Steering head bearing question for mismatched parts

[Guest]

I have an 83 750 ES which I purchased a (supposedly) 83 1100ES triple tree for to outfit my bike with risers. Well actually I bought the upper first only to realize it was spaced differently than mine, so I bought the accompanying lower. Now I am to the point of having my whole front end torn apart ready to reassemble, but the bearings are toast on the new tree.

Main question: would I need 1100ES bearings?

Other questions: are the two the same? Are the frames the same so if there is a difference buying the 1100 bearings would be better off in case the steering head is different diameter?

[Ray916MN]

Unlikely the same. Unlikely that either the 750 or 1100 or a combination of the bearing sets for both bikes will work. Simple way to see if it will work is to pull them and test fit the 1100 steering stem with bearings on the 750 frame. If the 1100 bearing don't fit the 750 races then pull the bearings and races from the 750 and 1100 and take them to a bearing house and see if they have or can get anything that will work. You basically want races with the outer diameter of the 750 races paired with bearings with the inner diameter of the 1100 steering stem. If a bearing house can't find a set that will work, then it is probably going to take some machining to get the steering stem down to a size where you can find a bearing and race set that will work.

[Jopshua]

Stupid me cut the nasty bearing off the 1100 without test fitting it. maybe it's not too jacked up to cobble back together and see if it's even close. there is a pretty big bearing shop in Houston if it does wind up worst case scenario, and I do still have an intact 750 bearing to pull the OD from. Thanks for all the info, hopefully something stock will work though!

Well all the rollers wound up too deep in the trash can to find out for sure, but the cage part appears to be of the same outer diameter as the 750. I'll give a stock 1100 bearing set a shot and if it doesn't work then I'll write the $30 off under lessons learned: fit it up before you trash it!

And after a little more research, the all balls part numbers appear to be the same for all GS models, 22-1004.

[Weapon]

or you could look up the parts microfiche for both bikes and compare the bearing numbers.

http://www.cmsnl.com/

edit: Never mind, I see that you did that. carry on