All balls steering head bearings

[hansomesamson]

Hi all,

So my steering head bearings on my 2005 FZ6N are pretty knackered and im looking to have them replaced. Toying with the idea of doing them myself but ill see what the quotes come back like.

Been doing a bit of research and it seems like premature bearing failure is quite common. A lot of people talk about switching to roller bearings rather than the stock ball ones. Couldn't find a UK supplier so think ill get some from the states. Got a few enquiries out to get a cost but was wondering if anybody wanted a set whilst im buying? Might save on postage costs:

All Balls Steering Stem Bearing Kit - Dirt Bike Motocross 2005 Yamaha FZ6 - Motorcycle Superstore

 

[foxbass]

Check out fazerspares.com The Bike Hut. They were advertising the roller bearing replacements a while back. Very good deal too.

 

[bob808]

I'm doing this today right after I finish with the shocks There's a thread here with pictures and everything. If you have the tools you might want to do it yourself on a nice weekend.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I heard the orings tha come with the bearings are the wrong size so you may have to reuse the old ones. I remember someone pointing that out and even contacted the manufacturer. Not sure if they have corrected the mistake and if so, if you have the new batch with the correct orings.

 

[bob808]

Just finished this and it is a b***h! But since I was doing the shocks I couldn't resist doing the bearings as well. Indeed the upper seal is not the correct size, it is smaller and doesn't cover the whole area. I just used the original one (be careful while taking it out in the first place). I guess that this kit is not only for FZ6, might be compatible with some other bike model or maybe it is compatible with FZ6 and the main target for this kit is some other bike. This may be the reason for the smaller upper seal.

After I took everything apart I noticed that my bearings were ok (2004 model with 14.000 km), grease all over (there were 2 colors of grease, one seemed like rust mixed with grease) so I thought that I might just do it since the roller ones are better anyway. Would not do it again since it is hard to get the lower race out from the stem (without proper tools) get the new one in, pop out the old races from the frame and inserting the new ones, lots of trouble and you need to be careful. But I had no press, had to use hammer and screwdriver (very careful) took ... kinda all day Didn't have the change to test this yet as it is night and started raining but I will definitively notice an improvement since I swapped the springs with Racetech ones Good luck with your project!
Ah, forgot. I saw the other night this clip and it helped, I got it from another thread:
Ep 5: Replacing steering head bearings at Garage Night
The tips might help.