what do i need to do t remove the airbox ? i cant seem to figure it out

does the battery have to be removed?

I took out the battery and the battery box.  Gives you a lot more room to move around.

il67bp wrote on 11/11/08 at 13:12:51:

Are you going to put in a K & N cone air filter?
if you are can you give me the info on the part number,I would like to do that mod to my bike,makes for easier access to the carb.

When you install the K&N cone, you really need to move the battery box back to where the air-box used to sit.  Otherwise, the clearance for the filter is not quite there and you have to squish it on top of the battery box.

You can remove the battery box lid, but doing so, you will lose the ability to mount chrome trim that houses the spare fuse and tool bag.

Once the box is moved back, the carb can be removed without taking off the seat and tank.  It sounds better with the open air-filter element as well.

now heres my next question. how do you get that battery box out?

I removed the airbox today and moved the battery box back.  Here's what I did:  I made two simple brackets (don't know if flat pieces qualify as brackets).  They are 1' wide x maybe 3/16" thick steel.  I drilled 3 holes in each.  The brackets extend the base where the battery box mounts.  



The mod moved the battery box back about 1.5".  This is as far as you can move the battery box without either doing some serious modding to the battery box or ditching the battery box altogether and coming up with a custom retainer.  With this mod the only thing I had to do on the box itself is shape the lower right rear corner of the box.  The corner of the tab where the tool box cover lock is mounted with 2 phillips screws bumped into the curvature of the frame.  Some very minor reshaping of the tab with a hand file fixed it.

Here you can see the extra space that it provides.  

Just using 2 of the screws wouldn't be strong enough.  It's pretty easy to make the brackets, though.  I used only a drill, hacksaw and a file.  No major power tools.  I also used one of these brackets.


The one I used is thicker than the one in the pic but I couldn't find and exact pic.  I cut off each side and used one of the holes in each piece for the front bolts.  The other two holes on each bracket had to be drilled because of the spacing.  

Take one of the 6mm bolts with you to a hardware store.  Get 2 6mm bolts that are a little shorter than the stock ones and get 2 6mm bolts that are a little longer than the stock bolts.  Get 4 nuts and 8 washers for the 4 new bolts.  

Use the 2 shorter bolts, 2 nuts and 4 washers (top and bottom for each bolt) up front.  

Use the 2 longer bolts with washers (top) in the middle.  These will screw into the rear set of frame threads.  

Use 2 stock bolts with the other 2 nuts and washers (bottom) for the rear.  

This may not make sense reading it but when you take it apart and fab the brackets it'll make sense.