Now that the brake system is removed, I remove the steering components: handlebar controls, handlebar, instruments & cables.

Remove Steering Damper Knob & Dash

I start with the steering damper knob and the dash.

With the steering damper knob removed, the dash pulls off the handlebar as it’s secured with spring clips.

Remove Left Handlebar Control Assembly

The left handlebar control includes the choke assembly, the clutch switch and the clutch lever.

Remove Choke Assembly

I start by removing the choke assembly. I pry the cover plate off and then remove the large screw that secures the choke handle to the control housing.

The choke cable is threaded through a slot in the control housing and the ferrule fits into a hole in the plate in the cover.

Remove Left Handlebar Control Housing

Both handlebar control bodies are secured with an Allan head pinch bolt on the bottom of the casting, I remove it.

NOTE:
The picture below shows the right handlebar control housing, but the location of the pinch bolt is the same on both handlebar control bodies.

The handlebar grip is attached to a plastic tube and that was glued to the handlebar. I use smooth jaw pliers to rotate the plastic tube so I can slide it off the left side of the handlebar. Then I slide the left handlebar control housing off the handlebar.

Inside the left handlebar control housing is a “perch” which is a triangular shaped piece of steel with longitudinal serrations. It is easy to loose this, but without it, the handlebar casting will rotate on the handlebar even when the pinch bolt is tight.

Remove Clutch Switch

I remove the clutch switch which is secured with a Phillips screw and washer.

Remove Left Clutch Lever

The left clutch lever is secured with a pivot bolt that I remove.

The hole in the lever the pinch bolt goes through has a plastic bushing. This often wears or cracks. I remove it and find it is broken.

Here are all the parts of the left handlebar control assembly.

Remove Right Handle Bar Control

The right handle bar control assembly includes the the brake fluid reservoir, the throttle, the front brake master cylinder, and the brake lever.

Drain Brake Fluid Reservoir and Disconnect Brake Line

Previously when I removed the brake system, I removed the brake fluid, the fluid reservoir internal parts and the rubber brake line from the master cylinder. You can see how I did that here:

• Drain Front Master Cylinder
• Remove Master Cylinder Brake Line

Remove Throttle Assembly

I remove the cover of the throttle assembly and then the throttle cable, cam and throttle tube.

The throttle cam and the throttle tube have alignment marks to ensure the cam properly aligned with the throttle tube so the carburetor throttle linkage fully opens and closes.

The throttle tube slides off the handlebar.

Remove Right Handlebar Control Housing

The handlebar control housing is secured with an Allan pinch bolt on the bottom of the handlebar control housing. Both the left and right control bodies have these Allan pinch bolts in the same location.

There is a triangular steel “perch” with longitudinal serrations inside opening where the handlebar goes in the handlebar control housing. This prevents the control housing from turning when twisting the throttle. The pinch bolt is insufficient to prevent the housing from turning. This is an easy piece to loose when removing the handlebar control houding from the handlebar.

Remove Throttle Friction Screw and Handlebar Lever

I remove the throttle friction screw from the bottom of the right control housing. Then I remove the lever pivot pin bolt, nut and washer just as I did previously for the left handlebar control lever.

When I remove the handlebar lever, I remove the plastic bushing for the pivot bolt as I did for the left handlebar lever. It’s not broken, but deformed so I will replace it.

I can see the plunger for the front brake master cylinder. When you pull the front brake lever, the lever pushes the plunger into the master cylinder which pressurizes the brake fluid and that forces the brake pads against the disk rotors.

Remove Brake Fluid Reservoir

There is a Phillips screw through the master cylinder assembly that secures the plastic brake fluid reservoir to the master cylinder. I remove it.

The fluid reservoir has a pin on the bottom at the end of the reservoir closest to the handlebar lever and a cast cylinder with an o-ring that lets fluid enter the master cylinder at the other end. I use a screw driver to gently pry up the end of the reservoir with the pin. Then I rotate the reservoir back and forth while lifting it to get the cylinder with o-ring to come out of the master cylinder hole.

There is a great deal of crud underneath the reservoir. It looks like saw dust. It makes me wonder if there are termites that eat plastic 🙂

The passage to the master cylinder plunger is filled with goo, rust and grunge. That’s not a good sign. When I disassemble the master cylinder, I’m prepared to find the bore is rusty and pitted. If it is, I will replace it.

Remove Front Master Cylinder Assembly

I remove the master cylinder housing which is secured to the handlebar control with two Allan bolts.

The diameter of the master cylinder, 15 mm, is stamped on the body of the master cylinder assembly.

The master cylinder body is supposed to come off the handlebar control body when the two Allan screws are removed, but this one is stuck. So I mount the control body in my vice with rubber jaws and use a rubber hammer to persuade it to separate. A couple taps and it comes free. There is a washer where the plunger fits.

Here is the disassembled left handlebar control showing the parts.

Here is what the bike looks like now.

Remove Handlebar

The handlebar is secured to the fork top plate with risers that clamp the handlebar. The riser top piece has two studs, one longer than the other, that go through the riser bottom piece, The studs go through the fork top plate and attach with nuts on the under side of the plate.

I remove the four nuts that secure the handlebar risers.

I pull the riser top out of the bottom releasing the handlebar. The longer stud goes through the front hole in the fork top plate.

Remove Instrument Housing & Bracket

The instruments are inside an instrument housing that attaches to a bracket with three Phillips screws. The bracket is bolted to the fork top plate. I loosen the three Phillips screws so I can slide the cluster off the bracket, but I don’t remove them as they fit into slots in the bracket instead of going through holes. The screws are fussy to install if they are removed as there is a plate inside the slot of the instrument housing that they thread into.

NOTE:
I previously removed the speedometer cable from the bottom of the speedometer. It has a lock nut that snugs up against the knurled threaded retainer. The 1983 RS uses an electronic tachometer so there is no tachometer cable to remove.

The instrument housing bracket is secured to the fork top plate with two bolts. I remove them.

The bracket has four rubber bushings, two large and two small. The large ones should have a metal cap on the top and bottom, but I’m missing one of the bottom ones.

Inside the rubber bushings are large and small steel bushings.

Here is what the bike looks like now.

Remove Steering Damper Assembly

The steering damper assembly includes the black steering damper adjuster knob, the adjuster rod, the damper adjuster mechanism that mounts to the bottom of the fork lower triple clamp, and the steering damper.

Remove Steering Damper

I previously removed the black steering damper knob that is secured to the adjuster rod with a Phillips screw. Underneath the knob is a rubber bushing that fits on the end of the adjuster knob and inside the hole in the center top plate nut.

The steering damper attaches to the adjuster mechanism on the bottom of the fork lower triple clamp. If fits over a ball and is secured with a small diameter wire locking clip.

I use a small screw driver the pry the end of the clip up and out of the groove in the end of the damper rod cap. This end of the clip is on side of the cap facing the left side of the bike. I rotate the clip 180 degrees so I can pull it out of the hole it slides into on the opposite side of the damper rod cap with some needle nose pliers.

The other end of the steering damper uses the same small wire clip to attach to a ball mounted on the center tube of the frame above the horn bracket.

The end of the wire faces inside and is at the bottom of the cap. I remove it in the same manner as the other wire clip.

I use a screw driver to push the edge of the steering damper cap and force it off the ball inside the cap.

Remove Steering Damper Adjuster Mechanism & Rod

The steering damper adjuster mechanism attaches to the bottom of the fork lower triple clamp with two Allan bolts. The adjuster rod fits inside the mechanism. I remove the Allan bolts.

As I lower the mechanism, the adjuster rod comes out with the mechanism.

The steering damper adjuster mechanism has a rack that moves in a slot. Two spring loaded pins lock the rack into three positions, “0”, no damping, “1”, some damping, “2” maximum damping.

The steering rod has teeth cut in one end. The rod rotates as you turn the black damping control knob which drives the rack between it’s three positions.