Thanks for the reference.
I ended up finding a
service technician who used to
work at the US factory. In fact he was transferred from
France to the factory.
I'll outline his explanation in case anybody else comes along with a similar question.
The problem isn't bearing wear itself.
At the factory, the bearing was simply pushed up inside and then the rudder mounted. Over time the bearing spun in the log and honed it out.
He explained that when you drop the rudder, the bearing will come out with it.
Then you go back up and
rebuild the honed out area with thickened
epoxy.
Then reset the bearing with
adhesive.