Steering Head Bearings

[Anonymous]

Difficulty removing inner and outer bottom races GS850

I have the front end stripped on my GS850 to replace the head bearings.

I have encountered the same problem. I cannot remove the bottom outer race and the bottom inner race. I have tried drifting and tried to shater the races to no avail.

Can someone explain what "a long lenth of M* stainless studding" is that is mentioned in attached note

Thanks in advance for your help

[SqDancerLynn1]

there should be a very small lip between the steering head and the brg race. so you need some type of long chisel,gloves and a good 5 lb hammer (not your nailing hammer). work your way around the brg race so that you don't cock the race. It will eventually give and come out. You can grind the outer part of the old brg race so that it fits loose, and use it to drive the new brg race in.

[Anonymous]

bearings

the quickest way to remove steering head bearings... if you have a hobby welder run a bead of weld around the inside of bearing shell this will shrink the bearing you then prise it out with a screw driver in a few seconds. do the obvious things like REMOVE fuel tank before welding and cover frame up. you put the welder on LOW amps and do short welds so you dont burn the paint
ozman

[saaz]

I still have the original bearings in my 78 GS1000. Keep them adjusted properly and grease them well every 5 years or so.

Now..I have to do that to the swingarms bearings sometime....

[Don Lobacz]

I also have the original bearings in my 79 GS1000 with 100,000 miles on them. Tapered bearings should last forever if not abused. If you are going to weld on the race, why not just weld a piece of metal across the race so you can easily drive it out? Also, remove/disconnect the battery when welding.