Topic: All Balls and no brain (er)

[mwvachon]

Hi All,
Well, I was at the point where I needed to assemble the steering head on my '71 CB750 resto project. I just had to try assembling using the old (worn out) races - just because I happened to have a bag of the correct bearing balls lying about. Of course it was notchy as all get out, so I proceeded to take the route recommended by a number of you on this site - taper bearing kit! Thanks Honda-man for the general reference info on how to go about doing this. I have to admit I was nervous about pounding out the old races, but they had to go anyway. I then had to hunt down a proper replacement kit. Parts-n-more seemed to be out of stock so I tried Dennis Kirk.
Only problem there was they didn't specifically list the '71 K1 model. I got all detective-like and checked back on the All-Balls listing to see which kit fit both my bike and anything newer. What I came up with was the #22-1011 kit appeared to be the right one. Of course, Dennis Kirk uses a different part #, turned out to be #12-1431. Part showed up today, so I got right to work.
I was amazed that there was a small set of instructions! The information was on the spacers and how to determine which one to use. This turned out to be incorrect for my bike. If I followed the instructions, it claimed I should use the largest spacer. I proceeded to pound the lower bearing onto the steering stem with that spacer in place. It went on OK, but when I tried a test-assembly, the stem was sitting way too low in the neck! I dreaded having to drive off the lower bearing, but it came off  with a bit of persistence. I had forgotten to insert the lower dust deal anyway, so now I had a chance to correct that also. After reassembling without any of the suggested spacers, the steering head seems to be sitting just about perfect. The stops on the lower brace line up almost evenly with the tab on the steering neck.
Just curious if anyone else has used this particular kit and what (if any) spacers you ended up using? I just love this 'Do it right the last time' method!

[STLrocker]

i just put all balls brand tapered bearings in two of my bikes this past week. a '76 750k and a 750 chopper. i did as the instructions said, stacked both old races with the old bearings in between and the old dust seal on top. then i compared it to the new bearings and race with the new dust seal. then with the small spacer on top of that, it was the same height as the old stack.  i ended up using the smaller spacer, then the dust seal, then the bearing. it all fit correct this way. same for both bikes.

[cb650]

All my bikes have all balls bearings!!    Like the little sticker they put in the package.
Kid had to put one on his dirt bike.




                 Terry

[ProTeal55]

My 750 is All-Ballz equipped as well 

[mwvachon]

Proteal, wondered what, if any, spacers you ended up using for your assembly?

[martini]

Instructions! What a novel idea, mine did not come with any instructions. Once again thank godness for this site.

[cb650]

Instructions!!! We dont need no stinkin instructions. 
Why can I only turn right???



          Terry

[mwvachon]

OK, revisited the steering neck assembly one more time. Seems every post I read indicated at least one of the spacers in the kit was utilized. Since mine didn't use any, I was a bit puzzled. I re-checked my assembly with a flashlight and could see the lower clamp plate was just about touching the bottom of the steering neck. I disassembled my fork trees and discovered that the lower race had not fully seated into the frame neck! Seems the instructions that came with the tapered bearings kit are actually correct - the new (lower) bearing height should match the old assembly. The reason I doubted this was the fact that the lower race was not letting the steering stem sit in far enough to engage the nut/tensioner on the top of the assembly. As I stated at the very start, I was leary of tackling this job because I was unfamiliar with just how to do it right - and it is a critical assembly!
At any rate, I was able to knock off the lower bearings for a third time without doing any damage and reinserted the larger washer. Now the assembly looks good and the stops sit just about flush with the plate on the steering neck. Would be nice if someone from the technical side or the street could do a detailed write-up for us mechanically challenged types on how this is REALLY supposed to be done...