[mdmiller98]

Has anyone else removed/replaced the upper fairing without removing the lowers? I will be attempting this job in the next couple of days. I will reply as to how it goes.

 

[mdmiller98]

Yes, h82loze. That is exactly what I mean. Can you verify that the upper cowl can be removed as RAY196 stated 4 posts earlier. The Honda manual states the lowers must be removed. Your expertise would be appreciated.

I have searched the boards for info on removing the upper cowl. This is the only post I have found that states the upper cowl on an 08 CBR 1000 can be done without removing the lowers. If you have found this information stated in another post, please quote that. Sorry I missed it

Thanks

also, thanks for passing on the info for newbies

 

[mdmiller98]

I have just changed the upper cowl on my 2008 CBR1000. I really want to thank h82loze and ray916mn for their contributions to this thread. Without their insight this would have been impossible. I do have some suggestions and photos to add. The change was done without removing any other fairings as Ray916MN suggested.

Sorry no pics.

I wanted to have upper cowling painted and removed it another way. This way does not require the removal of the mid-cowls/side fairings and upper inner covers.

1. Fish the turn signal connectors out of the little access holes in the faring and disconnect them.

2. Remove the allen bolt on the inner trim panel at the base of the upper on each side.

3. Remove the allen bolts that hold the windscreen on. This is probably not necessary, but it makes it easier to get things apart without breaking the tabs at the base of the windscreen.

3. Remove the pop fastener under the nose of the fairing.

4. Remove the nuts that hold the mirrors on.

5. Pull the turn signal/mirrors off.

6. Pull the tube off the evap canister..

At this point the entire upper cowl and headlight assembly can be pulled away from the bike. Just wiggle it free. There are 2 peices of velco tape holding it on yet. You can easily see the tape. Photo 1 shows the assembly pulled away from the bike. You can now unscrew the upper cowl from the headlight assembly. The headlight assembly stays wired to the bike during this change. The headlight assembly only gets pulled out about 4 to 6 inches.

7. Remove the two screws which attach the tipover sensor to the upper fairing..

The tipover sensor is in the center of the cowl, as the base of the middle of the windshield. It can be seen in the photo and is attached by 2 shiney metal screws. In photo 2 you can see the tipover sensor. Its the square box.

8. There are 5 screws which attach the upper fairing to the headlight unit. There are two screws on the lower backside corners of the headlight unit, two screws are in upper middle to the center of the backside of the left and right side headlights and the last screw is up underneath the and between the nose of the headlights. Remove these and the upper fairing is free to be removed..

The 3rd photo shows all screw mounting points on the cowl. Of the 4 mounting points in a row, the 2 center holes are where the tipover sensor is attached. The screw referred to as the one up underneath and between the nose of the headlight can be seen at the top middle of the photo. It looks like a black dot in the picture.

Using this approach, all the electrical components underneath are accessible, but still connected. The headlight unit can be put back on the bike with the plastic bayonets on the back fitting it the grommets on the upper fairing stay. At this time, it makes sense to carefully look at and familiarize yourself with how to fit the tabs of the headlight unit trim back into the upper fairing cowls.

To reinstall, reverse the procedure, being careful to properly fit the tabs of the headlight unit trim back in the upper fairing cowls after the fairing is completely reattached to the headlight unit and the turn signal wiring is reconnected. After the tabs are fit, wiggle the fairing and apply pressure to the headlights to get the upper fairing to pop over the mirror mounts. If the nose of the windscreen isn't flush with the fairing, pull back on the back top edge of it and it should pop up flush.

Now that I've done this twice, I can pull the upper fairing off or reinstall it in about 15 minutes.

Just take your time as you go. It took me a bit more than 15 minutes, but it turned out well.