Steering Bearing Replacement

well guy i took a look at mine this morning i didn't have a feeler gauge at the bottom was real close and on the top the big washer was also real close so i am thinking you have a problem of coarse you knew that.
hard to tell in the pics but is the large washer on the bottom instead of going on just before the nuts.
jmo that the seal and bearings should be installed before the lower tree.
 
I used " All balls" on mine with no problems ! It sounds like your bottom bearing cup has not been pressed far enough down the stem . Is the bottom cap and bearing race fitted tight to the bottom tree ? If not , the stem will be too short ! It can be a bugger to press the bottom bearing assembly right home to the very base of the stem !
 
It is tight on the bottom of the steering stem, no gap. I tried measuring the bearing heights between the OEM and the All Balls that I received and that seems to check out. Finally bit the bullet and ordered the OEM top and bottom bearings from Hermy’s. Also ordered the Motion Pro driver tools for the stem and the head tube cups. Waiting for that all to arrive and will try again. There’s a chance the pipe I devised to drive the bottom bearing messed up the cage on the needle bearings.
 
Make sure the cups are fully seated square in the headstock tube also !
 
I ordered a new bearing set from Hermys and starting over. Now I am having another thought, maybe I inadvertently pushed the steering tube down in the crown. I am wondering if anyone can confirm if it is supposed to be flush with the bottom of the crown? Mine is pictured below With the weather plug inserted and removed.


 
Not near my bike so can't confirm. I doubt the tube moved in the stem. If it did, reinstalling the stem complete with brgs, in the frame neck and tightening the upper nut would cause the tube to slide up in the stem (lower triple tree).

Just curious, when you installed everything and tightened the first nut, did the lower seal behind the lower brg seat in the frame neck?
 
Gregger said:
Just curious, when you installed everything and tightened the first nut, did the lower seal behind the lower brg seat in the frame neck?
Click to expand...
Good thoughts. I did see the lower seal go into the lower end of the head tube, but will check the seating again. I installed the cups in the head tube and they are seated well. The lower bearing is seated against the crown and when assembled I had two more threads exposed On the upper end, but not quite what I expected. Maybe it is the right depth and I need to try the fitment of the upper crown tomorrow. Thanks again.
 
Circling back on this thread. Thanks for the help and the guidance. I finally got the head stock bearings reinstalled with a new fresh OEM set. It looks about the same as when I had the All Balls bearings installed that I mentioned above. So clearly I was just miss remembering how everything came apart. A little worried at the lack of threads on the top set nut, but between the set nuts and acorn cap nut on the top triple tree, I think I’m fully within safety parameters. Took the bike out for a nice long test ride and no issues. So I’ll just continue to ride and enjoy.
 
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