Head bearings - how hard to change?

[Mad Dave]

Basically a friend's T plate ZX6R is in desperate need of some new head bearings - current ones are notchy beyond belief. We're thinking of attempting the job ourselves to save money and i'm just wondering what's involved? I'm guessing it's a case of remove forks and yokes, remove old bearings, slot in new ones nice and straight and then reassemble? Any special tools required?

Cheers in advance chaps

Dave

[Steve_T]

I expect the worst bit will be extracting the bearings. If there's a bearing puller that will do the job it may be worth borrowing or buying, alternatively, take apart all that you can and get the old bearings removed and new ones refitted by a specialist/dealer with the proper tools, then reassemble everything yourself.

Steve.

Edited by Steve_T on Tuesday 22 January 13:51

[dern]

Read the appropriate bit in the haynes book and then decide. I did mine on the blade and it was dead easy. It didn't suggest I need any special tools and I think I drifted the bearings out carefully rather than pulled them. I did mine a while back and have had absolutely no problems with th erepair at all.

The hardest thing is getting the front of the bike off the ground and stable so that you can remove the front end. I either lifted mine using my engine crane or a hoist over a metal beam in the garage but you could use an abba stand too. It has to be stable though as you don't want it wobbling around as you undo stuff.

[Mad Dave]

Nice one, thanks lads.