Steering stem won't release

[luvmythumper]

Went to grease the steering bearings and was not able to get the steering stem to come out of the frame. It appears the upper bearing is stuck to the steering stem. Tried liquid wrench, heat, cold, everything I could think of. Anyone ever had this problem?

I have never done this on an XR, but with all other bikes the steering stem just falls out with the bottom triple clamp once everything has been removed.

And yes, I removed the forks, bars, upper clamps, and the adjusting nut and seal.

Any ideas?

I think I may end up having to cut the top of the bearing case.

[Jon-D]

Screw on the nut to protect the threads and use a BFH to give it a good whack. Like you were saying, the stem should just fall out so it sounds like it might be some rust in there holding it all together.

On an old KX I had it was difficult removing the race that supported the bearing from the frame, but everything else was easy to remove.

[snaggleXR650]

Yes, mine just fell out. More than likely some rust/corrosion in there. Did you persuade it with a rubber mallet, or piece of wood over the top of the stem and a hammer?

Nothing else holds it in, so you will just have to knock it out. Just be smart and use something soft so that the stem and fine little threads don't get damaged.

[luvmythumper]

I gave it a few good shots with the hammer. I did not go too hard because I did not want to damage the races. I have changed those and they are always a pain to remove and install.

[pigrider661]

i just did replaced the bearings on my 04 650L they were rusted and very well stuck in the frame i was able to remove the steering stem after some effort my thought is if your bearings are that rusted you are going to have to replace the bearings anyway. when i found the bearings in my pig rusted and the races scored and not useable again. also the lower bearing is pressed onto the steering stem and that may be were the problem is, i used a rubber mallot to disloge the stem from the steering head, when it came out i removed the lower bearing with a cold chisle and drove it off i got new bearings and races from my honda dealer because i was in a pinch, you may find a comparable bearing cheaper from a diffrent source, i got a race seating tool from a guy at work (you can get them from mac,snapon, matco etc.. good luck and dont be afraid to hit the stem with pretty good force....... ?

[Thumpmeister]

When I replaced my bearing, mine took some persuasion to get out as well. I just went at it w/ a soft mallet a couple times, and it eventually popped out. It did take some force, but w/ a soft mallet, theres really nothing to worry about...

The hardest part for me was getting the new bottom bearings back on, because you had to heat them up and/or press them on. I heated them and then found a pipe that fit right over the stem, and used that w/ the same mallet.