In anticipation of my Castrol fairing arriving today, I've commenced the strip down. Ably assisted by Cycle Cruza's video: and the Honda manual, I was going well until finding that the R & G tail tidy has different, and almost inaccessible mounting screws compared to the OEM rear. Had to loosen and jiggle around the battery tray to access. Tank cover removal is a breeze, and front fender required some delicate jiggling (of which I am mighty accomplished) to ease it out from between the forks. Total time for above including cleaning: 1 hour. Off to remove belly pan and fairings now. Dreading the nose cone this afternoon. Pic of undressed state:
Parcelforce came through with my delivery! In the meantime I've attacked side fairings and belly pan. Belly pan is a piece of p*ss, side fairings another story. As @PauloHRC will attest, there's screws and tabs and push pins, a couple of which are more discretely hidden than my former wife's IUD. Anyway, got them off and transferred a couple of black plastics to the new ones. I purchased a fitting kit (screws, push pins, screen screws & well nuts) and was fortunate to check screw sizes before fitting black plastics to side fairings. The supplied screws were approx 2 mm longer than the OEM and posed a severe risk of piercing the fairing if tightened to the limit. I therefore transferred OEM screws. Will have a break and then onto the nose cone.
Been a slow afternoon, Jim. Had to ream a couple of screw holes which wasn't a major drama, but one of the tabs is too thick for the metal slide-over screw fixings so had to make some major adjustments. Front is a real PIA, bits of plastic everywhere at the moment. Have to calm myself down, have a meal and then take it a bit slower.
@nigelrb, I don’t want to come across as trying to teach granny to suck eggs, nor am I for one moment suggesting you are anything less than a perfectionist and very capable for the task in hand............but don't rush the job and spoil it - you’ve a far better chance of not making a mistake in the daylight (no matter how well lit you can make the job). You’ll be kicking yourself if you make a slip.
Yeah, so true Boothy and Paulo. We can get overwhelmed with enthusiasm; pull stuff apart too quick and without thinking, and then have to meditate for an hour to work out how to piece it back together. Might put the rear end back tonight because I have a penchant for rear ends at night time, and then do a clean and front fit tomorrow. Early rain here tomorrow so at least I won't feel guilty about not getting out!
I fitted a Chinese belly pan to my bike, even that required extensive adjustments. A little bit at a time and try not to get frustrated. Looking forward to seeing the end result.
That's a big ask!! I'm not sure I would do it again. I think I'd rather just go to Dreamworks or similar and say: 'Here it is, I'll pick it up on Friday!!' Just assembling the rear cowl and undercover was a chore, but it's done now. VERY disappointed with the way the paint lines up on the 'Castrol' where the screen meets the front cowl. I'll do some 'fine-tuning' with a small paint brush and closest match paint. Will start the side fairings and belly pan after lunch. Given what @Blade runner 1 has just posted I will do a pre-assembly of the belly pan to check tolerances.
It' getting there......slowly How come the air intakes are still in place? I'm sure they were attached to the inside of the fairings on mine. Came off still attached then I immediately transplanted them too the new fairings. Belly pan and fairing wise......only mods I did was too drill out the fairing bolt holes just to give a bit of extra movement. Also I used push pins where the lower fairings meet the front of the belly pan just for extra secure fit!
VERY disappointed with the way the paint lines up on the 'Castrol' where the screen meets the front cowl. I'll do some 'fine-tuning' with a small paint brush and closest match paint. Try drilling out the screen bolt holes in the front cowl which as I said before regarding the fairings. ......will allow for a little free play which should enable you to manipulate the position of the screen and marry up the Castrol logo!
Thanks Paul. I accept your point, and I have done some serious jiggling. Any further manoeuvring will set the screen skew wiv on the cowl which would be very noticeable at the top edge.
Obviously you’re looking at it in the flesh but that photo isn’t showing it as a “bad” match. I’d try opening the screen and nose cone holes slightly to get a bit of wiggle room before reaching for the paint brushes. I’m liking the look so far
Still as slow process, but on the home run. Have been set back by a couple of things. I major tab/bracket from the centre of the r/h was split when I removed it. Could have been like it for ages because all the other tabs and belly hold everything together. Super glued it and it snapped. Have maxi bond on it now, but I suspect I'm better off waiting for a brand new part for proper strength. Other problem is the brake hose bracket/anchor on the front guard. They are riveted on the OEM. No prob drilling the rivets out of course. But I haven't got short enough bolts to fit even if I delete the bracket and anchor straight to the guard with my shiny new stainless steel 'P' clips. Off to Halfords in the morning! So, pending the fairing bracket, it could be Tuesday before I'm finished. Pic of situation to date. Tank is merely resting there - not fixed. Edited to say this was supposed to post yesterday. Mustn't have pressed the right button - a flaw that had been brought to my attention more than once by the oft' referred ex wife.
So, started early this morning, got a good run on the fairings and then bolted to B & Q to buy a pop riveter. Great - in principle. Rivet the said bracket to the guard and the rivets are too short. I didn't even think of checking length - such is my amateur status as a returnee to all things mechanical. Got the guard on and will affix bracket tomorrow. In all seriousness, I don't think it's even required because there's very little flex and float in the brake lines. Belly pan ended up a bit of a pain, but there is a certain procedure that makes them simple to fit. I found it after 30-odd minutes! So it's all done now. A tad of fine tuning tomorrow. (Just noticed a piece of tank lining poking out on the right side.) Pics of before and after:
