Headlight ears

[Stuckinmud15]

To get the ears on I have to remove the crown right? Is there anything I should know about doing this? Like am I going to be messing up any adjustments or anything like that? The ears came with 4 chrome ring looking things too, what do I do with these? two seem to fit the ends of the ears and two are too big.

[James England]

To get the ears on, you can remove the front wheel, loosen the bolts that hold the fork tubes and slide the forks downwards. This is better done with the mudguard off, so you can slide each for on its own. The larger rings go at the bottom of the ears (which actually sit ona groove on the rings) and the smaller ones go at the top (they are slightly larger in diameter than the ears and slot onto the top of them. Under the bottom rings should be a rubber ring which makes it all a snug fit....

When I did mine, I used a brush and painted grease on the inside of the ears and the rings... they corrode inside easily....

[DGXSER]

Much easier path to install the ears. Put the bike on the centerstand, have someone lean on the back and put a jackstand under the front frame cross rail to hold the front wheel off the ground, really just for safety.

Now, remove the center cap bolt on the tripple trees, and loosen the top pinch bolts on both sides. IIRC that is all it should take to let you slide the upper triple tree off the forks, then you can slide the ears on.

Look at the parts fiche for the order, but essentually, you start wiht the fork cover (part that says YAMAHA on it covers lower tree and splitter for brakes) rubber gasket, then headlight ear, followed by the chrome ring/cap piece, and I think another rubber washer, but check the parts fiche to be sure. Do both sides, put the top triple tree back on, tighten pinch bolts and reinstall center bolt.

[CaptonZap]

I found it easier to take the handle bars off, so that I could put a socket on the crown bolt.
Take it off, loosen the clamp bolts (3), and take the top cross tree off.
Put the ears on, with the rubber gasket, or o-rings, and the chrome collars top and bottom, put the cross tree back on, and reinstall the crown bolt. It torques to 61 ft/lbs, and the pinch bolts to 14/15 ft/lbs.
I left the front wheel on the ground, but was careful not to apply any weight to the front end while the cross tree was off.
Easy fix. CZ

[natemoen]

When I put the special ears on mine I actually used the tapered washers from slip joints (plumbing items) instead of the chrome rings, I only had 2 rings anyways. But with those washers it holds the ears tight between the trees and holds them from vibrating at all.

[fredintoon]

To get the ears on I have to remove the crown right? - - -

Hi Alex,
like James said, you can just take the top 'tree off so slide the ears and associated parts on.
But as it'll be half way apart anyway, now is a good time to check and re-pack the head race bearings.

[Stuckinmud15]

Ok so I should have some sorts of o rings with the ears? All I have is the two ears and 4 metal rings.

[Stuckinmud15]

When I put the special ears on mine I actually used the tapered washers from slip joints (plumbing items) instead of the chrome rings, I only had 2 rings anyways. But with those washers it holds the ears tight between the trees and holds them from vibrating at all.

Is there any particular size I should look to get or just find "tapered washers for slip joints"? Thanks

[DGXSER]

Sounds like a decent substitute. I'd look for rubber myself only because it will compress better I would think. As to the size, just whatever size is closest to the OD of the upper fork tubes.

[Stuckinmud15]

When I put the special ears on mine I actually used the tapered washers from slip joints (plumbing items) instead of the chrome rings, I only had 2 rings anyways. But with those washers it holds the ears tight between the trees and holds them from vibrating at all.

Sounds like a decent substitute. I'd look for rubber myself only because it will compress better I would think. As to the size, just whatever size is closest to the OD of the upper fork tubes.

Ok, so are these o rings going to sit on top of the ears our on the inside of them between the ear and the fork?

[fredintoon]

Ok so I should have some sorts of o rings with the ears? All I have is the two ears and 4 metal rings.

Hi Alex,
they are square section o-rings, the posh name is tetraseal.
You'd have to measure the rings to get the correct size.
If you can't find them easily, some have used ordinary o-rings instead.
Or even plumbing fittings.

[DGXSER]

The order from bottom to top on mine is....

bottom triple tree, Fork cover, oring, headlight bracket/ear, Chrome ring, upper triple tree.

I do not recall another o-ring between the bracket and the chrome ring. essentially, the o-ring just makes it all a tight fit so it does not rattle around while your riding.

[CaptonZap]

On mine, the order was; bottom tree, rubber ring, large chrome ring with the outside lip down, covering the rubber ring, and the ear setting in the inner depression, ear, and top chrome ring with the lip down, covering the top of the ear.
If you need the rubber rings, go to Home Despot or equal, and tell the plumbing guy that you need two 1 and 1/2 inch rubber slip joint gaskets for brass fittings. Don't let him sell you the plastic ones for plastic pipe. The real ones will be square cross section, and black or white rubber, one and a half inches inside diameter. CZ