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....