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Steering stem head change help
- tommyp76
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My steering stem head has a broken handlebar bolt in it that the previous owner completely fubar'd trying to get out. I got another one over the weekend but how easy is it to swap out? From the looks of the one I just bought it seems simple but somehow I always get in way over my head on these things.
Thanks,
Tom
1978 KZ650B
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- Sandy
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- Fly High,Tony
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And are you sure you can't extract what's left of the old bolt?
Doing the swap is pretty straight forward,but if you DO go that route,you should consider swapping the old-school steering bearings,with a set of tapered bearings...well worth it.
You'll have to get the front end off the ground for starters...remove the handlebars and gauges.
It will be a lot easier too,if you remove the front wheel.(less weight).
But like I mentioned,you really should swap the bearings for tapered,so if you ARE going to go that route,then there's a bit more involved.You'll have to remove the forks completely,instead of just sliding them down,below the top section of the triple-tree...
1977 KZ1000 A-1
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- mtkawboy
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78-KZ1000/1105, 80 KZ1000, 82 Kawasaki GPZ750, 95 Harley Fatboy, 80 Suzuki GS1100ET, 81 GS1100E parts bike, 83 GS1100SD Katana/1394,78 Yamaha XT500, 81 Yamaha XS650, 78 Yamaha XS650E, 48 Whizzer model J motorbike, 71 Honda CT70H, 71 Honda CT70, 81 IT 250 Yamaha,82 Honda XL100S owned
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- tommyp76
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What bike,Tom?(put it in your signature line)
And are you sure you can't extract what's left of the old bolt?
Doing the swap is pretty straight forward,but if you DO go that route,you should consider swapping the old-school steering bearings,with a set of tapered bearings...well worth it.
You'll have to get the front end off the ground for starters...remove the handlebars and gauges.
It will be a lot easier too,if you remove the front wheel.(less weight).
But like I mentioned,you really should swap the bearings for tapered,so if you ARE going to go that route,then there's a bit more involved.You'll have to remove the forks completely,instead of just sliding them down,below the top section of the triple-tree...
Doh! I knew I forgot something. The bike is a 78 KZ650B. I thought I could just extract it but they got into the threads pretty bad on the previous attempt. Thanks for the info, I was contemplating doing the bearings at the same time.
Tom
1978 KZ650B
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- RonKZ650
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321,000 miles on KZ's that I can remember. Not going to see any more.
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- tommyp76
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1978 KZ650B
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- Sandy
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I put the tapered in the KZ1000MKII and 2 of the KZ650s and to tell you the truth, getting rid of dried up balls and hammered races and replacing with tapered I could not detect any difference at all.
Wow Ron...seriously?!
My bearings must have been in pretty rough shape then,because when I switched over to the tapered bearings,I couldn't BELIEVE the difference in how well the bike handled...mostly in corners.It flowed so much better...like a brand new bike.
1977 KZ1000 A-1
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