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Hi Guys,
I've followed this site for years, but just recently signed up when I decided to bring my 1980 A2 out of storage for restoration. I bought it BRAND NEW IN 1985 from a dealer who had it sitting so long on his showroom floor (5 years), he got tired of looking at it ......and painted it! I only drove it for a year (2,895 miles on the odometer), before putting it into storage. I spent the next 25 years on the road traveling. Spraying the entire bike down with a 2$ can of WD40 would have made for an easy restoration..... just didn't know I'd have it in storage for a quarter of a century. I worked on bikes back in the 70s and 80s for 12 years, with 10 of those years, running my own shop here in South Carolina. I've been away from it ever since. Back to the bike.... I'm restoring the instrument housing with SEM 38353 "Plastic and Leather Prep" and SEM 39143 "Trim Black". Everything thing I've read on these products indicate they are the best at bringing plastic back to its original finish... we'll see. Even though the bike has been stored inside the entire time, there is some fading around the "frame" (located directly under the plastic lens) that surrounds the gauges . I can see it's a pain in the A$$ to get it out, but I KNOW it SHOULD come out, as it is neither part of the plastic lens or the instrument housing it is attached to. I just don't want the housing to have a "new look" and the "frame" to be faded..... call it the "Monk" in me. I tried to gently coax it from the outer housing but no joy. I am acutely aware of the rarity of these behemoths and have no desire to go on a self imposed scavenger hunt due to any carelessness on my part. I know someone on this site has conquered this "frame thing", and is willing to share. Any tips on how I should hold my mouth while removing said item, or any degree of appropriate cursing and swearing that I should engage in........would be greatly appreciated. What say ye men........ are ye up to the task?

This last winter I went in and removed that frame you're referring to on mine. I wanted to get that frame out so I could properly clean the glass and plastic on the inside. At first, it looked simple like you can stick something in there to grab it on the sides and pull it out.

I was sorely mistaken. I was not aware that the frame is kind of "superglued" in there. It appeared to be some kind of cyanoacrilate or plastic welding but I was not sure. I didn't really examine it very closely. My biggest mistake was trying to use a metal screw driver and sticking it between the frame and glass and I wound up breaking the glass. At that point I had to learn how to cut/grind my own glass for a replacement . Luckily after a few attempts I got it all fixed and looking better than before .

My advice: Be extra careful that you do not stress the glass or you'll do the same. Maybe brainstorm a few ways to break apart that glue so you can remove it easier. Maybe a solvent that won't harm the plastic or rubber seal that goes around the glass and dissolves the glue. Yanking it from the rear with pliers is an easy way to mar the plastic or break the frame altogether be aware of that as well(especially if the plastic is brittle from sun exposure, I imagine yours wont be).

Even if you do manage to break the glass, replacing it is easy/cheap if you cut your own. Precut ones are readily available from our German z1300 friends as well.

Hope sharing my experience with it helps!

Hi
Like Mikez I also broke the glass trying to take it apart. After 30 years everything on the bike is very brittle so you need to be very careful. I got a replacement glass from the German z1300 site but they don't do the rubber seal that goes round the edges and the one that was on was perished I replaced the glass then ran a bead of windscreen silicone sealant round the edges.
Unless there is an overwhelming reason to take it apart I would just leave it

Thanks man,
I already got the part figured out about how to ruin it and break it all to hell. ;o) Mikez says it's super glued or something close to it. That's a big enough of deterrent right there. I'm holding out for the guy on here that's more persistent than me and has found a way to remove it without using words like "catastrophe", "all screwed up",and "couldn't believe what happened". ;o) I do appreciate the feedback though. Thanks! Ride Safe!