broken windshield return arm

[galxy5]

the left upper windshield arm was busted in my high side several weeks ago,, I went in to remove the broken piece while waiting on new parts from University Motors ,, I discovered to my surprise that the gauges must be removed to then remove the pivot bolt ,, I just cannot imagine why they would be set in this position ,, when they would be easily removed if they were set with the head of the bolt facing out ,, :angry:

does anyone have experience removing the gauges ??

I think I am going to cut the bolt ,, remove it and when the new parts come just put it in the other way ,,

any thoughts on this??

 

[vectervp1]

I managed to snap the right control arm off in November and I dont remember having to take the guages off. I dont rememeber what I did but I know I didnt take the guages off. Got any pics to refresh my memory?

 

[Toecutter]

the left upper windshield arm was busted in my high side several weeks ago...

Uh, did I miss something? Got a link to the details? Sounds bad....

 

[toophast]

the left upper windshield arm was busted in my high side several weeks ago...

Uh, did I miss something? Got a link to the details? Sounds bad....

Uh yeah!!!

when did this happen? you get hurt? still have flames???? :blink:

Toophast

 

[galxy5]

yea yea ,,

couple of wees ago ,,going over the F###^#*#^& 311,, bad conditions & pilot error ,, gravel in the turn bla bla bla ,,oh no not once !! twice in a snow bank ,, bla bla bla !!!ask Sheilds !!! he was trailing me !! felt pretty stupid ,,

no flames for now ,,back to the stock look ,, I have evil plans for the uppers and lowers that just came off ,, built a jig for them and body work has commenced ,, am doing a few mods ,,

 

[Toecutter]

Well, alrighty then. Glad to hear there were no saddle-time-robbing injuries.

 

[jestal]

I looked at this on my (apart) bike last night and there is no need to remove the gauge cluster to get that bolt out. It is located below the surface of the fairing so it might be necessary to take the fairing/headlight assembly off but I can't really tell since my fairing and headlight is off at the moment. The guages stay in place if the fairing/headlight assembly is removed and the bolt will easily clear the gauges.

With the windshield removed, remove the fastener in the center of the fairing so the small panel in the top/middle of the fairing (between the adjustment/inner legs of the windshield mount mechanism) can be removed. Does that give you sufficient access to get to the outer leg bolt?

 

[FastJoyRide]

I did this to my left control arm too, and couldn't see an efficient fix other than cutting the bolt with a small hacksaw blade. It was quite easy IIRC and as you note it is cake to install the new bolt, with the nut end to the left. As I recall I did have to put in a small spacer or a couple of washers to get the alignment perfect with the surrounding pieces. I did find it easier to deal with and reattach the spring when I 'captured' it with a small piece of wire so it didn't fall into the guts of the bike.

Why it doesn't come assembled that way from the factory is just one of those great mysteries!

My dealer ordered the new arm just as Japan was going on vacation for 2 weeks, and when it finally came in it was for the wrong side! I was not impressed, but I was able to cobble together the broken arm with JB Weld and it held long enough to allow me to ride the 2004 3 Flags. It is now in my toolbox as a spare (which I hope I never need).

 

[galxy5]

FastJoyRide,

you are right ,, I cut it with a small hack saw,, and got a replacement ,, installed it with the bolt head facing out !!! so if it ever needs fixing it will be in the correct position to slide out ,,

I got my new control arm and upper lft fairing from Gary MCcoy at University Motors ,, 2 days !!! what a great guy ,, I also got a tech book on disk !! look up a page ,, print it out ,, use it ,, get it dirty ?? toss it ,,