Mystery Part

[Enxss]

Question:

Does anyone recognize this part and know where it goes?
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qghe_7nHDnLszRos0?e=u5pn4s
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qghkXFZ8Dx2OGpfaQ?e=UNliOZ
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qghjqFeyqSNr1RPKm?e=BfxcHP


Background:

A few weeks ago I decided to adjust the position of the handle bars on my 2014 FJR. Everything came apart fine but during assembly when I went to torque the nut securing the left handle bar the stud separated from the bracket to which is was welded.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qghaY4T84t63cNo2v?e=ryIUzu

To replace this bracket you need to remove the six cables from the handle bar switches that are routed through the two captive steel loops that are part of the bracket. These cables are routed to eight connectors located under a panel on the front cowling just above the headlights. To remove this panel you must also remove the windshield. In addition, you must also remove the upper triple tree and all of the cowlings on the front half of the bike.

Everything went fine accept that after everything was back together the part pictured above was the lone part remaining in the parts tray. And I have no idea where it goes.

I have looked through every parts diagram for the bike, both on line and in the Yamaha service manual. I even went so far as to disassemble the bike a second time inspecting everything that I touched. And I still do not know where it goes.

Any thoughts?

[Toter]

Pics require a sign in.

[gixxerjasen]

I see them just fine. But I also have a onedrive account.

Shouldn't that part have just come off with the upper triple? As for the mystery part, I don't recognize it, but haven't removed all that stuff before.

[Canadian FJR]

I didn’t need to sign it, just click on it.

Sorry, no idea what the part is unless some type of water drain plug for the glove box or headlight assembly

Canadian FJR

[Bust]

I can tell ya this. It's not anything to lose sleep over, just a one way cap is all.

[Enxss]

@ Toter
I was signed in when I posted. I either did something wrong or there are restrictions on my account regarding images due to my limited number of posts.

@ gixxerjasen
Possibly, but I found it easier just to remove the upper triple tree. I also decided to retorque the stem nut since I had everything apart and it was due. This meant that, in addition to everything else I noted previously, I also needed to raise the fuel tank and remove the heat shield to disconnect the wiring harness leading to the ignition switch.

@ Canadian FJR
I had this thought as well and inspected both locations. But I will inspect them again.

@ Bust
My concern is that it's an insulting cap for an electrical connection. I would hate to be a 1,000 miles from home and get stuck due to a blown fuse. Or worse yet, a burnt wiring harness. I would like to put the part back where it belongs.

[SLK50]

Considering where you went and what you did,
my first thought was a water drain at the
bottom of the headlight nacelle.
Curious to know if it is.

[ionbeam]

Well, I'm the qurious type so I went through the related fiches and found nothing quite like your pictured part. I don't know if that's reassuring or not. Not all of the parts are shown on the public fiches but are on the dealer's fiches. Almost always it it either a trivial part or technically obscure part that's left off the fiches. I'm with the ones that think it's a headlight drain or related to the glove box. If it's missing from your glove box, when you look in, there will be an obviously large opening with nothing in it. Looking is free and easy The part is missing a grommet grove that would lock it in place.

[Enxss]

@ ionbeam
I did not see any reference to the part in question when I went through the parts diagrams either. This leads me to believe that the part in question is a component of a much larger part that is sold as an assembly, such as the headlight nacelle suggested by SLK50.

Here is an image of the bottom of the glove box.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qgiBe8SD ... Y?e=jaIaIw
There is indeed a weep hole at the bottom of the box with a small rubber protrusion to allow possible condensation to escape, which I have circled in red. But it looks nothing like the part in question.

@ SLK50
I will investigate the headlight nacelle further and let you know.

[gixxerjasen]

Any chance this is something that was laying in the road that was tossed up by the car in front of you and landed somewhere in the bike?

[Enxss]

Any chance this is something that was laying in the road that was tossed up by the car in front of you and landed somewhere in the bike?

I considered this briefly but the part was in the parts tray. It was not on the garage floor or anywhere else. So I had to have put it there. But I must admit that I have no recollection of removing it from the bike. That's the frustrating bit.

[raYzerman]

I don't recognize the part either... it looks like it could be a headlight vent... should be one on each side if that's the case.

[gixxerjasen]

But I must admit that I have no recollection of removing it from the bike. That's the frustrating bit.

Sorry, this is hilarious, but primarily because I relate to it.

[Enxss]

I don't recognize the part either... it looks like it could be a headlight vent... should be one on each side if that's the case.

I thought of this as well. Because I only had the one odd part, when I disassembled the bike the second time I methodically compared like components for the presence of an identical part. For example, I compared the left front signal light assembly with the right front signal light assembly. The same was true for the backside of the headlight nacelle. Unfortunately, there was no matching part anywhere else on the bike that I had touched during the initial disassembly.

[Red]

Any chance this is something that was laying in the road that was tossed up by the car in front of you and landed somewhere in the bike?

I considered this briefly but the part was in the parts tray. It was not on the garage floor or anywhere else. So I had to have put it there. But I must admit that I have no recollection of removing it from the bike. That's the frustrating bit.

Enxss,

Did any "friends" drop by, when you had the bike apart?

What ceiling stuff was above the parts tray?

When I worked at a car dealership, sometimes people would "donate" one extra something to the parts tray, just to see what would come of it. Usually that something would be some innermost part, or something odd that was never part of the original assembly. Just sayin'.
.

[Bust]

Either way I can guarantee that little vent ain't going to hurt anything by being MIA. I see those all the time on two cycle motor gas tanks, haven't had a customer die if it wan't attached.

[Enxss]

Did any "friends" drop by, when you had the bike apart?

LOL
That's an interesting thought.
But, no. It's my own personal garage at home and I am the only one that goes in it. Unless, of course, the part was put there by some wiseass rodent.

[Enxss]

... my first thought was a water drain at the
bottom of the headlight nacelle.
Curious to know if it is.

I inspected the headlight nacelle again as suggested and found that the nacelle and the front signal light assemblies use the same venting system. Here is an image showing the vent on the left front signal light assembly circled in red. I could not get a clear picture of the headlight nacelle vent itself given its position.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qgiEsXk_ ... p?e=pWn82b

After inspecting the entire bike one last time, I decided to go to a local Yamaha dealership and ask one of the technicians if they had any thoughts. I spoke with a very knowledgeable technician with nearly four decades of experience and who was intimately familiar with the FJR having swapped out an entire frame at one point in his career. He explained to me that the part in question was in fact not a component of the bike. What it is, is a part from the assembly process.

He explained that certain components of the bike, such as the instrument cluster, come preassembled to the factory for installation as the FJR is built. These preassembled components have various protective caps installed that are removed when the component is installed on the final product. The part that we have been discussing is one of those protective caps.

It appears that when the bike was initially assembled one of the protective caps was unintentionally left in the final product. When I removed the front panel that lies beneath the windshield and just above the headlights I gained access to an area that had not been touched since the bike was initially assembled. This area exposes the forward facing and upper surfaces of the instrument cluster. In the process of disconnecting the eight connectors at the end of the cables leading from the handlebar switches I must have inadvertently dislodged the protective cap from its resting place, allowing it to fall to the garage floor. I then picked it up, placing it in the parts tray without giving it much thought. Later, when I reassembled the bike, I had no thought of reinstalling it because I never uninstalled it in the first place. Thus explaining why I had no recollection of ever removing it from the bike.

The technician went on to explain further that the slots in the protective cap are not for ventilation. They are there to allow an automated process to manipulate the cap into place during its assembly. He concluded by saying that, over the years, he himself had come across several such parts.

Mystery solved!

It appears that the "friend" who stopped by my garage was actually a Yamaha employee at one of their assembly plants.

My thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.

Ride safe my friends!

Cheers.

[HotRodZilla]

... my first thought was a water drain at the
bottom of the headlight nacelle.
Curious to know if it is.

I inspected the headlight nacelle again as suggested and found that the nacelle and the front signal light assemblies use the same venting system. Here is an image showing the vent on the left front signal light assembly circled in red. I could not get a clear picture of the headlight nacelle vent itself given its position.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtnXFDB3rc4qgiEsXk_ ... p?e=pWn82b

After inspecting the entire bike one last time, I decided to go to a local Yamaha dealership and ask one of the technicians if they had any thoughts. I spoke with a very knowledgeable technician with nearly four decades of experience and who was intimately familiar with the FJR having swapped out an entire frame at one point in his career. He explained to me that the part in question was in fact not a component of the bike. What it is, is a part from the assembly process.

He explained that certain components of the bike, such as the instrument cluster, come preassembled to the factory for installation as the FJR is built. These preassembled components have various protective caps installed that are removed when the component is installed on the final product. The part that we have been discussing is one of those protective caps.

It appears that when the bike was initially assembled one of the protective caps was unintentionally left in the final product. When I removed the front panel that lies beneath the windshield and just above the headlights I gained access to an area that had not been touched since the bike was initially assembled. This area exposes the forward facing and upper surfaces of the instrument cluster. In the process of disconnecting the eight connectors at the end of the cables leading from the handlebar switches I must have inadvertently dislodged the protective cap from its resting place, allowing it to fall to the garage floor. I then picked it up, placing it in the parts tray without giving it much thought. Later, when I reassembled the bike, I had no thought of reinstalling it because I never uninstalled it in the first place. Thus explaining why I had no recollection of ever removing it from the bike.

The technician went on to explain further that the slots in the protective cap are not for ventilation. They are there to allow an automated process to manipulate the cap into place during its assembly. He concluded by saying that, over the years, he himself had come across several such parts.

Mystery solved!

It appears that the "friend" who stopped by my garage was actually a Yamaha employee at one of their assembly plants.

My thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.

Ride safe my friends!

Cheers.

So, basically, your bike is gonna blow up because you removed a very important confabulated protector. Just great!

Glad you figured it out. It was smart going to Yamaha. My OCD would have been keeping me from sleeping.

[wheatonFJR]

Well. It's a good story!