new steering bearings installed

[MaxxRonin]

so after two days worth of work i got my steering bearings installed. tapered roller bearings from all balls racing. they said the bearings were supposed to drop in but the bottom bearing like i've heard from several people was a tight fit. i tried leaving the stem in the freezer and the bearings in the sun but it just didnt do it, i had to sand the inside of the bearings and the stem a wee bit 8-[ anyway, even aftger that it was a tight fit in the steering column, the bearings just didnt want to go all the way in and because of that the stem didnt go all the way up, it was 2-3 mm short of where it was last time. so i tightened everything down gritted my teeth and put her back together. im a little anxious about how the stem didnt fit back to where it was when i took it apart, but it rode fine and the steering was great. no more sticking. everything is tight and isn't going anywhere, but the bottom bearing is slightly exposed to the elements because of the 2-3 mm gap. anyone else have this problem with the supposed drop in bearings?

on the plus side, the drag bars i threw on the bike when putting it back together look sexellent

[Regent]

Well, i think the new drag bars calls for a picture.:-D

[Billy Ricks]

Sounds like you're saying the new bearing didn't seat down on the top surface of the lower triple. If that's the case you need to go back and get it right. Over time street impacts will probably seat that bearing for you. As it gets driven slowly to its proper position the triples will become more and more loose making for a dangerous situation.

Use the old bearing as a drift for tapping the new bearing into position. If the old bearing fell apart getting it off all you need is the old inner race for a drift.

[spyug]

Billy is right. Those races will seat over time and it could happen suddenly with no warning. Things will get sloppy and well, you get the idea. do us all a favour and sort them out properly.

Did you try the threaded rod, washer, nut method to try and seat them?

Get a piece of 3/8 or 1/2 threaded rod or a similar sized carriage bolt. a couple of washers wide enough to cover the races but small enought to enter the steering head tube.Put a bolt and washer on one end. Place the rod through the races and head tube and attach the other set of washer and bolt. Put a wrench on either. end and tighten. They will draw the races in and seat them squarely.

You can also tap them in with a drift but they may not go in squarely. Bottom line, they need to go in all the way and seat correctly.

Apart from the danger of them suddenly dropping into place and your steering going goofy, if they don't seat properly , you are going to get premature bearing wear and posssible failure.

It's a do-over i'm afraid.

Think safety.

Cheers,
Spyug.