In a few spurts of work during the week, I managed to take the monster down to bare motor. It was not without its highs and its lows however.
After disconnecting the rear shock linkage, I started to take off the swingarm, only to discover that the pinch bolt on the sprocket side had been horribly deformed by the chain. There was no way to get an allen key in there. I cut down through the deformed portion of the bolt with a dremel until I could get the allen key in, but by that point there wasn’t enough purchase to loosen it and it stripped. The bolt is recessed into the swingarm halfway, so there wasn’t an easy way to try any conventional bolt removal options. I finally ended up cutting a hacksaw blade, and tediously hand-sawing through the bolt. Took two hours, but it finally came free.
The horizontal cylinders exhaust manifold bolts we’re completely rusted to the studs, and likely have never been touched since the bike rolled off the factory floor. Both ended up stripping, and then pulled out the studs. I’m torn on if I should invest the money and get the ti hardware, or just try to get an OEM set. Oh, and the pinch bolt that holds the collector onto the vertical exhaust manifold also snapped cleanly when I tried to loosen it.
The frame came off without incident after that. I cleaned up the motor in prep for mike to weld the broken mount back together. Meanwhile, the perfect cool days of spring keep zipping by outside. I’ve been here before…
