Belt guard removal

[Midnight82]

Tech - You're the man, +1 for the pointer!

 

[tuneport67ss]

The bolts arent torqued. They are corroded. When you put a steel bolt in aluminim threads, it will corrode bad. It acts like a thread locker (locktite)on the bolt. THe easiest way to get the "torqued" bolts before they are stripped is to apply a small amount of heat. I find that a propane torch works pretty good.
On another note. Remember your spark plugs are steel threads and the heads are aluminum. They can corrode as well. Always apply an antisieze on your plugs when installing them. It will save you trouble later on.

 

[onelogue]

Hey guys thanks for the tips! TechMagic I will keep your "tech magic" in mind when I get around to removing it.

 

[TechMagic]

Nice double-team tuneport! You're right, aluminum and steel chemically react to one another.

It's good practice to apply never seize between alu. and steel. Personally, I cringe when I see them paired in industry. You're right about that likely being the culprit.

With aluminum and powder-coat present, applying a small amount of heat in the form of a propane torch is likely smartest. You can get into trouble with map gas or oxy/acetylene, and vaporize your swingarm.

 

[Midnight82]

So I tried to take taht section of the swingarm out last night. Get three or the four bolts out and the third I stripped the head on. WEAK!

So I ended up taking the Hulkamania approach. I just tore the MF'r off.

 

[kajer]

times like this, I am happy I have an '09 that the guards came off with the T27, ERFECT!!!



(yes, it's missing the 'P', those hardcore nerds will get the Street Fighter reference)

 

[dave_xb12r]

The term "street fighter" on a buell forum might be confused B1k3?

 

[ADAMLEE]

Anyone play SF4 here on the forums?

I gotz an XBL account and am ready to put the beatdown to anyone.....mwa ha ahah aha hah !

 

[onelogue]

NERD ALERT

 

[Macbuell]

DARN! I was all excited about just taking that part of the swingarm out and being able to remove the upper belt guard... I started with the most difficult to get to bolt for that piece and sure enough, couldnt get that either. Looks like I am not meant to get this guard off.

Trying to make myself not sound so stupid but that is getting hard by letting this plastic guard get the best of me.

 

[TechMagic]

are you guys really having that much trouble? Man, I thought I had an 04 so since it was easy, it couldn't be much worse on an older bike, and newer should be cake. Sorry to hear it's being a bitch.

 

[Midnight82]

The top one is just a beast. The three screws holding the gaurd on are in impossible places to get to with the wheel on. And the 4 bolts on the swingarm have been on my bike for 6 years ('04 built in '03). Just one of those things.

That's why the Vise-Grips + Ninja focus was the route I went.

 

[RyBuell]

I ended up struggling to pull the brace off as well: ultimatly i ended up hacking the guard off then removing the entire rear brake setup to get to that stupid burrid bolt...F*ucking thing still wont come loose, ive tried 3 times now. maybe i just need a huge breaker bar.

 

[GatorBuell]

Go to sears and get the easy out screw extractor (not the bolt easy out)it looks like a counter sink but in reverse. Put in a drill in reverse and keep drilling. It will heat the tork bit up and back it right out. It takes a little while but it will come right out. I have used it about 6 times now on the bike.

 

[scheetz31]

i took the whole back wheel off...i found that to be much easier. Two bolts to remove caliper...and a couple turns to remove axle...slide belt off. simple as 1,2,3. I had to get a new rear tire, but it gave me easy access to belt guards, and everything else.

 

[fresh rida]

okay. I have an '03 XB9SL. Tried taking out my belt guards today and no luck. At first, I thought they were two separate pieces, upper and lower. Then I realized that they were attached with an inner plastic piece. Anyway, got the bottom one out but had problems with the upper piece. Tried taking the swing arm piece off but one or two bolts may have been corroded. How exactly would I use the propane torch to heat up the bolts? This may sound silly. But can I just use a blow dryer?

Help!!!! Anyone, please!!! I want these off! Especially, after seeing the bottom one off. Darn thing looks so sexy! Ended up taking the passenger pegs off for the meantime! LOL!

 

[TechMagic]

you take a torch, light it, and blare it on the bolt for about 10-20 seconds. A hair dryer won't work but a heat gun may work...

 

[fresh rida]

TechMagic,

Just gotta ask before making another attempt at this. Do I aim the torch directly at the bolt? Would this cause any damage to my swing arm brace?

 

[50dro]

I decided to take my guards off of my '04 XB12S after reading this. It was WAAAAAY simple! Just removed the 4 bolts on the support (no torch needed) and removed the 3 torx bolts for the top guard. Simply removed the 3 allen bolts for the bottom guard.

Happy Wrenching!!

 

[LVsleeper]

FINALLY!!!
OK so today after months of looking at her and multiple attempts, I finally got the upper guard off. I was going to wait until I pulled the wheels for either polishing the lip or pin-striping, couldn't look at it any longer. I took Tech's advise and removed the upper swing arm brace after multiple applications of a penetrating oil as 2 of the 4 bolts were seized. anybody ever notice there is a brembo stamp on both the brace and the swing arm itself?
Anybody got any info on this? LeFox? BPG? Xtreme?