BRed ~ advice needed

[fish]

BRed,
You have experience with removing the plastic panels from our Forzas.
After one small experience myself - working on the wind screen - and after watching a Honda technician break panels on two separate Forzas....
I wondered if you would give me \ us some advice about working with these panels.
Do you use an over-heated garage, panel removal tools....or just a whole lot of "slow down and work carefully & patiently."
This fellow just did a fuel pump 3 days before doing mine .... and knew going into mine that the panels are the hard part......yet he broke 2 scoots in one morning.
What's your secret, please?
Thanks, FISH

[BRed]

I think you've hit on most of the things to give your attention....
1) you don't want to bend cold plastic...it will break with less tension and at much shallower angles
2) if you haven't done it before go sloooow
and most important...
3) look at the exploded diagram and find the critical locking lug and grommet on each panel.
no matter which direction the panel comes off, the locking lug will usually be perpendicular to that movement.
that means some part of it will have to move directly away from the frame at some point.

The first time I took mine apart, it took nearly two hours and almost as long to put it back (that's with a service manual!)
The second time I stripped it to the luggage box in less than twenty minutes.

There are a few errors in the US manual....I think it is more accurate of early Forzas.
There are more screws and fewer interlocking hooks than the service manual suggests on the floorboards.

As far as I can tell, there is no tool that will work better than a pair of warm hands....
usually a screw or a body clip (pushpin) secures the starting point and gentle side (lateral) pressure will unlock most of the hooks...
look for the panel's locking lug.

PS
the front V trim for the windshield comes off forward and downward, at a tangent to the front wheel


sorry I haven't had much chance to post lately, but I was trying to beat the cold weather on my long running construction project....
I finally got a front door (and heat!) for my "hut".

[Alibally]

My old boss years ago said that its ok to break the first one so you know how it comes apart,but if you break the second one then.........

[fish]

I think you've hit on most of the things to give your attention....
[/img]

Thanks for your reply.
And glad you got the door on and some heat.
OK, what are your shop hours, hourly rates and - most importantly: do you Keurig the waiting area?
I spent a whole day in the Honda store getting my recall done, reading bike mags and drinking from their Keurig (they have a nice RR)....raining too hard to walk anywhere for a meal, or change of scenery.
Salesman mentioned that Honda is probably not going to replace the Silver Wing - but move towards more auto-bikes.
They had 2 Groms sitting in the show room - dead in the water waiting to get their fuel pumps done.
One thing I noted : they just had the lot re-sealed with that shiny & oily black top coating - and man is that slick for 2 wheelers in the rain! Made it 30 miles in a cold driving rain and nearly dumped my scoot in the final 50 ft in the lot!

I will work with care on the panels.
Thanks again for your great pictures of how to disrobe a Forza.
fish

[Steph]

That Quonset hut rocks! A place for toys.