XL250 steering bearings

[LWC82PE]

Do any owners of 72/73 XL250s have the original ball and race steering bearings that they can measure for me so i can compare to mine? I just received a tapered bearing kit i thought/was told was going to be right but the bearings are different sizes. I had spent ages trying to make sure i could find the correct kit but apparantly its not. Top one is the issue with ID being too big and stack height beeing too low. Bottom one is about 4mm lower in height but should be ok as they give you a spacer washer. This is frustrating as i spent ages trying to find the so called right ones and did not want to be one of the many people who end up getting wrong bearings all the time. So i would really want a second reference on the original bearings to know mine are 100% original and i measured correctly which i did triple check anyway but i just want to know whats going on here. Thanks

[lc4]

Not that it`s any help but I think you will find it very hard to find a tapper bearing kit to suit.
I went through the same excercise a while back and decided to run with the original races and buy new balls.
The problem I found is that all the tapper set ups were to high.

The set you thought was right is probably for a XL250S ?

[matcho mick]

top inners id is 25mm,it's 15mm deep,lowers 27mm id,& 11.25mm deep,yeah i just went through all my "spares",selected the best unindented,& put new balls in!,hey it's on dirt ,

[LWC82PE]

It was All Balls 22-1029 but actually came in Moose packaging and also with Moose number VEY30-03T. Yes it has XL250S on the packet among other Hondas like ATC200, XL500, MT250 etc etc. When i look at the original Honda XL250K bearing part numbers they actually superced to other numbers which says they fit the same as what the packet says so in theory they should have been right.

I originally contacted All Balls and they said they do not have a kit for 72 XL250 but that they are currently 'developing' the right size bearing and when i said that heaps of places were selling the 22-1029 kit for 72 XL250 already they said that they had a way of making the right beaing by swapping an inner cone so the full bearing was right. From that i got the idea that there were custom modified 22-1029 about. Then some guys said they used the 22-1029 kit no probs and that they should be right so i thought i would take a gamble and get them as i did not want to wait for All Balls. Plus some people said that it sounds like All Balls is wrong as they said the 22-1029 does fit but All Balls agreed with me that they did not have a 72 XL kit.

So i have contacted All Balls again to find out how far away the proper XL250 kit is or if they can sell me a 25mm ID cone that will work with the cup i have in the kit.

Matcho Mick are your measurements withe no balls fitted inbtween? 11.25 sounds way to short in height. I need to know the stack heights withe the balls fitted. I find it wasiest to measure by assembling the bearings, then wrap some tape around it to hold the balls in then measure with calipers.

[LWC82PE]

Ok an update
All Balls got back to me and the guy seems to think that they (All Balls) took the correct 25mm ID top cone out the 22-1029 kit and replaced it with a 26mm which is also lower and they dropped the 72 XL250 from the application list but many sellers are still selling the 22-1029 kit for 72 XL250. He is going to get onto the R&D guy to find out why and also get some more info on the development of the PROPER kit for the 72 and see if they have a 25mm cone that they use to put in the modified kits that i can use with what i have here now. I said that quite a few people will be interested in a proper kit for the early XL's and that many people just give up and chuck the old ball and races back in. Nothing seems to make sense because according to CMSNL the 72 supceeds to the later MT/ATC/XL bearings which the the 22-1029 is listed for, but hey that could be wrong too. I will keep you informed.


I also read your post above again Matcho Mick and see that the height you refer to is just the inner race. like i said above i want the assembled height measurements.

[matcho mick]

ok assembled stack heights,tops 19.90,(20?),bottoms 18.50,which sorta dosen't add up if you compare the upper/lower inners depths?,but lowers balls seatings different,so i guess thats where the oddness is??,

[LWC82PE]

Ok thats good thanks, basically matches what i got, so i know things are right there. Measurements will vary depending on how worn the races and balls are, different calipera and people measuring.

Bottom
ID - 27mm
OD - 48.50mm
H - 18.30-18.50mm (approx)

Top
ID - 25mm
OD - 48.5mm
H - 19mm (approx)

I would have said the odd bit was the 48.5 but they got that covered Ok. The top cone i was supplied had a 26mm ID though and the overall height of the top bearing was quite a bit too low.

[matcho mick]

just checked,i also have a inner with 26 id,it's also only 10mm deep,not sure what it's from,same ball specs,just in the collection,

[BETRIC]

Update for the ALL BALLS XL250 steering bearing kit, they now make a kit that fits the 72-74 XL250,
74-78 XL350, 73 CR250M and 75-76 TL250, the kit number is 22-1066, I have just fitted this bearing kit to my 72 XL250, it's a perfect fit.  , (unlike the drama's with the ALL BALLS 22-1029 kit that does not work on these models)