Trying to remove luggage compartment on 2021 C400GT

[ivoburum]

Hi, I'm a new member. Need some assistance, please. Have removed 9 screws (2 on the arm, two at the rear, one on the right side, and two plastic screws at the front, one underneath of each rear fairing). The compartment won't come out. Anything else I need to remove before I get to the two plugs? I'm doing this because I need to remove my right-hand lateral panel and the floor board so need to get to the bolts.

 

[wspollack]

@ivoburum :

It looks like you may overlooked some screws on the sides. Or maybe not -- it's hard to tell, and my memory is shot -- or maybe the compartment is just wedged in there tightly.

Here are screen grabs I just did of the two pages (827 & 828) in the shop manual that deal with this removal:





I've done this removal myself, to install some rear LEDs, but it was about a year ago, and I don't remember the exact details. And that bike is currently in the shop, so I can't go in the garage and look at it for you, to refresh my memory.

I will say this, though:

1) I do remember breaking the switch in the back of this piece, though, so be cognizant of its presence back there, and so be very careful how you wiggle that large compartment out of and back into the bike.

If you don't know what I'm talking about here, study this particular picture and caption in my C 400 GT gallery:

2022 & 2023 BMW C 400 GT Scooters

billanddot.com

2) If you're going to be taking this scoot apart, you really ought to get a shop manual for it, if you haven't done so already.

Here's a thread that I started a year+ ago, in which I have a link to the one that I bought:

Bought PDF Shop Manual For C 400 GT on eBay

If anyone's interested, I received a thumb drive with the C 400 GT shop manual a couple of days ago. This is the one I bought, via eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/133967057090 (If the link becomes obsolete at some point, the heading is "BMW C 400 GT K08 WORKSHOP C400GT SERVICE MANUAL ON USB,"...

www.bmw-scooters.com

Good luck with your project.

 

[ivoburum]

Thank you! I think I have taken those two bolts out. In the diagram, the arrow looks like it's pointing underneath. If they are the two bolts under the left and right fairings that sit on each side towards the rear of the bike, then I've removed them. I can't see any others? What am I missing. I do have a service manual. This is the link. https://manualtransmissionshop.com/products/bmw-c400-gt-k08-service-repair-manual
Thanks again - I'll keep looking.

 

[wspollack]

Thank you! I think I have taken those two bolts out. In the diagram, the arrow looks like it's pointing underneath. If they are the two bolts under the left and right fairings that sit on each side towards the rear of the bike, then I've removed them. I can't see any others? What am I missing. I do have a service manual. This is the link. https://manualtransmissionshop.com/products/bmw-c400-gt-k08-service-repair-manual
Thanks again - I'll keep looking.

Did you do the step regarding the "operating lever," i.e., did you drop down the flexcase?

 

[Delray]

And that bike is currently in the shop

Pardon my French, but WTF? I hope this isn't the same shop visit you talked about last year when we were trying to align a visit.

 

[wspollack]

Pardon my French, but WTF? I hope this isn't the same shop visit you talked about last year when we were trying to align a visit.

Your French is certainly pardoned.

And I think you're confusing years here. The only time the bike was in the shop last year was for a day, for my initial break-in service. I think we were conversing in the spring or summer of this year, right?

Regarding the bike, this year, however, was another story.

Yep, the bike has been in the shop for some time now. I will issue a full report on the forum here, but only if and when this saga is finally over. So you'll just have to wait for that. Hint: BMW North America's "stop sale" edict of a few days ago certainly isn't helping matters.

In the meantime, after riding a C 400 X for nine days in the Alps this (2023) July (see https://billanddot.com/Ultimate-Alps-Tour/) -- during which time I was mostly at the front of the pack -- I bought a brand new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (see https://billanddot.com/Meteor350/) when I returned home, to tide me over. So I'm still having fun.

 

[ivoburum]

Did you do the step regarding the "operating lever," i.e., did you drop down the flexcase?

I did that, flicked that white lever towards the front and dropped the case (that holds the helmet). Still no joy. Thanks.

 

[wspollack]

I did that, flicked that white lever towards the front and dropped the case (that holds the helmet). Still no joy. Thanks.

Man, I am sorry that I'm no help here. As I said, I actually removed the thing, but it was a year ago. I should've recorded the whole process on a GoPro on a tripod, or something.

Have you tried lifting from the front only, to see if that budges a bit? I'm sorry that I the forget the procedure, so I'm sort of grasping at straws here. But remember, be mindful of that flexcase-warning switch that sticks through the back, the one I broke by bumping it against some metal frame member or something.

 

[ivoburum]

Please don't be sorry. You've been so helpful. I'm heading to the bloke that services my GS to see if he's done a scooter. I'll sort it, eventually. Many thanks for the tips!

 

[wspollack]

Please don't be sorry. You've been so helpful. I'm heading to the bloke that services my GS to see if he's done a scooter. I'll sort it, eventually. Many thanks for the tips!

One last attempt at being useful, before you turn the task over to someone else:

I found that I took two pics of that area of the bike when the storage box (and luggage rack / top case) was removed. I've enhanced the dynamic range and brightness of these two pics using some software, and put them up as stand-alone pics on my web site:

https://www.billanddot.com/2022-07-14_15-52-02.jpeg

https://www.billanddot.com/2022-07-14_15-51-55.jpeg

And a third one, taken around the same time (which I think shows the back-most area):

https://www.billanddot.com/2022-07-14_09-14-14.JPG

These are large pics, and I didn't think it wise to reduce the size of them in order to include them in-line in a forum post (with its unusually restrictive 1MB size limit).

Take a look at those, and maybe you'll spot something that the manual overlooks (and my memory certainly has forgotten). If nothing jumps out, well, ya know, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[Delray]

And I think you're confusing years here ... I think we were conversing in the spring or summer of this year, right?

You are correct. Sorry, senior moment. Once summer is over, I tend to view it as "last year." Because it's always summer where I live, my confusion is enhanced. A few times each year, I will have to pause and ask myself, "What season is it up north?"

 

[ivoburum]

One last attempt at being useful, before you turn the task over to someone else:

I found that I took two pics of that area of the bike when the storage box (and luggage rack / top case) was removed. I've enhanced the dynamic range and brightness of these two pics using some software, and put them up as stand-alone pics on my web site:

https://www.billanddot.com/2022-07-14_15-52-02.jpeg

https://www.billanddot.com/2022-07-14_15-51-55.jpeg

And a third one, taken around the same time (which I think shows the back-most area):

https://www.billanddot.com/2022-07-14_09-14-14.JPG

These are large pics, and I didn't think it wise to reduce the size of them in order to include them in-line in a forum post (with its unusually restrictive 1MB size limit).

Take a look at those, and maybe you'll spot something that the manual overlooks (and my memory certainly has forgotten). If nothing jumps out, well, ya know, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I rang a BMW Motorrad mechanic. The issue is that there are two bolts underneath each rear side fairing. I, of course, saw one, the rear one, and removed that on each side. I now see the other one, a little further forward on that same fairing, and that's the one that needs removing, on each side.