How the heck do you remove the battery box?

[Mailman]

Today before I reinstalled my carburetors I disconnected all the electrical components from my battery box and tried to remove the battery box for a little cleaning and paint , and was stumped. The only way in the end I figured it was going to come out was to pull the rear wheel and and fender liner which was more than I was willing to do today. Did I miss something? Are there some tricks that you cagey old veterans know? If so, please do share.

 

[grizld1]

No, Mailman, I'm sorry to say that you didn't miss a thing. That's how the OE battery box comes out.

 

[mrtwowheel]

Not just the Yamaha, that's the way it is on many other bikes too. Some battery boxes still need strange contortions to exit out through the back. I've put a few nicely painted boxes back in with new scratches on the way in.

Scott

 

[angus67]

Blame the puzzle palace at yamaha. Turn this way, twist that way....:....

 

[MaxPete]

Hi: as I recall it, the battery box is supported by four cylindrical rubber absorbers that are mounted on steel posts that are welded to the frame. The two rear absorbers sit in sockets that are part of the battery box but the front two absorbers are enclosed in two bare metal brackets that are fastened to the battery box with two (in each) 6mm bolts.

I think all I had to do (aside from disconnecting the wiring) was remove those four bolts and then the two little bare metal brackets - and then the battery box slid forward far enough to disengage from the rear two absorbers....and wah-la.

Pete

 

[MaxPete]

....hmmm, maybe I missed something....but I don't recall having to pull the wheel.

 

[johnnyc14]

I've had my battery box in and out a bunch of times during by project build. The only way it comes out that I have found is out the rear of the frame with the rear wheel and fender removed.

John

 

[weekendrider]

Sometimes I wonder how Barb and Pumps are doing.

The bike is in pieces and parts cost money that I'm a little short on right now. But I can still do some cleaning and painting. I had pulled off my rectifier to test it and that old battery corroded battery box spoke to me and said "Paint me". Ok so the airboxes on both sides have to be removed. All the electrical components that hang off have to be removed too. Some have said to remove the rear wheel and inner rear fender but I just removed the inner fender. I quote from some more experienced members here. I remembered seeing a post how to get this thing out on 650rider and took a bit to find it. From Barb:
"The tops of the battery box are cut away on the left and right sides---if you rotate the box 90 degrees clockwise, and tip it back down and to the left, those cutaways allow you to easily lift the thing right out of the frame."

I pulled it out the left side myself but after fiddling with it for 20 minutes before I came and did a search , that did the trick in 2 minutes.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

I believe that Pete is onto something.

Unfortunately, my full rebuild of my barn find 1976 was a few years ago, so my memories are rather vague on a few of the details, but I have some recollection of experimenting at length with the battery box removal, given that it was such a frequent discussion topic at this forum, and that I love such Rubic cube
type puzzles. I had the advantage of not caring what I scratched up, since I was going to strip all the paint, eventually. In your case, covering all the edges with blue masking tape would be recommended.

In my experiments, I think that I was able to remove it in the manner Pete suggested; remove the mounts, bring it forward, a bit of a nose dive, then gently, patiently wiggle it up and out. I may be wrong, but for some reason I took the following pics of the rear cushions in the process of the box removal.

 

[MaxPete]

Yup - it might also help to slip those rubber thingys off the rear end of the box before trying to wiggle it out. It may also be that it went out through one side or the other rather than straight up.

Sorry to be so vague about it - I do recall it being a PIA - but I simply don't recall having to take it out through the rear wheel area.

Happy Boxing Day everyone!

Pete

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

Ah, yes, Pete. Perhaps out the side, and my hunch is it came out the right hand side, judging from the pics I took. Had to yank the wiring loom this way and that, carefully.

 

[Mailman]

WHO'S YOUR DADDY!!!
Well this only took me about an hour to get out, and I scratched the hell out of my frame.
But I won!!! And after all it's not how you play the game but who wins that's important! Haha
After reading your helpful posts I went after it again today with undeserved confidence.
I just loosened the fender liner, got it rotated 90 degrees to the right ( when looking down from the top and tipped it out bottom first. I may never get it back in but for now I'm basking in the glow of victory, in fact I think I'm gonna go crack open a beer!

 

[MaxPete]

Yup - that is how we do that!!!

 

[grizld1]

Congrats and thanks, Mailman and Pete! All these years and all these bikes, and I never figured that out. I use a homemade aluminum box that lifts out with no fiddling, but if I ever have to dig into another one with the stock box in place, I'll know what to do.

 

[weekendrider]

Pretty much just like Barb described in that quote in post #8

 

[Mailman]

Pretty much just like Barb described in that quote in post #8

Yes exactly, when I first went back at it, I thought I don't need no stinking instructions and I tried to just manhandle it. Well I ended up with it upside down and ass backwards and good and truly stuck. It took me half an hour just to get it back to the original position and then I went back and re read that post. (I'm a little hard headed) And after not too much wiggling it came out. Huh!
I don't have much hope of getting it back in there without scratching it up, but it looks better and took care of the rust and corrosion issues. I feel better even if no one will ever see it.

 

[MaxPete]

Try wrapping it in a heavy plastic freezer baggie - that is how I got mine back in without scratching it all to heck. Once its in - just cut the baggie away.

Glad it worked out!

Pete

 

[Mailman]

Now that's a clever idea! I will give that a try.
Thanks!

 

[Mailman]

This is funny. When I went to re install it , knowing how it finally came out, I had it back in place in just about 5 minutes. But...I had shifted and moved the wiring harness and all the electrical components all over the place.
Trying to get all that back where it was and fastened in place took me another hour. Haha!

 

[MaxPete]

Half the fun is in the journey....

Pete