Where is the tension?

[Harald]

Regretably, my work firewall blocks most photo hosting sites and therefore I can't see your setup. But I can tell you that it's easy peasy to remove the centerstand and relay arm by using a floor jack. Just break the torque on all fasteners you need to remove and then while the bike is on the sidestand, jack under the rear of the engine. This will take tension off the relay arm and allow you to easily remove all pre-loosened fasteners. You might need to adjust the jack height so there's no tension on the relay arm bolts.

Yes, there's the ultra small chance of jack failure that would cause the bike to tip over. I would never condone crawling under a car with only the jack holding it up, but there's no life threatening safety concern with this method. And it wouldn't be wise to do this with small children or wives running around to bump the jack, which is why I do it on my fridays off work when no one is home to bother me (actually all maintenance is done on that day for the same "not being pestered" reason).

I'm due for another service back there and plan on taking photos to better illustrate the method.

 

[jmgrif]

Thanks, Harald, without pictures I can imagine it being hard for you to see where I was having my problem? I have now removed the relay arm completely and can service the bushing and bearings! I decided with the relay arm out of the way and while I'm waiting for the bolts I cut getting the centre stand off I would take this opportunity to free up the swing arm to check for any free play etc. That's the part where my trailing arms are resting on a race stand which has to be removed to gain that free movement. I'm working on getting that done without dropping the bike off my table lift.