Head stays

[Husky500evo]

I have a question regarding head stays . I have seen many YZ & IT Yamahas that have broken the base of the cylinder where they bolt to the crankcases ( usually on the front right hand side ) . I have been told that the possible cause of this is the head stay putting load on the top of the motor when the frame flexes landing off a jump . Also the aluminium of the cylinder muff may have become fatigued over time . My Maico 490 also uses head stays & I have been having some issues with blown base gaskets . I am thinking of removing the head stays to see if it solves my problem . It probably will increase vibration though & it seems wrong to remove something that was originally designed to be there . My question is has anybody tried running without the head stay before on Maicos or Yamahas & did it cause any problems ?

[holeshot buddy]

mark myself and bill do not run head stays on our
yz465s as they can cause problems with breaking barrels
and they do not vibrate any more with them removed
i even had solid handlebar mounts for a while on mine
and it did not vibrate at all
we have been racing ours for years with no problemos

[lms6201]

i,ve heard a bit of that too,  it would be even worse with the 84 centerport yz490  as there is a void cast into the cyl base around the hold down points