NSR: Steering Head/Stem Bearing Replacement

My NSR's front end was feeling loose, and there was a clunking sound when depressing the front forks. My friend Uehara-san offered to help replace my steering head bearings. Since mechanics quoted me between ¥30,000-¥50,000, I gladly took him up on it. Here is a brief write-up.

Ordered parts:

91016KT8005 - Headpipe bearing

91051KT8005 - Headpipe bearing

53214371010 - Dust seal

53214KA4701 - Dust seal

Torque values can be found at http://www.dreamgate.ne.jp

At Uehara's house, changing some tires on his yamaha r6 for the track. His friend came with his r6 as well.

 Removed the top bridge

Jacked up the front via the right-side chamber

sorry chamber, your the best!

 Removed front wheel pinch bolts and axle shaft

 Removed front wheel

 Unbent tabs and removed steering head top collar

Removed steering stem

very naked, bordering on paraplegia

Removed top and bottom races

used a flathead and hammer to get em out

out with the old...

in with the new

We decided to leave the bottom race/dust seal on. It was relatively free of nicks and damage, and quite a pain to replace so we let it be.

Inserted new races and greased (bottom not pictured)

 Inserted new bearings and greased (bottom not pictured)

After install, we put the parts back on in the order we took them off and torqued to value.

Rode it back today. The steering feels much more solid and the clunking sound is gone. Really happy with it. And we made some plans to hit the circuit soon.

Total cost: ~¥4,000 + six-pack of Corona