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I haven't dug into it yet, but I can tell I'm due for new steering head bearings. Just testing the waters before I start pulling things apart ... any gotchas I should keep in mind?

The only tricky part is removing the inner race of the bottom steering bearing from the steering stem.

for everyone who has never done it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ozfh93CvBs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-kVkqXiLdY

Certainly get tapered roller bearings instead of ball bearings. Last longer, feel better. Of course, good grease is important too. Plenty of it. Pretty hard to over grease a low motion bearing like the headset. Set it up with just tad of preload.

Cheers, Phil

Unless you have some pretty trick bearing removing tools that lower inner bearing race is probly best ground ( dremel ) nearly right thru in 2 spots and then split with a cold chisel

Mc tool wrote:Unless you have some pretty trick bearing removing tools that lower inner bearing race is probly best ground ( dremel ) nearly right thru in 2 spots and then split with a cold chisel

Exactly the way I did it the last time. Without any damage on the stem and triple tee I'd managed to get it off. At a certain point it cracks and it will slide right off. Before I had used plenty of WD40 and let it sit for a day.

I normally cut an x pattern with a small angle grinder (a partly worn blade makes it easier as the diameter is smaller, but still be careful) and then knock out the triangular shaped bit with a cold chisel.

To get the lower bearing cup out of the headstock, I normally run a bead of weld around the cup surface after cleaning the grease off. When the weld cools it shrinks the cup and makes knocking it out very easy. A clean up with emery paper and a smear of copper grease makes getting it out the next time easier.