I'm losing the will to live! Can anyone tell me why I'm having so much trouble getting the headstock bearing out, I am hitting the fork holder(wrong name I know) but it won't budge, the steering failed MOT as so stiff its dangerous, I just can't get this last bit done and its driving me silly, soaked in releasing oil and used wood on top and a hammer, is it just so stuck it sized in and needs to be freed or am I doing something wrong? Cheers guys
No I don't think you are doing anything wrong, you have to release the yoke, it should just drop down and out but it would appear that someone has been at the headstock before, that looks like a normal ball race and not a specific head bearing to me. On that basis the upright part of the yoke is stuck inside the bearing race. The one thing you must not do is damage the thread on the top of the yoke where you are hitting it, I would suggest putting the nut back on until the top of the nut is flush with the top of the thread, piece of wood on top of that then hit it with a hammer, if that fails try a bigger hammer.
The item you are trying to remove is called the Steering Stem. My workshop manual simply states it should fall out, once the bearing adjuster nut is removed. Apparently your stem is seized in one of the bearings. It seems like the lower bearing outer race remains in the steering head, and must be pulled out later. I would put the nuts back on to prevent damage and use more force or a puller to free it. The image is from ebay, so you know what it looks like.
Looks by the rusty mess on the bottom of the yolk the bottom bearing may have seized on the shaft ( oo er misses) so plenty of penetrating fluid and brute force is the answer as said above put the nut back on all the way block of wood and a big hammer but don't lose your rag with it My bad seized on the top doh the bottom will be another fun day to get it off
