Head Bearing Replacement (made simple)

Head bearing replacement in 5 easy steps.

1. Up


2. Out


3. In


4. Grease


5. Assemble


Didn't really need doing!

Spanner Monkey alert!

Once stripped down I saw why I was getting grease fall onto the bottom yolk.



Apart from having 2 different makes of bearings fitted , the old top race had been fitted by a monkey..
Those centre punch marks distorted the outer race enough to effect the roller surface area.



Try not to strike a small surface area of steel against steel.
..but as a final touch I used the old outer race to drive the new races fully home.

The two problems that result in head race failure on DRZ are water ingress from pressure washing, and the small amount of lube put in at assembly by Suzuki soon runs out due to heat from oil tank in the frame.
I see you have a grease nipple fitted, so you can keep the void in the headstock full of lard.
DRZ400S is a little different as the bolt for the steering lock locates in a hole in the headstock spindle, this allows the grease to leak out. But you still can get an amount of grease in to it, keeping the lower bearing lubed.