As the title suggests I thought I might do up a thread on how to remove the upper cowl section on a 5th gen (98-2001) VFR800. There were a few maintenance items that I wanted to get looked after (needed to change a turn signal bulb, installing some new Cree LED headlights, and I am adding some LED instrument cluster lamps) and I had noticed a few other members post question in the last little while about how to change the dash lights and headlights and how to remove the upper cowl to do so. The owners manual does not do a great job of this, and while the Honda Factory Service Manual does a detailed description, not everybody has one. Please note that I have written this "HOW TO" for those members that have never attempted or required the removal of their upper cowl. As such, there are a lot of pictures.
Here we go. First off, which tools would be required you might ask?? Most of the tools required should be in the tool kit that came with the bike, but here is a list.
- 5mm and 6mm Allen Key - should be one in the tool kit of the bike
- Phillips head screwdriver - one stubby one comes handy for the harder to reach areas around the fender
- A dish of some sort to put all the clips, bolts, screws, and band-aids in. (OK, the band aids are not required unless assistant is accident prone)
Well that was easy, what could be simpler than a job that only requires 3 different tools?? Right?? That may very well depend on whether or not you have an assistant. My assistant for this task is my 6 year old son Liam. He is a great help, though very inquisitive, and thus, this job WILL, or likely will not, take you longer than myself. Liam loves to ask questions and he has an absolute NEED to know exactly why I do EVERYTHING I do when working on the bike. Thus, things take a bit longer when you play 20 (or 300) questions. Working on the bike is what my son likes to call his "Daddy Time". God I love the little guy, he is such a fantastic helper.
Step one - Secure the Bike
Place the bike on the center stand (if you have one) as this will make the bike a bit more stable when you have to move the front wheel from side to side. It is also very helpful when your assistant wants to pretend to be Ricky Racer and make motorcycle noises. Nothing worse than trying to unscrew stuff when the bike is rocking all over the place.
Step Two - Remove the Mirrors
This step is relatively straight forward. Using the 5mm allen wrench (I have a T-Handle set of wrenches that come in really handy for this and being bright orange, they are really hard to lose) remove the two allen head screws attaching the mirror bases to the upper cowl stay.
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Step Three - Remove the Inner Windscreen Trim Covers
Inside the windscreen are two black trim pieces that are attached to the inside of the upper cowl stay. Remove the one phillips head screw from the end of the plastic trim and then pivot away from the screen and remove. Behind these trim panels is a screw on either side of the top of the instrument cluster bezel that threads in to the back of the upper cowl. These two screws must also be removed.
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Step Four - Windscreen Removal
In order to remove the windscreen you will need to remove the two phillips head screws that are under the mirror bases. These screws secure the upper cowl to the mirror supports of the upper cowl stay. These screws may or may not actually be installed so if they are not there not to worry. Once these screws have been removed you can gently pry back the upper cowl near the end of the mirrors and lift the windscreen to remove it from the small posts on the stay that the windscreen holes slot in to. Once the windscreen is released from the upper cowl stay posts, gently pry up and back on the windscreen to release the positioning tabs on the lower portion of the windscreen that slot in to the upper cowl.
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Step Five - Unplug the headlights
You can do this first, last or whenever but they must be unplugged at some point, and better now than when you try to remove the upper cowl later and risk dropping it when you have forgotten the connector leads are still attached. Ask me how I figured this one out.............. Gently push the connector in toward the headlight and squeeze the two locking tabs on either side of the connector to remove. If you turn the bars toward the headlight you are trying to disconnect, you will have more room for your hands. This may seem self evident but surprisingly it just isn't if you're like me and like to do things the hard way. Never underestimate the intelligence of a 6 year old. They are chalk full of useful information such as, "Daddy, wouldn't it be easier if you turned the handle bars to that side, your hand would fit better." Gotta love the way his mind works, and apparently mine, ................well, .................doth not, apparently.
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Step Six - Retainer Clip and Front Turn Signal Removal
Remove the two plastic retainer clips that secure the upper cowl to the exhaust cowl cover (not really sure what this piece is called but the one in behind the wheel). The clips used require a phillips screwdriver and you turn them a half turn counter-clockwise and the center should pop out. If not, try holding the edge of the clip with you finger while turning the center with the screwdriver. One trick I have had success with is turning the wheel to the opposite side of the clip you are trying to remove to give you more room for the screwdriver. Another tip would be to use a phillips screw bit without the holder (just the bit between your fingers) as the clips are not usually that tight. Once the clip releases just pull it straight out. You can also undo the phillips screw that secures the front turn signal.
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You may notice that the upper clips on my bike (just under the headlight area) are a different style clip. These are not factory clips but ones that I have replaced as the factory ones were broken. They are trunk trim panel retainer clips that I sourced from my Mazda Protege a long time ago. They were available from my local auto parts store and they work sooooo much better. I have not replaced all the clips yet but I will when they break.
To remove the turn signal from the upper cowl you need to gently pull the front of the turn outward until you can just see the arm that the screw attaches to. Once it just clears the fairing pull (or push) the turn signal toward the front of the bike to release the tab at the back of the turn signal. Do NOT pull it straight toward you at the back or you may crack the fairing or break the tab off the rear of the turn signal. Squeeze the tab on the electrical connector to remove it from the turn signal assembly and set aside.
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Step Seven - Remove the Allen head bolts securing the upper cowl.
Using the 5mm allen key, remove the 3 allen head screws that secure the side of the upper cowl to the lower cowl. Since I was going to change the instrument panel lights and replace them with LED's, I also removed the 4 allen head screws that secure the instrument cluster bezel to the top of the lower cowls. With these removed, you can undo the 3 nuts that secure the gauge cluster to the upper cowl stay to give you room pivot the cluster forward a bit while removing the bulb sockets and bulbs.
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Gently pull the upper cowl mirror away from the mirror supports just to make sure they are still released from the mirror posts. Using the holes for the turn signals (once again the 6 year old has the mind of an engineer and is full of great ideas), grasp the upper cowl and gently pull it away from the bike.
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This is where you have hopefully remembered to unplug the headlights as it is a PIA to do when you have the cowl hanging in mid air resting on some unnamed body part while you attempt to fumble blindly with the connector that will now appear to be welded in place. Note to self (and others): The upper cowl can feel ridiculously heavy when hunched over and trying to madly unplug the headlights connectors, possibly causing back strain and undo stress to younger children within ear shot due to the abnormal, and uncontrollable, amount of swearing that may take place.
Step Eight - Time for Celebration
You should now have a pile of parts and/or assemblies sitting on the ground, a blanket, shelf, workbench, etc etc etc. that vaguely resembles the ones shown here. Note: Color, condition and placement may vary greatly depending on numerous factors. LOL.
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Congratulations, HOORAH, you are almost half way there. Time for a beverage. WARNING!!!! Alcohol being consumed during the process of removal may be detrimental to the condition of the fairing parts being removed. For GAWDS sake, Save the cowl, drink the beer when you finish putting the bike back together. JUST SAYIN..................
Step Nine - Replacement of Extraneous BITS
You are now free to replace any pieces that may have required the removal of this piece of your motorcycle. This list may include but is not limited to:
- Headlight Bulbs
- Instrument Panel Lights (adding LED bulbs might be a good idea here)
- Relays
- Wiring various farkles
- Installing after market headlight bulbs, be it LED headlights, HID's or brighter bulbs
- Cleaning and waxing the frame and upper cowl stay and general cleansing of areas otherwise not visible (OK, OK, I may be one of the few to remove the upper cowl for this reason but heh, there were other reasons)
Step Ten - Re-Install the Upper Cowl
Installation is the reverse of the removal process. One thing I would caution is that when re-attaching the upper cowl, be sure to line up the positioning pins on the back of the headlight housing with the corresponding rubber grommet holes in the upper cowl stay and gently push the cowl back in to position. They can be hard to see but if you don't get them in the right spot, believe me when I say, NOTHING WILL LINE UP. First thing to re-attach might be the screws that attach the upper cowl to the mirror supports of the upper cowl stay (the ones that go under the mirror bases). These will easily hold the upper cowl in place while you fiddle around with everything else. You also want to make sure that none of the wiring is pinched in between the pieces of plastic when you push everything back together. Pay particular attention that the headlight wires and the turn signal wires are in the right places as you put everything back together. The other useful tidbit of information I can offer is to make sure that upper cowl is positioned so that the exhaust cowl cover is behind the lip of the upper cowl as shown in the picture BEFORE you start to screw everything back together. It is very difficult to re-orient this joint once everything is screwed back together.
The picture below is with the pieces oriented incorrectly.
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This picture is with the two pieces lined up properly.
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