Gonna do tapered head bearings

Got air chisel ready...................

Seriously is there any tricks that make the job easier (2015A)? How much plastic has to come off? Can the tree come out without removing the front fairing?

Thanks -- Bobby

Thinking about doing the same thing.....subscribed to your thread!

Here you go.

It is worth reading the entire thread to get additional tips, especially the ones about heat and cold.

dcarver did a writeup for a Gen III (I am having some issues with the site security certificates where the pictures live but that is a function of my work computer network - OK on my phone)

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/170463-jewlery-for-naomi-steering-head-bearing-swap/

It takes patience and time but is well worth the effort. Outstanding results...

dcarver said:

It takes patience and time but is well worth the effort. Outstanding results...

Click to expand...

I haven't had any issues with head shake (other than with a bad tire). AS far as I know, there are no issues with my head bearings - do you think a change would make a noticeable difference? How would you describe the change?

ReRose said:

Got air chisel ready...................
Seriously is there any tricks that make the job easier (2015A)? How much plastic has to come off? Can the tree come out without removing the front fairing?

Thanks -- Bobby

Click to expand...

Helped a buddy 2 months ago do this:

- technically, no plastics have to be removed if you have enough patience and the right tools;

- air chisel is ok, Dremel with lots of cutting blades is better;

- get lots of emery cloth, 180, 220, 340 grit. All of them. We would have beaten ourselves and bearing seats stoopit if he had not sanded, sanded, and sanded some more to make seats a slip fit instead of a press fit.

- heating and cooling? No difference here, it was too hot out and components from the freezer warmed to ambient very quickly;

-even with all that, we still had to compress the steering with the nut, and whack from the bottom to get things to move to seat.

RossKean said:

dcarver said:

It takes patience and time but is well worth the effort. Outstanding results...

Click to expand...

I haven't had any issues with head shake (other than with a bad tire). AS far as I know, there are no issues with my head bearings - do you think a change would make a noticeable difference? How would you describe the change?

Click to expand...

Notice a change? When a wobble is present, replacing the bearings takes the bike from wobble to no wobble. That simple, that noticeable. Regardless of tire condition, regardless of suspension settings, regardless of suspension oil viscosity, etc., etc. replacing the bearings simply makes the wobble go away forever.

If I loosen my grip on the bars, at 45 and decelerating, my Gen 1 shakes so hard it would probably knock me off the bike if I let it continue without grabbing hold again. New front tire helps a lot, but never eliminates.

Interesting that as much as Yamaha has labored to upgrade and update this platform, this one has eluded them.

Or has it?

I literally just did mine. Couple of lessons... polishing away! The lower bearing is a pain otherwise. I ended up developing a large burr/lip that had to be polished down. I used a dremel. The upper race drifted in easily.

No fairing removal. Just the wheel and forks. Torque to 30 ft lbs as a final torque for the bearings, 80 ft lbs of the steering nut. Plan on retorqueing after about 100 miles or so. I've tried a bunch of different torques, 30 is the sweet spot. Otherwise, wasnt a hard job at all. Went pretty smoothly and minimal cussing.

Torque to 30 ft lbs as a final torque for the bearings, 80 ft lbs of the steering nut. Plan on retorqueing after about 100 miles or so. I've tried a bunch of different torques, 30 is the sweet spot

Click to expand...

Are you sure you don't mean nm instead of ft lbs. Even then it is a lot of torque. I know there is a wide range that people say they torque these tapered bearings to.

Now I am going off of when I just did mine. From all the info I gathered tapered steering bearings should be torqued so that with the front wheel 15 degrees towards center from the stop should fall back to the stop, barely bounce and settle down, both L&R. That's with the wheel off the ground and no bars to impede full, free movement. Wheel and forks torqued to spec. This is after the initial tightening to set the bearing, which in my case was 30 ft lbs./turn lock to lock 10-20 times. YMMV. For the the final torque I ended up with 10 ft lbs. after trying 23,18, and 13. YMMV. 10 ft lbs. gave me the fall back I was looking for.

In my case after I test drove the bike with the higher final torques I noticed a weave at freeway speeds. Nothing major but I could feel it, kind of a wandering. My final test ride was great no weave, no clunk, no wobble, easy steering. YMMV

I think the one thing in this job that needs to be done correctly is getting all the bearings and races seated fully initially. Using the old races with solid metal to metal

contact with a 3-4# sledge works the best. I don't mean bashing the !@#$ out of it. You can hear and feel when it's in solid. PVC or wood just isn't solid enough. JMO. With everything seated fully initially there shouldn't be a need to over crank that first torque and possibly damage the cage of the bearing.

Happy Hammering!

Well the tree just kinda falls out which means that almost any dummy like me with a minimal amount of tools can do it. Mama Yami was not cheap with the grease so no complaint other than I do not have anything long enuf to knock out races. Guess I have to find a tool store and hope I can find something. So far I have 1 hr and 35 minutes invested in it.

ReRose said:

Well the tree just kinda falls out which means that almost any dummy like me with a minimal amount of tools can do it. Mama Yami was not cheap with the grease so no complaint other than I do not have anything long enuf to knock out races. Guess I have to find a tool store and hope I can find something. So far I have 1 hr and 35 minutes invested in it.

Click to expand...

A piece of steel rod from Lowe's Hardware .

The problem has never been getting things apart. Most of the difficulty is reassembly.

Popped the races out of the neck and used an air chisel on the bottom stem race for removal. Now wait on parts. Not sure how I am gonna get the bottom bearing on the stem yet but betting it is gonna be real cave man style.

ReRose, I used this tool along with 3# sledge supported on the anvil part of my 6" bench vice and it worked great, 3-5 good whacks and it was fully seated. Don't forget to put the seal on first.

If you want to make your own out some metal plumbing pipe, the dims are 14" length X 1.25" ID. Get a threaded end cap for one end of the pipe to beat on. Bring the old race with you to the hardware store to match up a pipe that could work, use the old race between the pipe and bearing to drive it.

I used a tool similar to this along with the old races and the 3# sledge to drive the new races into the steering head. They have this set at HF, and can be used for other jobs.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

rbentnail said:

RossKean said:

dcarver said:

It takes patience and time but is well worth the effort. Outstanding results...

Click to expand...

I haven't had any issues with head shake (other than with a bad tire). AS far as I know, there are no issues with my head bearings - do you think a change would make a noticeable difference? How would you describe the change?

Click to expand...

Notice a change? When a wobble is present, replacing the bearings takes the bike from wobble to no wobble. That simple, that noticeable. Regardless of tire condition, regardless of suspension settings, regardless of suspension oil viscosity, etc., etc. replacing the bearings simply makes the wobble go away forever.

Click to expand...

Exactly correct. Never a wobble EVER even with really worn tires and improper inflation.

Tree is back in the neck and so far the only irritation was getting the lower head race in. I will finish it tomorrow iffens the wifey does not have my day planned.

Little recap on this since I finally felt like finishing today but will not test it until tomorrow. Bottom race on the stem was removed by using a cutting wheel to make a groove on each side then using an air chisel to take it off. Real easy that way with 10 minutes involved. Stem races popped out with a long real fat flat blade screwdriver. Top stem race went in with a punch in no time but the bottom was a butt pain. Just like the top I used a hammer to tap it in till it was level with the housing but instead of a punch I used a 9 inch 3/8 drive extension. Using the flat side (where ratchet would go in) and just kept tapping until it bottomed out which took awhile. For the bottom stem bearing I used the factory top grease seal because it fit the shaft and I would not have to worry about it not centering. The All Balls seals has a bigger shaft hole but I used one of them for the top seal. Getting the bottom stem bearing on was a challenge because I also used a punch on it. If I have to do another I will buy a driver for the stem bearing.

Stuff I figured out as I go:

1. There is brake line bracket that bolts to the bottom tree and it is easier to hold the stem in with just a couple threads on the top with the stem nut so that one has room to get the two 8mm head bolts into the bottom stem.

2. Usually to put stem races in I used a 1/2 in threaded shaft with a big socket on each end to fit the edge of the race and as I tighten up the nutz it presses the races in. Takes a little time but easy to do. Tap the races even with the frame neck and slowly tighten the home made press. None of my sockets were FJR big so I had to caveman it with the 3/8 extension.

3. Did not know what tq to use on the stem adjusting nut so after reading thru so threads that others posted in this thread I did initial tq to 45 the the reset at 25. Will have to report tomorrow how that works

That be it and all I know at the moment is the front turns lock to lock on the center stand

Thanks for the help people. -- Bobby

I reread the factory manual : tighten to 32, back off 1 revolution, tighten to 13 ft lbs. The lock nut is finger tight, and the steering nut at the top is 85! Ft lbs.

Fyi: I havent been happy with mine since I put them in, I'm trying a few more things before i take them out and revert to stock.