First things first. This procedure is one of the most popular topics of discussion on the FJ List. There is nothing really hard about it until you come to the lower race. Then things get really sticky. It would seem that when Mr. Yamaha designed the FJ he did not put much thought into future serviceability. Getting the lower race out might best be described as a movie. 
 
Let's begin at the beginning. The disassembly up to the point of actually pressing and removing bearings is really straight forward. Your shop manual will tell you how or if you have any mechanical aptitude at all you could just wing it. The one tool that you might want that is not in the typical tool box is a wrench to remove the locking collars that are under the upper triple clamp. Yes, there is a special tool for this. I used a hammer and a punch. They are not tight. You just need to tap the top collar to get it loose and then tap the one below. I believe that the factory torque spec on these collars is six foot pounds.  The ones on my bike were tighter than this but, that is not surprising. 

Once you get  everything loose and off the bike you will see the issue.
The upper bearing is smaller than the lower. The bearing themselves will come out when you pull the triple clamp off the bike. The lower bearing is pressed on the steering stem. The upper bearing will just lift out. Once the bearings are out of the way you will be able to see the outer races. They are pressed into the steering head. The upper outer race will come out with some persistence and a slide hammer. I used a hook attachment that came with my 8 LB slide hammer. I bought the tool at Napa. I assume it to be very generic. The lower outer race pressed into a stair step in the steering head. There is no way to get to the back side of it at all. There are three ways to go about getting this out. (You might want to get your oil cooler out of the way for this. I left a couple of nice little dings in mine when I slipped with the slide hammer.)

The first is also the most expensive. Falcom sells a slide hammer and puller set that is about 400 USD that has the right attachment for the job. The tool is hard to describe. I will not try but, if you are a tool fanatic with a ton of money to spend you should already have a Falcom catalog. If you don't, then what is wrong with you? Crack the cover and give the pullers section a look. The tool in question is not hard to spot. 

The second way is very popular with the FJ List. It involves shattering a bunch of fiberglass cut off wheels while cutting the offensive part out with a Dremmel. This was not a very attractive option to me. I hate fiberglass cut off wheels. I am almost phobic about them. Every time I pick up the flex to do something stupid and desperate with one I get this picture of me accidentally imbedding one in my chest or head. Needless to say I am pretty careful with them. The other negative thing about this is more real. You will have to cut at an angle for obvious reasons. You will also end up cutting into the steering head a bit because you are cutting with a circle. Think about it. I did not want  to cut the steering head at all. 

That said I will go on to the method that I chose. You can see from the picture what I did. I got a buddy with a MIG to come over and tack a piece of steel onto the race so that I could yank the thing out with my slide hammer. This was very affective. As you can see the first welds broke. We found that it was important to tack on either side of the piece of steel to have a good point to pull from.  Quick, cheap and dirty just like I like it. Do not throw this piece of art away. You will want it later. 

The next bit is to get the inner race and bearings off of the steering stem. Use a hammer and a chisel. It will make you feel better. I do not need to tell you to be careful with the parts you want to reuse.

Okay... It is all apart. Now we get to reassemble. 

The outer races were pressed in using the same technique I have used all along. I went out and got a big chunk off all thread, a couple of pluming fittings that served as big washers, a hand full of real live washers, and a hand full of nuts that fit the half inch all thread. (Okay Eric... So, I lied. My buddy bought the stuff over because he is putting a new front end on his GS500 in my driveway. The neighbors love us!) The all thread is slid through the steering head, the washers/ pluming fittings and nut are set against the steering head on one side and the race on the other. You tighten the nut down and presto the race is pressed into place. It is really hard to get the races to start in straight. Persistence pays off, though. You will find when you are done with this that the lower race is not quite seated. I used the old race to press the new race up into the steering head. It worked like a charm. Yes, I had to cut the piece of steel out with a fiberglass cut off wheel. I am still alive and things are good! 

The next job is "pressing" the bearing race onto the lower triple/ steering stem. I went out to Ace and got a galvanized pipe that fit perfectly over the inside of the race. It is important that it not contact the thin piece of material that actually holds the bearings in place. If you have removed the bearings/ race from this part as you read this you will understand how easy it is to break this and send the little cylindrical bearing scattering all over your shop. Bad things! That said what I actually ended up with was a chunk of pipe added for length, a collar and a coupler that looked like it might be for joining galvanized pluming to a piece of rubber hose. The end that the rubber hose was meant to go over actually contacted the bearing race. Once you have your parts and the guys at Ace have shook their heads over you once again you can go about the business of driving the bearing race into place. A nice big hammer is the right tool for the job. I actually had to file a bit on the pipe. It fit so well that it began to seize on the steering head. 
 
Well the hard part is done. Now you can go about the business of bolting everything back up. Or in my case sorting out the details of fitting the new front end.
 
 
 
 

 
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