Fighting with side panels

I always dread changing the oil on my 99 VFR because I know the side panels will always be a pain to put back on. This time is no exception again. It is always the same screw that eats my lunch, the one along the top side of the fairing closest to the tank. I decided to try again in the morning since my patience was growing thin. Is there some trick to getting this screw to line up without an extended fight?

 

has your bike been wrecked? I dont ever have to fight them...

 

The bike has never been down. It is just the one screw that gives me a hard time. It's the same on either side.

 

Same problem, different clip

I have the same problem, with a different clip/location. Can't figure out why it is the tough one. Just figure molding, angles, age make each piece a little diffferent. I will continue sticking my fingers in and belly crawling around it until I get a clue. 4th gen has clips you can bend forward or back for depth. I'm going to take out those two and bend them forward to make less depth.

 

Got it lined up this morning after using a nail to line the holes up a few times. Next time I take the panels off I'll replace all of the threaded rubber grommets. I think the problem is that these grommets, called 5mm nuts on the microfiche, get out of shape a little.

 

Not that I ever had a tough time lining my fairings up, but I just replaced these. My dealer ordered them for me (talk about lazy, huh) but it was only like $16 for a set of 8. Or was it 10? Beats me, but made life easier.

 

I've recently had a problem with some of these giving me some trouble too, and after ordering one of the Honda ones at over $2 a piece, my dealer ordered me a box of ten of them (non-Honda) from elsewhere. They are sitting at the dealership right now and I will be picking them up today. I'll let you know the brand and how they fit after I pick them up. If you are going to be replacing them all over the place, it could be cheaper to get a box of ten like I did.

 

Thanks Meatloaf, let me know how they work out.

 

I know the feeling!!! I helped a fellow member (Wrestler) with oil change on his 5th Gen and it took almost 2 hours. We started off by stripping the built in nut at the end of the filter since it was put on so tight. We then tried a strap type filter wrench with no success. In the end I went and bought a new Channel Lock filter wrench and gripped and turned with all my strength until it finally loosened up while destroying the filter in the process. After changing the oil and filter we ended up spending at least 30-45 trying to get the fairing back on since one of the bolts was not getting lined up with the bracket and the rubber grommet kept popping off at a second mounting point. What a pain in the ass!!!!

Regards,
Rollin

 

I just picked them up from the dealer and tried one out. It worked fantastic. Here is a link to them: VIEWING TUCKER ROCKY PUBLICATION PAGES

They are the Keiti Windscreen Screw Kits. The really nice thing about them is that you can get them in about any color you need to match your bike. I went with the black for mine. The only difference between these and the stock besides color is that these use a 3mm hex instead of the 5mm hex that Honda uses. HOWEVER... I did a quick check and the Honda screws screw into them perfectly meaning the threads are the same, so you can use the stock screws if you wish.

Another thing to consider is better seen in the picture on the left of this link: KEITI

The Keiti screws come with a plastic washer on them, meaning that you wont damage your fairings with them if you overtighten them against the fairing. I wish Honda has done this as there are a few marks on my fairings from them being taken on and off so much.

They come in packs of 10 and with screws to boot... this is a much better deal than the Honda OEM part IMO and I was able to get the 10 pack for about the same cost as it would have been for 4 of them from Honda. Hope this helps ya out and saves you a few bucks to boot.

 

One more thing, it looks like Amazon has them in stock as well in case you would like to order them from there: Amazon.com: keiti windscreen screw kt: Automotive

 

Jerry

You should all get together and go on Springer!Would be a great episode!:crazy:

 

When I was an outboard mechanic Mercury used a 5mm "well nut" to anchor the control heads and we had tons of them. Try a Mercury Outboard dealership and they might even give them to you!

 

Yup, the wellnut is the technical name for this fastener and they are in fact 5mm in size.