steering stem press - how to?

[BadBatzMaru]

I bought a front end setup off of an 89 gsxr off of someone on this board.  I thought the stem was already pressed to the lower triple when I bought it, but it wasnt... and I tried putting the stem in the freezer overnight and then getting it in w/ the soft faced mallet, even tried slightly heating the lower triple in the oven... but that all failed... so I guess I'm SOL and need to get the steering stem pressed, right??  do I just need to find a machine shop w/ a hydraulic press or something?? I can probably find equipment that would be capable of doing this in the Mech E. department at my school, but what do I need to be aware of when trying to shove that thing in? any suggestions?
thanks

[Reknelb]

size between the gs stem and the gsxr bottom triple stem hole is too great. Do you have a set of calipers? measure the stem, and the stem hole and see what the difference is.

[BadBatzMaru]

well I don't have a set of calipers handy at the moment, but I can measure tomorrow... in any case, this was supposed to be all setup for GS already... I don't know if the stem is off of a gs or gsxr, but it fits the steerer tube bearings correcty... the bottom part of the stem is fatter than the rest of the tube and it is almost the same diameter as the lower triple hole... after I froze the stem, it went in almost halfway but was still not through far enough after a couple whacks with the mallet, and I didn't want to jam the thing in sideways or anything so I knocked it back out and decided to wait...

[Reknelb]

got a digital camera? take a pic of the stem that needs to go in and someone should be able to tell you if it's a gs stem. If you had it half way in then the stem should work. I always use a chunk of aluminum between the stem and a good size hammer. A soft  hammer just doesn't have the impact you need to press the stem in.

If you dont feel comfortable doing it, send it to me and I'll do it for you. I'm a machinist and I've put different front ends on just about every race bike i've owned.

[JamesG]

I don't know about early GSXRs, but '91 on are the same diameter as the GS; 30mm.
The real fitment problem is the length, taper, and threading of the stem. They are all too long for the GS which is why you have to transplant.

Yes you should take them to a machine shop if you aren't going to invest in a press and/or don't have the experiance to do it safely.

[Reknelb]

James, your spacers should be shipping tomorrow.

[BadBatzMaru]

Reknelb, you've got a PM  :mrgreen:    

[BadBatzMaru]

Didnt manage to find our calipers yet this morning... stuff around here tends to walk off on its own.. sometimes it will walk back on its own.. anyway I took some pics and checked fitment... the lower (fat end of the taper) part of the stem should fit the lower triple as the diameters are very close. The top triple fits nicely at the top end of the stem (there are two sets of threads w/ different diameter tube at the top end..) the top triple sits as it should between these two sets...  from looking at the bike bandit diagrams, this looks like a gsxr stem.  The length of the stem seems to be longer than my GS stem. The whole thing is about ~265mm long, but the total length should be somewhat different given that the GSXR top is fixed by a nut on the threaded stem whereas the GS is w/ a Bolt...  The diameter of the stem matches with the top bearings in the steerer tube.. so it seems like it will fit depending on the length... Then if this thing is too long can I make it work with a spacer of some sort?? I attached the pics below first two are of new stem and triples, last one is new stem next to GS stem and lower (still attached :dunno: )
THANKS!!!