83 XS650 headlight question

Razdog76 · New Member Joined: Sep 07, 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio

My xs650 headlight appears to be too wide for the standard mounting ears. They are splayed out, and do not look right.

The headlight bucket part number is YHA-127.

What year/model headlight buckets and ears are compatable?

nj1639 · Posted: November 9, 2009, 8:09 pm Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

Not sure what you've got there.

www.yamaha-motor.com/s.../home.aspx

Here's a part site that I use for comparison.
Seems that these buckets, once removed, don't want to go back to stock configuration.

Razdog76 · New Member Joined: Sep 07, 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio

Thanks for you reply and the parts list. I'll be the first to admit that I am no expert on xs650's.

The headlight bucket is chrome, but appears to be too big for the ears. I beleive that this bike was crashed at some point, but doesn't have a salvage title.

Nevertheless, I am unsure if I have the correct parts, or the parts were not aligned properly.

I will look for some more numbers and maybe post a picture.

nj1639 · Posted: November 10, 2009, 1:51 pm Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

I know what you're saying, mine are out of whack and it appears as if the bucket is too large for the ear spread.

I believe to remedy the problem you'ld have to take the forks and triple tree down, position the signals in the bucket with the ears attached and then re-assemble with the bucket, signals and ears as a unit on to the forks.

Would be nice to see an unmolested bucket to figure out what the h-e-double toothpicks is going on.

pumps · Posted: November 10, 2009, 4:39 pm Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

I had all this apart recently on mine. The oem black one was all beat up and I had the forks apart already so I installed a nos chrome one from a 76 C model. I put the forks together with the uppers threaded through the upper covers (as they call the ears on mine) . Stuck the signals through the ears and the bucket and it was fine. I did have some issue and if I recall correctly it was that I was missing some bushings that I found and it came together ok. Possibly you have wrong parts? I did not assemble them as a unit.

The one I took off.

Razdog76 · New Member Joined: Sep 07, 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio

pumps wrote:

I had all this apart recently on mine. The oem black one was all beat up and I had the forks apart already so I installed a nos chrome one from a 76 C model. I put the forks together with the uppers threaded through the upper covers (as they call the ears on mine) . Stuck the signals through the ears and the bucket and it was fine. I did have some issue and if I recall correctly it was that I was missing some bushings that I found and it came together ok. Possibly you have wrong parts? I did not assemble them as a unit.

The first question I have is what is the overall width of your bucket?

Are there any identifying numbers?

My bucket appears to be the same as yours, but the ears are not the same. Mine are welded from the inside of the fork tubes. Moreover, they appear to be upsidedown compared to yours. It does not look like these particular ears can mount in any other way to the adjustmet bolt at the bottom of the bucket.

Razdog76 · New Member Joined: Sep 07, 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio

These are what my ears look like:
650rider.com/index.php...pic&t=9497

nj1639 · Posted: November 11, 2009, 7:59 pm Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

Thanks for the pics there, pumps. Would be nice to see a shot from above, I'm thinking mine may have straightened out a bit and may need a bit of a bend at the end.

Gotta be that these ears don't come off the forks dead straight , must be at an angle outward to the side and then the last couple of inches they bend back in to go straight.

Am I making sense?

pumps

I can take more pictures or measurements if you like. Tell me what you need.

jetmechmarty · Posted: November 12, 2009, 3:54 am Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

The SECA series bikes had a large headlight. Maybe you have one of those? What is the diameter of your light?

jetmechmarty · Posted: November 12, 2009, 4:10 am Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

i187.photobucket.com/a...400358.jpg

SECA light.

CaptDan · Full Member Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 20

Hi, Razdog.
Like jetmechmarty said, the rather rare 1982 XJ650RJ Seca had an 8" headlamp assembly vs the XS' 7", so it would be a much wider bucket.

Razdog76 wrote:

These are what my ears look like:
650rider.com/index.php...mp;id=6919

Those "ears" appear to be stock for your '83, and are identical to my 1980.

www.babbittsonline.com...parts.aspx

And yes, they do appear to need to be spread apart "too" far to get the stock bucket to fit.

Razdog76 · New Member Joined: Sep 07, 2009 Posts: 6 Location: Ohio

Thanks CaptDan.

My bucket is 8 inches wide, and IMHO it does not look right on the bike.

Even though it looks like I have the correct parts, I think I will have to find one of the earlier assemblies that appears to be a little smaller and "fits" better.

CaptDan · Full Member Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 20

Sorry for any misinterpretation I may have caused. The headlight on the Seca is an 8” unit, which makes the bucket about 9” wide.
Our bikes use a 7” light, so yeah, the stock bucket ends up being about 8" wide.

According to the parts lists, the XS650 used the same bucket (584) from 1974 to 1983, so if you’re looking for something different, look for 1973 or older.

Sometimes the stackup from all the washers, grommets, spacers, etc. splays the ears outward too much. Perhaps juggling the sequence of parts may bring the ears in tighter.

Good luck!

gggGary · Full Member Joined: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 114

Here's couple of snaps from my 83 heritage. The ears are nearly always all bent up. It took me three sets of ears and some careful wood block and mallet work to get this front end back together correctly. Forgive the first pic really that's just dust in the flash, the chrome is good, I'm so embarrassed!

nj1639 · Posted: December 5, 2009, 9:43 am Post subject: Re: 83 XS650 headlight question

Allright, I'll let the cat out of the bag.
I picked up a set of ears from a '78 standard, I believe, the kind that come straight out from the outside of the tubes. Not stock for my '83 hs but work beautifully.

CaptDan · Full Member Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 20

Razdog76 wrote:

My bucket is 8 inches wide, and IMHO it does not look right on the bike.
Even though it looks like I have the correct parts, I think I will have to find one of the earlier assemblies that appears to be a little smaller and "fits" better.

Razdog, I removed the headlight mounting "ears" from my bike and applied gggGary's technique (mallet and wood block) to increase the bend in the ears.
Quite simple, really.

The mounting flats on either side of the headlight bucket are now parallel (instead of splayed out) and everything fits together much nicer.
It seems the factory just didn't stamp the ears with enough bend in them.

Give that a try before buying more stuff.

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650