Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Taking off upper shock bolts..

I have to take these off to attach a solo seat rail. Can I do this with bike on sidestand? Or, do I need to put the bike up on the lift?

I would think you better use the lift or the back fender will end up sitting on the tire.

if you do one at a time you can do it on the sidestand


Frank

If you use the lift it will take the tension off the spring and make the job easier. Still, Frank is also correct that one at a time can be done on the sidestand if you use a towel to protect the fender from the loose end of the seat rail.

On sidestand is fine. Do one bolt at a time. The bolts do not support the bike. They screw into studs that support the shocks. The bolts just keep the shocks from coming off the studs. Be sure to tighten the bolts back to 27nm, and use some blue (medium strength, removeable) thread locker. That is, if you do not need to remove the studs to put on the seat rail.

If you have a lift, use it. You can get the bike to where there's no pressure on the shocks and everything will be much easier (aka, the bolts will come out a LOT easier).

If I remember correctly, that point is just before the back tire is about to come off the ground.

Yeahs 3, nays 2.
I'll make it a tie.
Nay.
Looked at a pic of the seat rail.
It appears to go outside the shock/stud.
Shock stays in place.
The bolt doesn't care.
Like Tom says, there's no weight on it anyway.
Right?