So as i disassembled my steering last night i was shocked to find how the bearings were done. Loose bearings sitting between the triple trees and the frame? I guess that's how it was done. Does anyone know if its possible to convert to a more modern setup like these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-XS500-1975-to-1981-Steering-Stem-Bearings-Kit_W0QQitemZ360235691848QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotorcycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item53dfb86f48

this is how the top bearing surface on the frame looked. Yes, these were toast. The steering felt like it had notches in it when i had all the forks and bars off it.

Tapered roller bearings. Threw some in mine and the difference was unbelievable. You should be able to find model specific kits on ebay.

Yup, makes sense now, just needed to clean the gunk off. It looked like that was all one piece of the frame. Once i cleaned all the dirt and grease off i saw that it was just a piece pressed into the frame. Popped those out and i'm looking for the right ones now.

i would like to hear how you went with the new bearings mine need to be replaced aswell

it is a fairly simple procedure knock out the old races and put the new baring races in, quicker and easier to fit than ball bearings, no huge difference to handling though unless yours are worn badly or the races pitted. sometimes on the RD,s the headlight brackets are slightly loose when fitting tapers, which may apply to the XS,s as well, just put an o ring under em , but all my RD,s have been fitted with em,

Merv