TOPIC:

I have the above and one fork has an air valve and the other doesn't. I looked at fork sets on Ebay and they are all that way. does anyone know why? I have an 81 550 and they both have them.

Because the forks are connected together...

So I assume that the stock headlight bracket must stay in place to keep the bridge in place and sealed?

The fork covers keep the crossover assy in position over the holes in the fork tubes. Each side has a gasket & 2 o-rings.

I like the fork covers. If you wanted to get rid of them, you could probably install some sort of fork clamp to hold the crossover assy in place. Here's an example. there are probably other possibilities:

36mm Aluminium Steering Damper Fork Frame Mounting Clamp