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Replacing Front Turn Indicator Stems

16K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Kryton 
#1 ·
The rubber stems on my 1985 Honda Shadow VT500 are cracked. I've taped them up but it's getting worse and the indicators are drooping. I've found replacement stems on ebay for a reasonable price but, before I buy, I want to make sure that replacing them is as easy as it seems. It's an old bike. Am I looking for trouble if I unscrew the stems? Is it as simple as just removing the one bolt that seems to hold it in place against the forks?

Thanks.

...Jake
 
#2 ·
Should be 1 bolt holding them to the forks and 1 inside the stem holding the stem to the clamp and light housing
 
#3 ·
Yes, it is that easy...

Remove the headlight and disconnect the three wires for each front signal (one set is light-blue/light-blue with white stripe/ green... the other is the same, but wire colors are orange instead of light-blue)

Unbolt the stems from the mount (not so easy to reach one on left side), then remove entire assembly with wiring.

Unscrew single screw holding lamp housing to stem, and pull wiring through old stem.

Now, if you bought cheap, aftermarket stems... the opening down the middle or end of the stem will be too small to push all three wires through at once... a trick I used is to tie a piece of fishing line to each of the bullet connectors on the wiring. Drop the three pieces of fishing line through the stems, then carefully feed one wire at a time through the hole, using the fishing line as a "tow-rope".

Once you get the wire through the stems... remove the fishing line from the wiring connectors and reverse the process to re-assemble.
 
#4 ·
The wiring for the turn signals goes through the headlamp assembly? I have to remove the headlamp in order to replace the stems?

If I'm already taking the stems apart, is there any point to changing/upgradiung my turn signals in anyway? One of the housings is cracked but still usable. I'm wondering if there is any point in changing anything.
 
#6 ·
All the wiring connections for the turn signals connect to the harnesses located behind the headlamp assembly... You don't have to remove the ENTIRE headlamp bucket from the mount... only the lens and reflector assembly....Remove the two screws which hold the headlamp assembly to the housing, twist, and the headlamp assembly pops right off. Trace the turn signal wiring from the stems to the mass of wires behind the headlight, and you'll find the orange and light-blue wires I mentioned.

As for replacing the turn signal housings... probably a good idea if either of them are cracked or scratched up. OEM are kind of expensive (~$45 each), but there are aftermarkets from BikeMaster and K&L. Both are much cheaper ($15-20 each), and work fine...

I installed K&L on mine. Both sides replaced with stems for <$20 each side. The reflectors didn't have the DOT markings, but who cares... , and the run/ground wiring was reversed from the instructions (which created a headache when installing them - see: http://www.hondashadow.net/forum/72-technical-discussion/129077-scratching-my-head-turn-signals-2.html).
 
#9 · (Edited)
Also does changing the back stems/stays seem as simple as the front does?
The stems are generic front and back, actually for those year shadows. You do have to fish the wires through the stem though. Sometimes just pushing the wires through does it. Otherwise fish (pull) the wires one by one. Ditto, one by one, for gettin the wires outta the old stems.
 
#10 ·
Are the rubber clamp-around stems are flexible enough spread open around the tube to remove without having to unclamp the tubes from the triple tree to slide off the end?
 
#12 ·
that's what I'm asking about, to remove the oem front turn signals, are the rubber mounts flexible enough to spread open and come off from around the tubes, or do they have to slide off the end of the tube by unmounting the tubes from the triple tree?
 
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