Just thought I'd post up how I fixed a problem I know others have suffered.

I was Replacing the head bearings on my GS500 and everything went well until I had to get the inner race of the lower bearing off the bikes steering stem.

I tried using a drift to tap it off as the Haynes comic recommends.
Absolutely no joy.
I did knock the rollers off the bearing race and crack a chunk off the rim of the bearing however.

Next I Made a set of 'teeth' for my bench clamp that gripped the bearing so I could whack the top of the steering stem using a block of wood and a mallet.
No Joy.

Then I tried the same but heated up the whole lot in the oven at gas mark 9 for 30 minutes.
No Joy.

Finally in desperation I found something that worked.
I used the small cutoff disc on my dremmel to cut almost but not quite all the way through the bearing in 3 lines around the perimeter.



Then I got the tip of a drift into one of these grooves and hit it hard.
I thought I might split the bearing and get it off that way, but in fact it spun a little and lost it's grip on the steering stem.
another tap from behind and the bearing was off.

With the danger of cutting too deeply and damaging the steering stem I'd say this was a procedure of last resort, but at least it doesn't require any hydraulic presses of other strange devices.

by the look of thatcorrosion on the inner race....you really needed to lube them brgs about 3 yrs ago

I thought ya'll over ther did serious chassis lube on the bikes cause ya'll rode all the time

I probably would NOW.
But when I 1st got my bike I had never lifted a spanner (wrench) in my life.
Back then, checking chain tension and oil level was challenging. 

Nice one Phil.....full marks for ingenuity.

you should have been able to do it with one slice.....then wack ithe crac with a cold chisel and it usually cracks the race
but heck, whatever works to get the job done

did you put the new brg in the oven(160-180F - LOW) for 1/2 hr and the tripple in the freezer for an hour?
slides right on usually no hammering

I froze the tripple and heated the bearing, but I didn;t heat/chill things for that long.

It took a few taps to get the new bearing on, but nothing tricky.
Now I just need to figure out how to re-run all these cables.