Side cover latch assembly.

I've been down in DC a few times................it sure is a busy place. Actually I remember getting lost in downtown Washington. I was passing through on a trip to Atlantic City in 1977. I was riding my new 1976 Yamaha XS500C. I found a lot of hot air in Washington, maybe something to do with all those politicians

Yep, they do a lot of blustering and create absolutely nothing. It's our main export: air.

I'll hit the springs tonight, should be easy enough. I really was born in the wrong era, I wish a modern bike appealed to me but they just don't. At all. I'd love to have a brand new '76 500 (and I'd love to buy it for whatever that 70s pricing was!) ;)
 
RG, those springs work great on my 77 and that's what the factory sent it out the door with. Maybe specials are different?? Don't forget that in royboy's pic you are only seeing half the spring as the other half is up inside the knob. Look at royboy's pic again, you're not assembling it correctly. The spring needs to go up into the knob. Royboy's is assembled correctly.
 
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RG, those springs work great on my 77 and that's what the factory sent it out the door with. Maybe specials are different?? Don't forget that in royboy's pic you are only seeing half the spring as the other half is up inside the knob. Look at royboy's pic again, you're not assembling it correctly. The spring needs to go up into the knob. Royboy's is assembled correctly.

Thank you Grinder for setting me straight. Boy do I feel dumb:banghead:

When they broke on my bike, I think I just re-assembled them the same as the PO had them. I guess the PO was wrong.

The parts diagram that jayel posted shows the correct way, and Royboy's pictures show the correct way also. Its obvious now, that the spring must go into the plastic knob first, and no need to cut the spring.
 
So the entire thing came assembled as one piece (except the rubber)-- I can take them apart and the spring belongs further inside the knob? It has a notched washer thing that stops it at the knob, then a second washer near the pin.

I'm sorry I'm so dense on this issue, for some reason I'm not getting it right!
 
So the entire thing came assembled as one piece (except the rubber)-- I can take them apart and the spring belongs further inside the knob? It has a notched washer thing that stops it at the knob, then a second washer near the pin.

I'm sorry I'm so dense on this issue, for some reason I'm not getting it right!

Take a close look at the pics that Royboy posted. The spring must go into the plastic knob first, then the notched washer.
 
I have ordered 4 of these latches from Mikes XS over the past two years. They only last about 6 months for me.

The black plastic knob seems to crack, and falls off. Then you lose the spring and the side cover rattles around.

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm going to install a new set tonight... that I reinforced with JB weld.

Is there another source or buying these? I think the plastic that Mike's uses to make the knobs is too soft...
 
I'm going to look into a suitable sub for this. There's a whole industry around 1/4 turn fasteners out there. One of mine lost the spring (and the knob!) and little brother had it tied on with a zip tie. The other one, the pin shifted about 1/3 of the way across the shaft in the hole and I could not remove it when unlocked. Ended up pulling the hanger rubbers off so I could move the side cover around and get it loose. I'll let you know when I have something useful to report.
 
I never had one break but the hole in the shaft for the roll pin was in the wrong position compared to the knob on the ones I bought.I wonder if you could find a little softer spring of the same size. The spring probably wouldn't have to be as strong as it is.
 
Just got some side cover latches from MikesXS. No problem with spring or rubber grommet. The roll pin is too fat to pass through the slot on the frame. And if I squeeze it like crazy until it does fit through the slot, it slides out of the post when I turn it to lock the panel. Sigh. Always something. Any thoughts/suggestions out there?
 
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lower pin is original, top one from MikesXS.
 
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