Question on button head screws for lower cowl

[pwhoever]

On my 07, there are 2 button head screws on each side of the lower cowl that need to be removed along with 2 more and plastic rivets above to take off that lower cowl. They need to be removed by using a 5mm Allen wrench. My problem is that these 2 side screws are well hidden by the front of the floorboards on my CSC conversion. And it's a bit difficult maneuvering an Allen wrench in there to do this. The "easy" solution is to remove the floorboards to access the screws but this is far from easy. I recently saw an interesting solution on a Hannigan trike where the owner drilled 1" holes on floorboards for access and then uses a plastic plug to cover the hole. To remove those lower cowl screws, pop off the plastic plugs and use a long Allen head wrench. I took a look at the CSC floorboards to see if this was an option but because of the lower turn signal lights on floorboards and the angles there, it won't work.

I needed to remove the lower cowl because it was time to flush and bleed the clutch and access to the bleeder is behind there. And I also needed to service my right side fog light where a minor deerstrike broke the lens. How I didn't get more damage, I really don't know but the broken lens was all I could see. I was able to get those cowl screws off but not without doing some advanced acrobatic twisting to get in there along with working by feel. I'm not sure if I will be able to get those screws back in without removing or at least undoing some of the front mounts on the floorboards.

But getting to my question, has anyone come up with a solution to make reaching those screws easier? I'm wondering if there might be pop rivets that could easily be removed to replace the screws. Or what would be the downside of just leaving those off? My first thought is that I might get some rattling going on. But I'm not to worried about it coming loose because there are 4 more fasteners above and it also tucks in pretty good between the CSC floorboards and it would be very hard for it to work it's way loose on the bottom.

 

[pwhoever]

These are the fasteners I am asking about.

 

[rhino 2]

These are the fasteners I am asking about.

View attachment 112862

There Is an item called plastic retaining clips plastic pop rivets, but you just push in with your hand just about every ATC ATV side-by-side uses them to hold plastic fenders and mudflaps, etc. and they are dirt cheap…

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

Usually to access the bolts in question, on CSC trikes with floorboards, I remove the hanger bolt attched to the front crash guard. Usually the yeilds just enough access to remove and install. But keep in mind that, over the years, their floorboards have change, and on some this might not be true. Also, sometimes installers don't do a great job when installing the trike kit, and floorboards for that matter, which can greatly affect access. On some I've have to grind down a 5mm allen wrench for better clearance. I don't recall having to remove anything more then what I've described.

 

[pwhoever]

I see that there are assortment packs available in Amazon. My biggest thing is that I don't know what size I will need but an assortment pack will help. There are other parts on the GL1800 that use push pin rivets in this so I'm pretty sure it will work just fine. It will make future maintenance projects easier to tackle...

 

[rhino 2]

I see that there are assortment packs available in Amazon. My biggest thing is that I don't know what size I will need but an assortment pack will help. There are other parts on the GL1800 that use push pin rivets in this so I'm pretty sure it will work just fine. It will make future maintenance projects easier to tackle...

I have the assortment 120 pieces and they come in a tackle box type container…They never go bad and if you monkey around with ATCs ATVs and Motorcycles like I do they come in handy....

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

I see that there are assortment packs available in Amazon. My biggest thing is that I don't know what size I will need but an assortment pack will help. There are other parts on the GL1800 that use push pin rivets in this so I'm pretty sure it will work just fine. It will make future maintenance projects easier to tackle...

FYI ... plasitc on GWs get broke for several reasons, and a big one is from incorrect fastners. Proper shoulder length and size is critical. Considering that the entire outer shell of a Wing is plastic, as a whole, Honda does an amazing job with that. However, any incorrect fastener can quickly degrade the integrity of the whole. When a Wing comes in here, incorrect fasteners get replaced all the time. There was one that left recently, and it probably left with 16 new plastic rivits ... all of which were incorrect. Many of the aftermarket rivits fill a hole, but because they are slightly narrower, hold nothing togeather. My recommendation is to only use OEM fasteners. You won't have to spend time anayizing and measuring their shoulder, threads, gaps, and thickness to asure that they will successfully work.

 

[pwhoever]

I'm almost done getting the lower cowl back on. It's fitted back in properly. The only thing left is to reinstall those lower button head screws. All the rest of the screws and rivets are in place. I have noticed that some other brand trike floorboards do not reach all the way to the front of cowl so it's a non issue for them. And it might even be a non issue with the CSC Cobra floorboards but I'm not sure. But these Viper floorboards have very little space behind the front to access those screws.

And even removing or loosening the mounts on front that attach to the crash guards are probably going to yield very little extra room for access. I know I could probably also remove the screws in middle of floorboards that attach to the underside supports and that would probably give me the needed access I need. But those screws and bolts are very poor design and it's very hard to keep the bolt from moving when loosening the nut especially if it's been removed a couple times like I have before.

I do agree that using the proper OEM fasteners is usually best but the lower cowl is securely fastened with 2 plastic rivets and 4 other button head screws at top. These 2 lower ones don't seem to be structural and just keeping the bottom part from any motion or vibrating. I may just try running without them for a bit and see how that goes.

 

[pwhoever]

Well, screws will need to go back in because there is a bit of looseness at least around the left foglight and I'm sure there will be rattling. At least I know what needs to be done. OEM fastener for now...

 

[pwhoever]

@GoldWingrGreg I took your advice and OEM screws are now installed back in bottom 2 holes. It was a bit of a struggle but I jacked up the front of the trike to give me more room to get behind the floorboards. It does make a big difference in the cowl being more solid. Now I'm not sure that plastic fasteners would make it solid enough. Good thing is that I shouldn't have to get behind there anytime soon.

 

[Papa Zook]

Sometimes ball head allen wrenchs help in tight spaces.

 

[pwhoever]

Sometimes ball head allen wrenchs help in tight spaces.

That might help if ball end was on shorter part but I don't think I've ever seen one like that. It's usually only on the long end. There isn't enough clearance to even get the longer part in there.

The only other thing that might work would be a torx bit on a small 1/4" socket wrench. That ends up very similar to the depth of the shorter end of an Allen wrench but at least I wouldn't have to keep pulling it out to keep turning. I know these use 5mm Allen wrenches which are the same as the visible fasteners up on top so I could experiment to see which torx bit fits best on one of those first.

Biggest issue is this has to be done blind and by feel only because the screw is completely hidden behind the floorboard. That adds to the difficulty.

What I did to get them back in this time was to jack up front end and then by feel, get the screws in the hole, get them started by hand and keep turning in as far as I could with my fingers. That got them in pretty far and then finished tightening with the short end of the Allen wrench.