out. The two races popped out with no issues. Below are the OEM ball bearings after they are removed. The set on the right is the lower bearing; the race on top is what you'll use to drive the new tapered bearings (lower) into place. And the others you'll use to drive the new tapered bearing races into their respective recesses: Here's the upper stem tapered bearings on a test fit prior to the grease packing job: And here's the first of many grease-packing strokes (<insert gay-ass joke here>... ) Below, I am using the trusty Mobil One Fully Synthetic Universal Grease to pack these tapered babies: On the right you see the three main hand tools needed: 10" drift, 5-lb mallet. 1 1/4" I.D pipe approx 12" long. Using the OEM lower race as a drift, here I have just finished driving the new lower tapered bearings onto the bottom of the steering stem. At this point, the steering stem is wiped free of excess grease, and re-inserted into the frame neck. I am happy to find the Blackbird takes the exact same steering torque tool as my old ST1100, so I am blessed with already having the correct tool for the job. The upper brace is torqued the 25 Nm, then worked from stop-to-stop several times, then retorqued to the same setting again. A lock-tab washer is inserted before the final locknut is snugged up and locking tabs aligned. Here is that spendy-ass Honda Steering Stem Socket p/n: 07916-3710101 seen here sitting atop the steering stem just before I moved it to install the upper triple-tree: All done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideonXX Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Thanks for the excellent write up Warchild. It kinda pushes me over the edge to do mine. Please let us know your impressions after you have had a chance to run it a bit. Again, thanks-----------happy trails kel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MileHi Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Hey WC... You wouldn't be interested in lending/loaning that fancy-assed tool out now would ya??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flitemdic Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 MOO-E-BUENO. Thanks man, one of the european guys had indicated this was a pain in the ass job. But I think with these pix and instructions and the shop manual, I'll have a go. Thanks again for the write-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartonmd Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Yep, just did the tapers on my dad's (my former) Nighthawk 700S today... Took ~7 hours start to finish, but most of that was dicking with the fact that EVERYTHING on the front end of that bike has to come off to do this job, and it isn't packaged NEARLY as well as the 'bird... The bearings were so bad on it that it would literally "spring" back to straight when you got anywhere near close to straight... Handles SCARY fast now too in comparison to when I had it... It was like Pauly... I had ridden it from 7500 miles to 25k miles,so I didn't notice that the bearings were getting VERY Notched until I got the 'bird and went back and rode the NH and it scared the piss out of me... Handles FUCKIN SWEET now though! Probably doing them on my 'bird next weekend, or maybe the weekend after... The job itself isn't bad at all, it was just all the shit we had to take off on the Nighthawk.... Mike BTW, thanks Dale, for the pictures... Saved me the time of doing them when I do mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warchild Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 Hey WC... You wouldn't be interested in lending/loaning that fancy-assed tool out now would ya??? If you want to PayPal me some $$$ to cover postage/insurance, sure man, I'll lend it to you. PM me your address when you're about to do your bearings.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in PA Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 You don't need that tool. a brass punch will work since you'll be tightening by feel, not tourqe wrench anyway. My 2 cents. Everytime I ride I'm still amazed by the light steering since I've done mine. BIG IMPROVEMENT! Here's the link to my install. http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forums/index.php?...c=30221&hl= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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