ahh you'll be fine then, because you wont be trying to put the original back on. Id love to know how many replacement belly pieces they sell because of snapped 'Tabs'
Reading an issue of Fast bikes last night, think it's 2 issues back, they have a CBR600 long term test bike and were going to fit a full system on it. In this section it mentions about the difficulty of removing the fairing and made reference to the 08 FireBlade fairing saying that in the early days Honda service guys were breaking that many plastics, a guy in a Honda dealership said Honda have actually produced a DVD on how to remove the fairing. How true this is I don't know but might be worth an enquiry to get a copy, may help.
It would be nice to obtain one of these or have them sold on this forum ! I just can not understand why the designers made it so bloody hard.... if this is really meant to be a ' race rep' then i don't recall the Motogp teams refering to a manual or a dvd to remove the fairings on Casey Stoners bike when in a hurry ! I can bet it only took seconds to take them off, and this on a bike capable or doing over 200mph...... odd indeed.
agree with you there hudson i would be great if there was a video and we could get it posted up on here and would help everyone out.
I took the nose cone and mirrors apart yesterday, what a nightmare.worst designed fairing I have worked with. even the cowl under the nose cone couldnt just pop off, so many clips and tabs you swear you are going to break it....oh an managed to break a clip on the mirror,so thats a mirror and a cracked nose cone.never had a bike break so easy before,feels like cheap tat.
They do get easier but I've done it a hundred times and they never seem to go back the same way twice, I can do them much quicker than back in 08 when I did the first one, tbh it's the one thing I hate with the bike, that and the rear peg system! I think Honda made a big step backwards with the fairings after the RR7 mine seems easy? The worst thing for me is I'm never happy with the fit of the OE panels, one of the main reasons I just don't feel the love from the RR8 onwards.
yeah I hear ya, it took me about half an hour to get the nose cone removed to get access to the relays.my RR5 I could have had the whole bike stripped off in that time.Im going to have to look at the manual before I pull the side fairings off to see what way they are held on.....first time for everything.
Have fun, after a while you sort of get used to how it sort of falls on and off the bike, the clicking and clunking of the thing, never broken one but Id take extra care in the cold, mind you the panels are only wafer thin! The nose has a mind of its own and the plastic trims....well....what can you say about them, leave them off for ten mins and they seem to change shape and never quite fit right ever again, but then I'm not sure they ever did!
Yeah I noticed the nose cone just doesnt sit right at the intakes even when its all clipped together right....or its only because I have had it off that I notice its not on right. I still think honda get the fairings from neverland now lol
Well i cant wait to put it all back together now. I didnt brake anything taking it apart but i just kept wiggling the bellypan and finally 1 side just fell off. i might just turn it into a street fighter and not bother putting them back on
I just fitted a rad guard and downpipe grill to my 2012, what a B......D off a job. The rad guard was just fiddley, but the downpipe grill meant taking most of the offside fairing off to get access to the radiator bolt that holds it in place. When it came to putting fairing back, dropped a screw could not find it, and then an allen headed bolt would not fit it just spins round. Gave up and went in for tea. Will have to take it off again to sort this bolt out, leaving this for another day when i,m calmer.
Was this on the belly pan ? if so i think you'll find that it screws into 'wellnut' they are a bit awkward to line up and sometimes require you to feel through the gap in the fairing with your fingers until you can feel the back of the wellnut spinning and then try and hold / pinch it until the thread grips and pulls the rubber against the bracket. Hope this helps.
Thanks Lee, but the bolt was on top of the fairing just below the brake lever, my son has got hold of a Honda print out on removal of fairings for the 2012 model, I will see what that says and go for round 2 one wet day this week.
Bugger, just bought the two guards for my new blade! Not looking forward to the job now I don't suppose you could post a copy of the Honda fairing removal instructions???
Put an Evotech Rad guard on my 2012 ABS Blade this week. 2 days after I'd ordered it I noticed a small disclaimer buried deep on their website saying the guard was not suitable for ABS models, FFS! Anyway it rocked up and it fits fine TBH, in fact it's that good a fit at the top there's no need for the zippy ties as the top slips snugly behind the brake pipe/ABS pipe marshaling block and will go no where. Couldn't get my fingers in anyway to fit Zip ties so all good then. Biggest problem was getting the belly pan to fit back in with the two lower side fairings at the point directly behind the front wheel. Had to go in twice and make a brew before I TWATTED it with a Sledge hammer in frustration! Feckin ridiculous design IMHO!
I'd get the zip ties on or you'll have a vibration from the guard against the block that the pipes go into. It will really piss you off after maybe 2 miles at most. Sorry to be a pest mate
Trust me Col, that will not (and does not) vibrate, it's as tight as John Holmes in a teenage virgin! I've done around 80 miles since fitting it and not had a squeak from it, literally!
Must be a tighter fit than on my 2010 ABS bike then. There was about a 3mm gap between the guard and Junction block.