GT380 Steering head bearings

For those wanting to keep their bike the way the factory made them.

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badgereng
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Suzuki 2-Strokes: GT380L - 1974
Location: North East UK

GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by badgereng »

Ladies / Gents
The top yoke / upper - upper raceway in my 74 GT380 steering head is buggered and as far as I can see,,,,, they are more rare than rocking horse sh!t.
Has anyone actually fitted a set of taper rollers to a 380 without the need to fettle the stem.
Fettling is part of the game but less fettling is better in my opinion. Sh!t rolls downhill and someone always lives in the valley and I’d rather not pass it on if it’s possible not to do so.
If anyone has fitted tapered sets to an early model 380 I’d be interested to know what manufacturer/supplier you had used.

Thanks for your help.
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sportston
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Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by sportston »

I have. It was not a straight bolt-on job. It took a lot of grinding to make everything fit. I had to grind the stem and the bearing race to make it sit right. I bought a Pyramid parts kit. I don't recommend using their kit. The height of the bearing is too tall for the bottom seal to fit inside the headstock without serious modification.
badgereng
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Suzuki 2-Strokes: GT380L - 1974
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Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by badgereng »

Thanks for the feedback Sportston. Your experience seems to tally with what I’ve read elsewhere.
I think I may just put up with a bit of notchiness (Is that a word?!??) for now until it’s a must be done job….. unless there are some taper sets that are plug and play.
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RD250 E
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brains
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Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by brains »

i possibly have some outer races in the garage, but it is a long time since i have seen them. i'll try & look tomorrow
badgereng
On the street
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:14 am
Country: England
Suzuki 2-Strokes: GT380L - 1974
Location: North East UK

Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by badgereng »

Wow, that would be great Brains if you still have some in decent condition. Many thanks for the offer and good luck with the search.

Pete
FS1E
RD250 E
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CB900 FD
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CBR600 F1
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Z1000 SX Tourer
GT380L

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brains
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Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by brains »

no luck i'm afraid. two house moves has played havoc. really annoying because a whole lot of new parts for my RG250 were in there too. may have got left in my sons w/shop but he has moved too now so not overly hopeful
badgereng
On the street
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:14 am
Country: England
Suzuki 2-Strokes: GT380L - 1974
Location: North East UK

Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by badgereng »

Thanks for looking anyway Brains. Much appreciated.
FS1E
RD250 E
CB750 K6
CBX B
CB900 FD
CBR1000 FD
CBR600 FV
CBR600 F1
CBR600 RR
FZ1-S Fazer
Z1000 SX

Z1000 SX Tourer
GT380L

Current - 1981 Honda CX500 & 2023 Kawasaki Z1000SX Ninja
sportston
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Suzuki 2-Strokes: FZ50, GP100, RG125 Gamma, GT380, Bandit 1200S

Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by sportston »

badgereng wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 12:20 am I think I may just put up with a bit of notchiness (Is that a word?!??).
Yep, notchiness is exactly how I would describe it. Mine were like that when I got the bike. The cup was rusty. Tapers are a much better design.
dollydog
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Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by dollydog »

i found pyramid bearings too high/thick as well, but i sent for some others which fitted perfectly and sat nicely in the top and bottom of the headstock. i'll go back through my fleabay history and see if i can find them. the steering stem though, all i did was grind a couple of mils down from the lip that the top bearing sits on, then everything was perfect :D
cheers, dd.
p.s. finding new outer and inner ball races, or even good ones is a pita. taper rollers are really the way to go, even though there are people out there who won't use them.
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badgereng
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Suzuki 2-Strokes: GT380L - 1974
Location: North East UK

Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by badgereng »

Thanks for looking DD, it would be great if you still have the details 👍
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Evans Ward
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Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by Evans Ward »

I think I have what you need with some stock bearing races off a 4000 mile GT380 that had too many missing parts to restore/ fix back so was parted out. Since we can’t seem to post pics here lately and if you want to see them, send me a PM with your offsite email address. They cleaned up nicely and bearing surfaces are nice and smooth. I am in the US though….
1976 Suzuki GT750 (Maui Blue), 1972 Kawasaki H2 750 Mach IV (Candytone Blue), 1984 Yamaha RZ350 (KRR- Yellow/ Black).
badgereng
On the street
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:14 am
Country: England
Suzuki 2-Strokes: GT380L - 1974
Location: North East UK

Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by badgereng »

Thank you, email sent.

Pete
FS1E
RD250 E
CB750 K6
CBX B
CB900 FD
CBR1000 FD
CBR600 FV
CBR600 F1
CBR600 RR
FZ1-S Fazer
Z1000 SX

Z1000 SX Tourer
GT380L

Current - 1981 Honda CX500 & 2023 Kawasaki Z1000SX Ninja
User avatar
Evans Ward
To the on ramp
Posts: 326
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:35 pm
Country: USA
Suzuki 2-Strokes: 76 GT750, 72 H2 750, 84 RZ350
Location: Macon, GA. USA

Re: GT380 Steering head bearings

Post by Evans Ward »

badgereng wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:05 pm Thank you, email sent.

Pete
Sending you a PM Pete.

Evans
1976 Suzuki GT750 (Maui Blue), 1972 Kawasaki H2 750 Mach IV (Candytone Blue), 1984 Yamaha RZ350 (KRR- Yellow/ Black).
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