Stearing bearings...

Ok so the top bearing is not good in my bike.... how do i know the PO told me when i bought the bike that he put a too small bearing in there.... So in order to fix that... i don't need to go crazy and drop the forks and mess everything up do i? Shouldn't i be able to replace it just from the top without the whole meal deal?

 

Sorry, Scholz, wish it was better news. The whole triple tree has got to come out. I've done a lot of work on my bike and this was one of my least favorite. If you do it, go with roller bearings.

 

what does "too Small' actually mean?? If they fit and your steering is smooth and notch free.. only other error can be vertical movement?
Yesss total fork removal is necessary. But relax, it should take about 20 mins work to get it all removed.
Yama dealer will carry both the oem Ball Race type as well as the All Balls Tapered roller bearing kit.
Be aware there is NO functional difference between the two types of bearings. Personal preferences basically.
But note that the tapereds fit poorly in the yama headstock, protruding 2mm, thereby rendering the water seal inefective.

 

Steering bearings aren't hard to do.

Pull the tank. Pull brake caliper(s) and tie up to the frame. Disconnect speedo cable and detach the brake junction from the tree.

Remove the top of the tree with bars on it and lift back onto the backbone of the frame. Tie it off.

Now you can remove the steering nut. Jack the bike up a bit and pull the top race and balls from the top bearing.

Keep jacking the bike (tie some rags around the forks to catch the balls that drop from the lower bearing). Keep raising and separate the lower tree (with forks attached) from the headstock.

Drive races off the headstock and off the steering spindle.

Reverse to assemble.

The stock ball bearings are stronger than tapered roller bearings in this application. Much harder to put in though because you've got to keep all those balls in putting it together. Also, Yamaha is really expensive on their bearings.