lower steering stem bearing cup

[marky99925]

Great Art, thanks
I've watched a few you tube videos of guys using the method you describe and fortunately i've got unlimited time and a dry shed so i can take the gently gently approach.
Can't see me progressing from grease monkey to professional anytime soon but every job teaches us something !
Cheers

P.S Well unlimited time till we go to Portugal in May...

[marky99925]

outer race came off without too much trouble using the screwdriver/chisel method, angry that i've put a small gouge in the stem for want of a few minutes more patience but filed flat and can hardly feel it with a fingertip, grease monkey status intact, i have LM2 and EP2 grease is there much difference?

[Art]

Yes, patience is king. One small gouge filed flat should be of no real consequence.

The LM2 is a lithium based multi-purpose grease use that on pivot points such as the side stand, centre stand, gear lever/linkage, foot pegs, brake pedal etc. Also use it to pack out the bare ends of the throttle cables to help prevent water ingress, greased cable ends is a sure sign of meticulous maintenance.
 
Use the EP2 it's also a lithium based muti-purpose grease but more suited to bearings, EP=Extreme Pressure, use it for head stock, wheel, shock absorber and swinging arm bearings.

[marky99925]

thanks Art, the Haynes manual goes with EP2 too, so that's what i've used to pack the bearing, christ its everywhere. bearing went on ok, seems to be all the way down against the new rubber/metal dust seal thing and turns fine.
Tomorrow is the bottom cup contraption and then the challenge of putting it all back in the same order pending the return of the suspension from Maxton.
While in bits i'm thinking of greasing the suspension linkage, in for a penny.....

[marky99925]

update on this is that all went well until the bottom cup, i just couldn't get it to drift in squarely, due to brake lines and the fact that i did the whole thing without removing bodywork it was difficult to get at it cleanly to tap round the edge with the old cup, as had worked perfectly on the top cup, it was a very tight fit even after a heat gun and polishing the inside of the steering head, to the extent that i checked i had bought the right kit, even though everything else fitted ok and it was the same size as the old cup.  In the end i got it as square as i could by hand then used the stem itself to get a decent start, even at this point it wasn't 100% square so I finished it with a normal threaded bar/washer arrangement and kept adusting it around the edge till it it was flush with the steering head, then it pulled in fairly ok. Possibly there's a minute difference with the cup for the roller bearing compared to the ball bearing cup i took out but i can't see why there should be.

[Art]

May be light corrosion around the neck of the lower head stock? One trick is to put the cup in the freezer for an hour prior to fitting. You'd have been surprised the difference that would have made and contrary to popular myth an hour in the freezer will have no detrimental effect on the cup.

All's well that ends well

Happy Days

[marky99925]

yes, that's the point, it's done, so i can reflect on the difficulties with a cold beer instead of a cold floor !
 I did freeze the cup for a couple of hours to give myself the best chance and used a drill with a polishing bit on the inside of the stem. just kept on thinking i was doing something obviously wrong, in the (warm) light of day i think it was just awkward to get square, in retrospect i would probably take the fairing off to improve the access but those plastic sections can be so easy to damage, anyway i finally managed without excessive dismantling and it should be a while before i do it again.
I'm sure there will be another problem soon!

[Art]

Well done, getting the cup square onto the stem is key.