The prior owner of my bike apparently had a huge keychain, which scratched the heck out of the upper fork bracket. It's the only blemish on the bike, and it bugs me. I want to pull it off and repaint it, but I don't want to make a huge project out of it. Can I remove the bracket without disassembling anything else? It's clearly easy to remove, but I don't want to mess anything up by just pulling it off without supporting the front wheel or otherwise disassembling the fork assembly.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i214/wytchinghour/Misc/upperbracket.jpg

yeah, you will HAVE to support the front end somehow.
but other than that, you just take off your clipons, and the nut, and the pinch bolts loose and pull the upper off. but, you will have to drill out the rivits that hold the lock on. and I have no idea how you reattach it. I've never messed with mine other than taking the forks off the bike to grease the bearings.

You might want to purchase the carbon fiber overlay for that piece to dress it up instead.

Thanks for the info - I had a feeling it wasn't going to be as simple as I though.

The carbon overlay is a great idea! Where do I get one? I've seen lots of carbon dress-up stuff in our local bike shops, but nothing specifically designed for that piece...

Thanks for the info - I had a feeling it wasn't going to be as simple as I though.

The carbon overlay is a great idea! Where do I get one? I've seen lots of carbon dress-up stuff in our local bike shops, but nothing specifically designed for that piece...
To the best of my knowledge you can get that piece in carbon fiber from several companies. Yamaha had a GYT kit for that area for a while, you may want to see if any shops around you have one.

ebay used to be loaded with them.