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Thanks for your input, but the v85 doesn’t seem to be assembled the same way as the v7. I still haven’t figured out how to remove that small panel under the mud flap, but I found a workaround to the larger issue that I’d like to share for anyone else in this situation.
The Givi instructions show that the support for the luggage rack should cross to the rear of the mud flap extension. However, since I don’t want to put the signals there, I don’t see why it matters. After relocating the support in front of the flap extension, I was free to (carefully) pull the flap much further back in order to gain access to the nuts holding on the signals. Then just wedge it tight with a 2x4” and you have a still tight, but workable space.
Basically, I used a ½” aluminum channel from the hardware store to make an extension so the signals didn’t hit the luggage rack. A few notes on the photo: hole A is towards the rear of the bike and is for the wires. 5/16” worked for the wire sleeve, but needed a tiny bit of filing to allow the connector to fit through. The distance between hole A and hole B can be precisely placed by putting the signal in hole A and marking where hole B should be. Holes B and C fit into the existing holes in the mud guard, with both the bolt and the wires fitted into the larger rear hole. Hole C only acts as a peg, and if bolted to the aluminum channel first, it doesn’t need a bolt on the inside of the mud flap. The original M6x20 bolt holding the signal can be used as the peg and hole B will need a new longer bolt. An M6x35 seems ideal as it’s long enough to lessen the pain of trying to get the nut back on!
