Are you tired of your aftermarket side cover latches breaking? I am!
The reproduction latches from Mikes XS, really suck. The plastic that the black knob is made from is so soft that it cracks and falls off after only a thousand miles or so. OEM Yamaha latches are great, but getting harder to find. I'm tired of paying $14 + shipping for mew Mike's latches, knowing that they will fail in about 1,000 miles.
Here is my permanent fix! All you need is two old latches, with the knobs broken off, and one spring. Buy two 15mm split rings (like they use on key chains). I bought mine at a local craft store for $0.10 each! They are stainless steel, so they should not rust.
Here is the layout:
Drill a small hole through the end of the latch pin, on the end where the plastic knob used to be. Then put your new 15mm split ring through the hole:
Next, cut ONE stock latch spring in half.
Assemble in this order (starting from end of pin with ring):
Spring keeper washer, 1/2 spring, washer, rubber grommet, washer, roll pin.
Sometimes its easier to install the rubber grommet on the side cover first, but either way here is the finished product:
I think it looks ok, not quite as nice as the plastic knob, but there is no way this is going to break, causing me to lose my spring, and possibly the side cover, while going down the road. Assuming that you still have your old broken latches, this will only cost you $0.20 too! That sure beats $28 from Mikes XS for a new set of latches that are sure to break on you.
The reproduction latches from Mikes XS, really suck. The plastic that the black knob is made from is so soft that it cracks and falls off after only a thousand miles or so. OEM Yamaha latches are great, but getting harder to find. I'm tired of paying $14 + shipping for mew Mike's latches, knowing that they will fail in about 1,000 miles.
Here is my permanent fix! All you need is two old latches, with the knobs broken off, and one spring. Buy two 15mm split rings (like they use on key chains). I bought mine at a local craft store for $0.10 each! They are stainless steel, so they should not rust.
Here is the layout:
Drill a small hole through the end of the latch pin, on the end where the plastic knob used to be. Then put your new 15mm split ring through the hole:
Next, cut ONE stock latch spring in half.
Assemble in this order (starting from end of pin with ring):
Spring keeper washer, 1/2 spring, washer, rubber grommet, washer, roll pin.
Sometimes its easier to install the rubber grommet on the side cover first, but either way here is the finished product:
I think it looks ok, not quite as nice as the plastic knob, but there is no way this is going to break, causing me to lose my spring, and possibly the side cover, while going down the road. Assuming that you still have your old broken latches, this will only cost you $0.20 too! That sure beats $28 from Mikes XS for a new set of latches that are sure to break on you.
