Hi guys,
So I spent all evening (and into the next morning) re-taping my wiring harness and installing the All Balls tapered steering bearing kit. Tomorrow I'm putting the bars on. Should I drill the bars and run cables though them or not?!
My DSS order! More details on the parts tomorrow.
Wiring harness. On the advice of someone on Caferacer.net I decided against heat shrinking everything. Apparently that would make everything too stiff and is not how it's done. So electrical tape it is. I started peeling off the old tape. It was applied very efficiently in most spots. Not many breaks in the tape. I was planning on only fixing the rough spots, although once I started unraveling it I decided to do the whole thing.
I bought the most expensive electrical tape I could find. It has 'nitro' lightly embossed on the surface of the tape. Yeah, even the electrical tape is fast.
The old tape in a heap and the wiring harness complete. Actually the cables that got to the switch's are a bit of a mess. I'll tape those once I get the bars on as I'll know what I'm doing then.
Now the All Balls tapered steering bearing kit. Installing the top bearing race. These were a tight fit.
With a soft mallet and a lot of frustration, I managed to get the race in all the way down. Very satisfying but my battle had only just begun.
The bottom race was a pain in the arse. It just didn't want to go in straight. I then noticed a small scratch on the headstem that appeared to be holding the race up. So I go sanding for what felt like years.
Filled the frame over for better hammering.
Got a heat-gun onto metal as I've read others having luck with freezing the race and heating the frame.
It worked. I got it in.
Now to measure up the All Balls kit to see if I need a washer. The instructions that come with the kit are sparse and not very intuitive. But after reading through the thread that dagersh gave me, it made sense. Essentially you want to make sure the new tapered bearing is within +/- 1mm of the height of the old bearing stack. That way your lower triple tree won't rub against the headstem. At least that's how I interpreted it. As you can see above, the tapered bearing is too short.
So I added the included washer. Boo-yah. Note the dirt seal.
Washer.
Dirt seal.
Tapered bearing. It's not mentioned anywhere that this tapered bearing doesn't just slide on. The headstem (or whatever it's called) is tapered, so you have to really bang on the tapered bearing. I used the old bearing races to help. Ideally you'd want a piece of piping that is the correct size and you'd just slip it over the stem and hammer the tapered bearing down. I just used a bit of wood and some time on the rubber mallet alternating sides.
Added a heap of bearing grease as per the YouTube video dagersh linked me. Thanks mate!
Same for the top. Don't forget to add the dust seal over this.
Now I screwed this on next. Although from what I've read
here, maybe I should use the extra thick included washer to improve purchase and decrease slippage. It's not mentioned anywhere, but I believe that's what the extra think included washer is for. I'll add it in the morning.
More progress tomorrow. Should get the bars, headlight, forks (maybe!), shocks and swingarm on! I'm hoping for a rolling frame tomorrow!
Should I drill the bars or not?
Rick.
P.S. Also, does anyone know what that little silver bit of wire/metal that clips onto the screw that holds the horn on is for? Which screw is it meant to clip onto? The front or rear? I know it came off the horn but I can't remember how it went on.
