Hey guys, first post

I have an '04 F4i and when attempting to remove the center fairings I came across this annoyance. The phillips head screws on the inside lower center section of the fairing (lowest screw you can go on both sides) on one fairing spins freely and as I feel on the inside to see if there is a nutplate or other hardware, I feel nothing, just the shaft spinning in place. The same screw on the other fairing has been stripped due to me putting too much torque on it as it appears to be seized.

My question is how are these two fasteners secured to the fairing. Is there a fastener on the inside that I am missing?

Thanks!

 

Do you mean the screws that hold the V shaped piece of plastic in front of the radiator to the side panels?

If so, they are held in by something called a well nut. It is like a rubber top hat with a brass nut inside.



The brass bit can seize to your screw and then rip away from the rubber bit. Locking pliers will grip well and should let you undo it as the brass is soft. Replace them with new well nuts (m5 long). Probably replace the screws too (m5x12 button head).


If you don't mean the V piece, please throw up a photo as there aren't any other philips head fairing screws on a standard bike.

 

Nope that's the section. I'll have to take another look and see if I can press out that screw from what I see it is possible to do and the free spinning on the other end of the fairing seems to make sense and the brass is spinning in the rubber. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks!

 

Update:

After three hours of frustration I gave up trying to remove two of those screws. I have it where on one I found a driver big enough to torque the stripped screw but it turns to have the same problem of it free spinning and not coming out. I tried to get my locking pliers in the back blind as there is no room to look and still was not about to get any result. I then resorted tried to pry the screws out by using a flat head driver and prying under the head of the screws as they seem loose enough to pull out and still no luck.

I'm to the point of taking a Dremmel drill bit and gutting the screws out from the center. I've been pulling rubber out from behind and all I feel is the shaft spinning in place. I attempted to pry the V out forward in an attempt to put positive pressure on the screw going in the direction I want to but that didn't work either. I'm scratching my head on this one..