Feb 14th 2010 Update (plus the Mighty Reds)

it seems I owe Mr Kawasaki Deisgner an apology from last weeks rant and should have vented my frustration at Mr Manual designer....

there is a method to remove the battery without all of the pain and suffering of fender/airbox/seat removal but the stupid manual didn't have that listed. Anyway, some progress and a fairly sharpish step back to report. Battery has finally been liberated from it's cave and shall be taken to shop for re-charging if possile. Front fender is also off but I have managed to snap a bolt head of from a bolt (honestly - it just snapped dispite my gentle caress and about 30 sprays of lubricant) from the brake line bracket on the right side of the front wheel. Have started to drill it out but suspect that this will take me a while as I can't be arsed doing it at present. Also drilled out the last remaining stupid bolt on the chain guard that had siezed so that piece of rubbish has been liberated from the frame. Not much else to report - still bloody cold and now have a 500W site light in the garage which is both warming (good) and retina destroying (bad - AHHHHHHHHHH my eyes, my eyes). Do Not Look At The Sun Indeed...

A little concerned as the throttle action seems 'challenged' at best when I test it as it doesn't return or flick back to a neutral position when turning it on & off. May be just a dud spring but I really don't want to mess with carbies and cables at this stage.

Photos of said bolt to follow but otherwise pretty boring progress.

The Mighty Reds nearly whooped the dodgy cheatin' Tahs this weekend but I understand the Couchman has lost his pocket money despite the result so all in all a proud result for the redneck state and frankly he has too much money anyway so dry those tears ya wee little girly man :)

Feb 7th 2010 Update

My hopes soar on the fact that it only took me 1 and 1/2 hours to remove one bloody stripped nut to remove the f.....g rear fender. Thankfully the children were out of earshot as my language skills were excerised to the fullest. The good news is that I have the fender off, the tank and airbox out but again am thwarted in my desire to get the battery out by mechanical incompentence combined with stupid black and white pdf print-out of the workshop manual. If I may pose a question - I understand that a battery on a motorcycle should be enclosed and protected from the elements but putting it below the seat, requiring airbox, rear fender and electrical system disconnection/removal does seem a little extreme and I suspect that Mr kawasaki designer was either suffering a severe sake hangover or his wife had just slept with a more successful Suzuki or Yamaha exectutive...f..k me it's been a frustrating two sessions in the shed and to further enrich my life the weather has been as cold as a brass monkeys.
Sensational....
Photos to follow and if you squint real hard you can kind of imagine what the bike will look like at some point in the future with a single seat and the rear frame hacked off.

January 31st Work

Not too much to report - little over an hour only worked this weekend due to other committments.

Sissy bar removed after much swearing....drilled one side out but was able to leverage the other side ok using spanners.

Have also taken off the pillion grab rails - a little messy as the rear shocks sit on this frame mount as well.Some balancing,lifting & more swearing was required.

Rear mudguard has one very hard to reach nut so have held over removing that for the present. Also need to get the electrical map as I'll need to get the rear light disconnected when I do that....