REMOVING the '08 Right Side Cowling

[Wag]

Very nice, man.

Does the Gen2 use the same oil filter as the Gen1?

Mostly just curious

--Wag--

 

[Sewman]

Thank you very much

 

[Mr Bogus]

always wondered the proper use of "yoinked"

nice post

 

[dkariores]

wow thats awsome, i was gonna do the same thing and take pics just to post, maybe i will do the tail or something next

thanks for sharing

 

[Big Red]

Looks as easy as the gen-1.

 

[4 time busa owner]

thanks for the info and the pics are awesome

 

[Sewman]

Thanks again for the post.

I did my oil change today. Slight detail to add:

The bolt that you removed on the bottom (#5), I just pulled the rubber plug out instead of removing the mount.

The thing that through me the most was all the pulling apart that needed to be done around the front edge near the front tire. Lots of snapping together of stuff.

I always hate the first time.

Cheers

 

[Warchild]

The bolt that you removed on the bottom (#5), I just pulled the rubber plug out instead of removing the mount.

Yeah, a guy on the BusaNation forum pointed that out, too. It was only *after* the cowling was removed that you can see how that particular area is retained by one of those nylon-pin-in-grommet deals. The Owner's Manual sure isn't much help here. I'll amend that portion of the write-up.

<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
I always hate the first time.[/quote]

Most definitely.

You should have seen the fun I had removing the dash pieces when I installed the new windshield last night. That was a treat.....

 

[Warchild]

I'll amend that portion of the write-up.

Oooookay, I guess I won't amend the original post.

Apparently, there must be a time limit when you can go back and edit any of your previous original posts.... I got a "not authorized" message when I tried.

Thinking it was because the thread was pinned, I tried going back and editing a different post of mine (not pinned), and got the same "not authorized" message.

Oh, well...

 

[pdiddy]

Quick question for you, I've taken the dashboard apart to install led, took the tail apart and the right side cowling quite a few times but everytime I try to take the "hooks" ( I hate those hooks with a passion

) apart I darn near tear my plastics apart there had got to be a better way to disengage the hooks that I'm not seeing, any help or luck.

P.S
Its just the "hooks" all the other fastners are already removed

 

[Warchild]

Yes, the "hooks" can be a complete ass-pain to remove without dorking something up.

However, once you have them apart, you can study the tabs and see how the fit into their attending "slots", and from that you can determine how to slightly "bend" (or gently "pry") that particular piece of plastic so that you don't break off any tabs.

Easier said than done, I know.....

The only other word of advice: try to do all this is a warm garage, as these hooks and tabs are much more prone to snap if you are bending them around in cold ambient temps.

 

[poboybusa]

thanks very much . may-be i'll get to try this week-end.

 

[klspeed993]

Great stuff...I'll attempt to put this knowledge to use this weekend.

 

[k6dave]

Thanks for your great effort - it helped alot. I put 50,000 miles on my 01 and changed the oil every 3000 miles (every 6 weeks) a hell of a lot easier than this. I haven't put the panel back on yet - I'm really looking forward to it! Who is going to be the first to come up with a set of "quick-change" fasteners for this bike and make a fortune? Any recent revelations with this problem? BTW, in an interview with the Suzuki designer of the new bike, hiding all the fasteners was intentional- to make cleaner lines for custom paint. This idiot obviously doesn't change his own oil....

 

[Warchild]

Any recent revelations with this problem?

Yes, quite a few, actually.

1) There are only 4 (vice the 5 I initially described) bolts that need to be removed. Removing the hex-head bolt (which is bolt #5 in the photo on page one of this thread) is unnecessary... that area of the cowl is actually retained by one of four large rubber grommets. The other four (4mm socket-head) bolts need to come off as described.

2) Only four of the large black "push-pull" plastic pins need to be extracted. All others remain in place. These four are: two (2) in the bottom nose chin, one near the oil cooler, and the one near the right side of the steering neck.

3) The rear bellypan can basically remain in place. After the large nearby socket-head bolt is removed, the bellypan can simply "unhook" the tabs and slots that allow the forward part of the bellypan to fit flush along the bodywork lines.

4) Removing the topmost nylon pin can be dicey the first time... that portion of the cowling needs to be jerked straight UPWARD, not outward as the others are. Easy to snap it off if you're not careful. When re-installing, a small shot of WD-40 on those four honkin' rubber grommets makes life significantly easier.

5) The single greatest ass-pain is the proper reassembly of the chin pieces. There are a significant number of slots and hooks that need to be positioned just right in order for all panels to line up correctly. Patience is indicated. A lot of it.

<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
BTW, in an interview with the Suzuki designer of the new bike, hiding all the fasteners was intentional- to make cleaner lines for custom paint. This idiot obviously doesn't change his own oil....[/quote]

Yeah, that's just fugging great, isn't it? Screw all those guys that actually bought the bike to RIDE; but oh yeah, they'll bend over backwards to pander to the pouser crowd that want to turn the platform into butt-n-driveway jewelry.

Even though it becomes easier each time you do it, I fret about how many remove/re-install exercises all the various hooks/slots/tabs can really take before structural fatigue sets in, and those bastids start snapping off left and right....

 

[motogp08]

Sounds like removing the plastics is a paint in the @ss!

 

[UncleSteve]

I took the liberty to make your oil change/right cowl removal into a power point. I hope you don't mind.
File size limit prevents me from posting. I will check with the Professor and the Captain for a work around.

 

[k6dave]

On one of my past bikes, maybe the 04 or 05 R1, there were some really cool fasteners that were metal and only had about 2 or three long threads - just one turn of a allen wrench and they were in. Does anybody remember what bike uses those and whether or not they might be faster and more secure than these plastic **** fasteners? I'll try to find one or a pic - might be worth a try to make this whole process less painful. I'm not looking forward to this every 6 weeks....
Thanks again for all your effort on our behalf.

 

[3505panther]

Having just finished this, and thank you this was very helpful. I would add there are 3 nylon posts, the last being up by the kanji ad it was the one I finally detemined was keeping it on when everything was off.