Skinning the LC

"Skinning" the LC Intruder

Removing the Speedometer console, and air box covers for maintenance access.

Looking for your spark plugs? Time to clean the air filter? Can't find the main fuse? One of the things that generates income for a bike shop is hourly rates in the service department, so naturally, they like to design bikes to be "intimidating" to the consumer from a technical viewpoint.

However, with a few basic tools and some patience, you will soon learn that "shop time" is usually nothing more than nuts and bolts and patience. Suzuki does a very fine job of hiding the maintenance components from the spectating public, and your LC is no harder to service than the run of the mill sport bike or Gold Wing with all their plastic "skins".

If you should need to gain access to the components behind or beneath the console or "skins" (that 'fake tank' looking stuff), give yourself time to read this page, and 10 extra minutes in the shop, and you're there!

TOOLS / MATERIALS:

Your Suzuki tool kit contains all of the necessary tools to perform this task:
4, 5, and 6mm hex (allen) wrenches, 8 and 10mm open or combination wrenches,
pliers, Phillips screwdriver, and optional spark plug wrench.

CONSOLE REMOVAL:

1. Remove the driver's seat: Remove the two allen head screws from beneath the lower rear of the seat, and the two 10mm bolts from the lower front of the seat (the one on the left holds the choke control on), and carefully lift the seat off.

2. Open the gas door lid and remove the gas cap. Place a rag or something in the gas inlet to prevent dropping anything in there while you work. DO IT!!!

3. From within the gas door area, remove the two allen bolts from the lower corners, the three phillips screws (and washers and o-rings) from around the gas filler neck, and the two allen bolts (and washers and rubber washers and metal sleeve spacers) from the upper corners. (the two allen bolts in the upper middle, circled in red, hold the side covers on, and do not need to be removed at this time on some models, as the console is cut around them).

Be careful to note the configuration of all screws and their corresponding rubber rings and metal sleeves!
It helps to have a board or table to lay each set out in sequence as you remove them, for ease of re-assembly.

Here's a cool tip from a fellow LC Rider Joe Allen: I snapped a full frame pic of the top of the tank with the hatch open on my camera phone and printed it out on 8.5 x11 and taped it to an assembled FedEx box (you can pick them up for free at a fedex office).

I cut a small "X" incision through the photo and box at each bolt - like a straw hole in a soft drink cup - and as I removed each bolt and screw I pushed them into the corresponding hole. This kept them from getting lost, made sure I remembered where everything went, and also kept associated washers and spacers attached. I find the box works better than a piece of cardboard as it provides enough resistance that you can easily push the bolts in with one hand, and setting it down won't accidentally push the bolts back out. You can also keep the box in your shop somewhere for the next time you need to tear into the bike!

4. Remove the two small button head allen screws from the forward surface of the console (up near the neck).

5. Gently lift the console up, and reach underneath the speedo area and feel for the connecting plug. The connecting plug has a molded in retaining clip at its front. After pulling down the rubber dust cover, squeeze in on the clip, and wriggle the plug down and out of the receptacle.

(Placing a shop rag under the console edge will make your paint last much longer!!)

Click the photo for larger image

(Feel for the retaining clip at the front of the plug)

It is not necessary to go any further with skin removal, if you only want to check, clean or replace the air filter. Remove the three screws holding the triangular air filter lid on, and lift it up, and remove the filter. The air filter works in reverse of most automotive filters, in that the air is drawn from the center outward. To clean it, just blow compressed air into the outer surface, forcing the dirt to fall from the center. Reach into the airbox with a clean rag and wipe out any oil vapor residue from the walls of the box, and re-assemble.

SKIN REMOVAL:

To remove the side covers ("Skins"), remove the two remaining allen screws from the cross member which were visible while the console was in place. (you can see those two screws in the lower left corner of the photo above.), then remove the button head screws that hold the neck covers on in front of the skins. Slip the neck covers down and away from the frame, then slide the skins straight off to the side.


Click the photos for larger images

To remove the airbox, use a long phillips screwdriver to loosen the two carburetor/air intake bands, lift the airbox up, then feel for the pair valve inlet tube coming from the bottom right side of the airbox, pinch the retaining clip on the tube and slide it down a bit, then pull the tube free from the bottom of the airbox, now feel for the crankcase vent tube at the front of the airbox. Pinch the retaining clip on the tube and slide it down a bit, then pull the tube free from the front of the airbox.

Anytime the airbox is removed from the bike, you should remove the air filter and wipe out the interior of the box, and remove the vinyl drain nipple from the left side bottom and clean the oil from it, then clean the air filter by blowing it off, then put it all back together again.

If you're headed for the spark plugs, remove the crome head cover from the RIGHT side of the front cylinder and the LEFT side of the rear cylinder, and be careful not to lose the two little rubber bumpers under each one! Use the Suzuki supplied spark plug wrench to remove the plugs, as there is very limited space around the plugs, and the Suzy wrench is made to accomodate that.

OK, I helped you get it apart...now YOU gotta figure out how to get it back together again!! HAHA!! (hint...read backwards)