NSR work needed doing

[Noggin]

Hi guys, havent posted for a while.

i went to have my tyres replaced on my '98 NSR. They replaced the tyres all ok but they said that the head race bearings were pitted, and the rear wheel bearings were worn.

They quoted me just under £60 for the parts, and 3 and a half hours labour so all told it came to around £210.

I'm considering doing it myself, between me and my dad. Are there any specialist tools that I will need, and anyone got any instructions on how to go about the repair/replacement?

Cheers Guys


Craig G(Noggin)


p.s please help kickstart!!
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Current bike: kawasaki zx12r 2002
Track bike: yamaha r6 1998
Old Bike: honda NSR 125 1998

[mr jamez]

To replace the head bearings you will need to remove the whole front end, If you put the bike on the centre stand and put some weight on the seat it will lift the front up and you can remove the front end without it falling over. Not sure if you will have to remove the front fairings (never worked on a faired NSR). Undo the steering stem nut then put the wieght on the seat to lift the bike up. Remove the front wheel (remember to undo the axel pinch bolt), take off the fork tube caps, remove clip-ons, undo pinch bolts on top and bottom yolk then slide the forks out. Take off the top yolk and unscrew the cap (can't remember the name of it) I tapped it round with a screwdriver and hammer. You can then slide out the bottom yolk and it should all be obvious on how to replace the bearings.

Give david silver spares a ring to see how much the parts will cost. Though before doing this, what is the garage like? good rep? have you checked that when you turn the forks it is not notchy etc?

[Noggin]

Yea, they have a good rep, i would trust them, I think, there is one problem though, I dont have a centre stand!



Craig G(Noggin)
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Current bike: kawasaki zx12r 2002
Track bike: yamaha r6 1998
Old Bike: honda NSR 125 1998

[stinkwheel]

Not totally specific to your bike but in general they are all pretty much the same.

Wheel bearings
You will need: Tools to remove the wheel; a long thin drift; circlip pliers/needle nose pliers; LM grease; new bearings; a hammer; a deadblow hammer (useful but not essential):

Remove wheel and pull out the spacers and dust covers that are removable, sit it on a piece of board so you don't damage it. On one side of the central 'tunnel' there is usually a big circlip going round the outside of the bearing, remove this and flip the wheel over.

The circlips often have a plastic or metal dust cover under them, put these to one side fo just now.

The wheel should have a bearing either side with a metal tube going between them down the middle. You should be able to push this metal tube slightly off to one side using the end of your drift. This gives you JUST enough room to get the end of the drift to bear against the inner race of the lowermost bearing as you look down at it. Use the hammer and drift to tap round the edges of the inner race until it drops out of the end you just removed the circlip from. The trick is to only move it a small bit at a time, you are trying to drift the thing down as square as possible, too much of an angle and it will get stuck.

You should now have removed one bearing and the metal spacer tube.

Repeat this for the other bearing, on some bikes you have to drift it all the way through, on others there is a second circlip. You can usually get away with using a 1/2"drive extension bar with a socket on the end that butts up against the inner race.

The bearings have a number stamped on the side of them, take this number or the whole bearing to a 'bearing factors' (yellow pages). They will supply you with a better quality wheel bearing than the bike shop for less than half the price. They will probably offer you a selection, ask which is best since they are the experts, with bearings more expensive usually = better.

Look at your new bearings, if you can't see the balls due to a plastic cover between the two races, you have a sealed bearing. These are already greased and you will not need to put the dust covers back when you fit them unless they are acting as spacers. If you can see the ball bearings, they will need packing with high-speed LM grease before you fit them. Leaving them to stand in just melted grease (not boiled) as it solidifies is a very good way of getting them well lubed up. You will need to reinstall the dust covers with this type.

Install the new bearings, circlips and spacer tube in the reverse order to which you removed them. Again a 1/2" drive extension bar and socket is usefull for this but this time try to drift them down by applying the force to the outer race, it is critical that you hammer these down as square as possible and that they seat fully against the circlip/ridge. You can also use the old bearing as a drift to

When they are properly fitted, you should be able to get the last circlip on, if they aren't, it is unlikley to fit.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[mr jamez]

Doh!

No problem, Take the side fairings off, take the HT lead off the plug, sensor wire off. Get a long metal pole and slide it through the front (don't snag the power valve cables against the frame) then get two large paint tins or something suitable and put some axel stands on them, lift the bike up with the bar and put it on the stands. Probably a good idea to chock the rear wheel to stop it rolling backwards, you only need the bike a few mm off the ground so you can remove the front wheel.

I did that with mine when I had my centre stand off and it worked perfectly Saved me buying one of those abba stands as well.

[Kickstart]

Hi

They are quite easy to do, but the steering head bearings take time.

To take the front end out I tend to support the front of the bike on a pair of car axle stands.

The wheel bearings are easy. Wheel bearings will be ~£10 per wheel. Steering head bearings ~£30 (this is not Honda prices though).

Stinkwheels description should see you through.

All the best

Keith
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