Glee Front cylinder cover removal

[Mark Shelley]

What do you have to remove to be able to swap a front cylinder cover?

[mr_diver]

Rocker cover or brake master cylinder?

[Mark Shelley]

Rocker cover.
I would always call them that, but the parts list calls it a cylinder cover!

[greywolf]

Maybe because there are no rockers. The cam presses directly on the valve stems. Radiator removal makes the job much easier though the job can be done by removing the rad mounting bolts and leaving the hoses connected.

[Mark Shelley]

Does anybody know if the front and rear cylinder covers are the same. They look the same on the parts drawings, but have different part numbers so I suspect there are small differences.

[greywolf]

Using the same drawing front and rear saves money on creating the parts fiche. IMHO, having different part numbers is a sure sign the parts are different. If they were the same, there would be no reason to have different part numbers. Suzuki uses the same part numbers on parts that fit more than one model bike.

[Mark Shelley]

I have just studied pics of both. I reckon the only difference is that the front one has a tapped hole in the little upstand which is where the radiator attaches. The rear one has the same upstand, but no tapped hole. If this is correct you could use a front on the rear without having to do anything. You could use a rear on the front by either drilling and tapping the hole, or simply drill a hole and use a longer bolt with a nut on the end.

[Mark Shelley]

I can confirm that front and back are identical other than the M6 hole. I was unlucky enough to sustain damage to the front curved part on a ride out a week of so back, presumably by a big stone flicked up. It dented the cover and caused a minute stress crack in the ally which was allowing oil to escape very slowly. It was only visible when watching through a magnifying glass whilst the bike was ticking over. I could just make out slight bubbling through the crack. A new cover was about £100 so I bought a nearly new rear one off ebay from a Gladius which was £22 and drilled and tapped the missing hole. The dealer I bought the bike from put it on when they had the bike back to do the cam recall work that should have been done before they sold me the bike!

[greywolf]

It's good to know for sure the only difference is the tapped hole.