Tail section removal for Stiffy install: easy or not?

I have my Gen II stiffy kit I got from Gary and will be installing it tonight. Does the tail section come rather easily, or will I spend most of the night fighting it? I'd like to get the kit installed all in one night if possible.

Any tips or tricks to removing the tail? Do I only need to remove the tail, or do the side panels need to come off as well?

What do the presumably-provided instructions suggest? He's really good about his products and I'd follow them.

Easy. Follow Gary's instructions. Don't tighten Stiffy until all the Stiffy fasteners are in place.

Easy, follow the directions.

It was easy and worthwhile for that peace of mind it gives me.

Thanks guys. I was mostly asking about the removal of the OEM plastic pieces. I don't have my instruction sheet handy, it's at home. I'm sure the instructions for the installation of the stiffy kit are top notch, I didn't know if he covered how to remove the OEM plastics.

I installed mine over a year ago but if I remember correctly, he provided simple instructions about removing the plastic or it was very intuitive. The whole process was very easy and pretty quick!

Thanks again guys. Going to be getting a stiffy installed tonight! Wait a minute..................

I just replaced my whole subframe a week ago, including re-installing the stiffy kit. The whole job only took an afternoon, so I bet the kit could be installed in a half hour, if you're slow.

BTW, my subframe didn't crack because of the stiffy kit, but due to an error I made installing a spacer. Due to the poor fit of my Givi 357 rack and my aux tank, I have a lot of spacers to keep track of. It's a long story, but basically I got in a hurry. Don't do that.

The install of the Stiffy kit went well. I did end up having to trim the foam pieces under the tail a bit. Also, since I have the Yamaha trunk, the bolts supplied in the kit were still too short. It appears the Stiffy kit lifts the plastic tail pieces (and also everything that gets bolted to the tail, such as a trunk) by a little bit. The bolts I was using might be ok, I prefer that they have a bit more threads to engage. A call to McMaster Carr and I've got some longer SS bolts on the way.

I did end up drilling the holes on the Stiffy kit out a bit, to give extra clearance for the trunk bolts. The other thing about the kit I wish was a little different was a pair of longer small screws that go on the top of the tail center piece. Again, because the plastics are sitting up just a tad higher than before the Stiffy install, the two screws closest to the passenger seat are a little too short to reach the nuts on the side pieces that the center piece mates to.

I'm impressed with the quality of the Stiffy kit, as well as the hardware that Gary sends. The kit is a simple design, yet will beef up the subframe quite a bit, I would think.

Once I get everything all back together, I'll be happy. I hate waiting, hence the immediate call to McMaster Carr.

All in all I'm happy with the kit. I might pull everything apart again tonight to do a quick double check of everything, because I have that OCD/anal retentiveness German blood in me, haha.

Thanks for posting feedback. I normally include a set of (3) long M8 x 60 screws with the kit - are they still too short? If so, by how much? I can get longer ones. FWIW, I test every one on a Gen2 subframe for fitment, so I wonder why some riders need to drill out the top holes and most don't - maybe your subframe is already bent...

Hi Gary. To be fair to you and the kit, the bolts you supply would be 100% ok, but I have the Yamaha trunk and mounting plate to install, hence the need for the longer bolts. Again, totally nothing the kit should have to address. If I weren't mounting the trunk baseplate, the supplied bolts would be just fine.

Regarding the holes, it would've been fine as is, I had a tough time getting the Stiffy kit to "stay still" while I was tightening the L brackets. If it shifted slightly, the holes were a little off. More than likely, it was user error on my part since I'm still learning my way around the FJR.

I picked up a couple of small bolts that go in the plastic center section of the tail, to bolt it to the two side pieces, so I'm thinking I should be good. Once I get the longer bolts, I'll install the trunk. I ordered some 70 & 80mm long bolts. Like I said, the ones supplied in the kit would most likely be fine, I just wanted to make sure I had plenty of threads to hold the trunk baseplate on. I think the longer bolts that were holding my trunk baseplate on are 65mm, so I just needed a little more. The longer bolts in your kit are 60mm, you are correct.

Thank you again for the speedy service and top notch workmanship on the kit and the instructions.

I have the OEM trunk mount also and just installed mine. I agree with you Mad. I needed to reuse those bolts too. That extra 1/4 inch of length on the OEM mounting plate bolts is the ticket.

I also suggest to anyone installing these kits to not second guess Garauld. He said to use a file if the bolts don't turn freely. I thought I would just drill out the holes to the next size to give more wiggle room first. Not the best method. I suggest to mount up kit including the L bracket and snug them up. Look down at the bolt holes in the stiffy kit and see how they line up. Use a sharpie to color in the area you need to file. (if any). Unbolt the kit and file in the marked areas, then remount it and check that the long bolts are turning freely. If not, file a little more.

Just drilling the holes bigger will give you more slop in the bolt holes than necessary.

I do not recommend removing any more material from the two rear holes than necessary. The more slop you have back there, the greater the chance that something bad will happen to the subframe...

garauld said:

The more slop you have back there, the greater the chance that something bad will happen to the subframe...

Click to expand...

I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?

Yeah.. I realized that after I did it.....

I installed my kit yesterday... 2015 FJR1300ES... No issues... One thing I did to ensure everything lined up was I threaded bolts through the stiffy into the subframe while tightening the L-brackets... This worked great... I didn't trim any foam and the supplied SS screws were plenty long enough to mount my Givi(Kappa) top plate...

Great piece of mind for my brand new bike Thanks!