elizilla
Guest
(pulled from the other forum and rewritten because the links are all broken now)
Before you can take out the pockets, you have to take off the black side panel (not getting into that here).
Turn the bars so they're all the way forward on the side you're taking the pocket out of.
Take out the 8mm bolt that's at the front of the gas tank near the steering head.
Take off the fairing pocket cover. This doesn't require any tools. Just open it to about a 45 degree angle, and lift at the hinge, it will pop off pretty easily.
There are three phillips head screws hidden by the fairing pocket cover. One is visible simply by opening the cover, and the other two are on either side of the hinge and are exposed when you pop the cover all the way off. Take these out.
If you sit on a milk crate next to the bike, and look into the spot where the black side cover was, there is a 10mm bolt at about eye level. This needs to come out.
There is a square of Dual-Lock under the plastic where it wraps over the top of the tank. Dual-Lock is kind of like a stronger velcro. Here is 3M's explanation of it. It is hard to peel apart, and it wants to stick itself back together. You have to pry this side of the cover up, but you can't pry it up very far, because it isn't the only thing in there. So, pry it up just far enough to break it loose. Dual-lock is stiffer than velcro and it doesn't make a tearing sound like velcro does - it's more of a bumping/snapping sound. Hard to explain. But rest assured it can be peeled apart. Once you get it peeled, stick a piece of cardboard in there so it doesn't get pressed back together.
The final fastener is a hook. The section of plastic that wraps over the tank, has to slide towards the outside of the bike. The hook is about a centimeter long and is easier to ease out of, if you're not having to pry that piece up to keep it off the Dual-lock, which is why I suggest sliding cardboard in between the sides of the Dual-lock. The only reason I had you remove the 10mm bolt, up above, is to get enough slack to move things sideways and get out of the hook. Just push the plastic down, and slide it towards the outside of the bike, and it slips off the hook easily.
Once you have all these fasteners removed, the pocket will be quite loose and just floating around in there - you'll know you got them all. Then just wiggle the pocket around and ease it on out. The part over the tank angles up first, and then it just lifts out. There's a little fiddling necessary for the left pocket due to the way some cables run along the frame at the front of the tank, but there's nothing mysterious about this.
Reinstalling:
When you put it back on, there are some things you have to pay attention to:
It overlaps the black plastic inside the steering well, in specific ways. If you look at it it is obvious which way it goes in there, and if you get it wrong things look bad/loose in there. So pay attention to that.
There are a couple of small alignment tabs where the pocket cover meets the edge of the sidecover. These won't go together easily unless you have the pocket lined up properly with the black plastic inside the steering well.
The long skinny arms that go to the 8mm bolts by the steering head, have tabs on the ends where they mate with each other. It's easier to line these up if you loosen the 8mm bolt for the other fairing pocket.
The hook goes in first. If you keep the annoying Dual-lock, you'll want to put your piece of cardboard back in there until you get all the other tabs lined up and get the pocket threaded onto the hook. Otherwise the Dual-lock will snap down with things still crooked, and it'll be a huge struggle.
Personally, I took the Dual-lock out of my bike and replaced it with a square of foam weatherstripping. This doesn't snap together, but it keeps tension on that hook and keeps things from rattling. And it has made subsequent disassemblies much easier, without having any noticeable effect on how well the parts stay together.
Before you can take out the pockets, you have to take off the black side panel (not getting into that here).
Turn the bars so they're all the way forward on the side you're taking the pocket out of.
Take out the 8mm bolt that's at the front of the gas tank near the steering head.
Take off the fairing pocket cover. This doesn't require any tools. Just open it to about a 45 degree angle, and lift at the hinge, it will pop off pretty easily.
There are three phillips head screws hidden by the fairing pocket cover. One is visible simply by opening the cover, and the other two are on either side of the hinge and are exposed when you pop the cover all the way off. Take these out.
If you sit on a milk crate next to the bike, and look into the spot where the black side cover was, there is a 10mm bolt at about eye level. This needs to come out.
There is a square of Dual-Lock under the plastic where it wraps over the top of the tank. Dual-Lock is kind of like a stronger velcro. Here is 3M's explanation of it. It is hard to peel apart, and it wants to stick itself back together. You have to pry this side of the cover up, but you can't pry it up very far, because it isn't the only thing in there. So, pry it up just far enough to break it loose. Dual-lock is stiffer than velcro and it doesn't make a tearing sound like velcro does - it's more of a bumping/snapping sound. Hard to explain. But rest assured it can be peeled apart. Once you get it peeled, stick a piece of cardboard in there so it doesn't get pressed back together.
The final fastener is a hook. The section of plastic that wraps over the tank, has to slide towards the outside of the bike. The hook is about a centimeter long and is easier to ease out of, if you're not having to pry that piece up to keep it off the Dual-lock, which is why I suggest sliding cardboard in between the sides of the Dual-lock. The only reason I had you remove the 10mm bolt, up above, is to get enough slack to move things sideways and get out of the hook. Just push the plastic down, and slide it towards the outside of the bike, and it slips off the hook easily.
Once you have all these fasteners removed, the pocket will be quite loose and just floating around in there - you'll know you got them all. Then just wiggle the pocket around and ease it on out. The part over the tank angles up first, and then it just lifts out. There's a little fiddling necessary for the left pocket due to the way some cables run along the frame at the front of the tank, but there's nothing mysterious about this.
Reinstalling:
When you put it back on, there are some things you have to pay attention to:
It overlaps the black plastic inside the steering well, in specific ways. If you look at it it is obvious which way it goes in there, and if you get it wrong things look bad/loose in there. So pay attention to that.
There are a couple of small alignment tabs where the pocket cover meets the edge of the sidecover. These won't go together easily unless you have the pocket lined up properly with the black plastic inside the steering well.
The long skinny arms that go to the 8mm bolts by the steering head, have tabs on the ends where they mate with each other. It's easier to line these up if you loosen the 8mm bolt for the other fairing pocket.
The hook goes in first. If you keep the annoying Dual-lock, you'll want to put your piece of cardboard back in there until you get all the other tabs lined up and get the pocket threaded onto the hook. Otherwise the Dual-lock will snap down with things still crooked, and it'll be a huge struggle.
Personally, I took the Dual-lock out of my bike and replaced it with a square of foam weatherstripping. This doesn't snap together, but it keeps tension on that hook and keeps things from rattling. And it has made subsequent disassemblies much easier, without having any noticeable effect on how well the parts stay together.
