Try a new battery and go from there, batteries can cause strange problems
We've all forgotten, in our anxiety/frustration/whatever, to look for the simple solution first. No worries.Thanks to all who helped. Sorry I wasted your time. Last night I looked at it again, and had the rack off in under 5 minutes.
Sometimes, when I get mad at an inanimate object, I lose my logical mind. All I really needed to do was step back and look at the problem from all angles (and trust that Yamaha wouldn't have made it stupid hard to remove the rack.)
I'm glad I didn't grab the cutting torch that first day... LOL
Thanks again.
Thanks for wrapping this up. Too many forum threads end without a posted resolution. This may be helpful for someone else later.Final report.
New battery.
Started right up and ran well.
One last comment. When replacing the front rack, I found that I had to connect the bottom tubes (risers) to the frame first, then the side brackets under the fender, and finally the two furthest to the front. If I started with the front or upper side screws, I couldn't get the bottom tubes to align.Thanks for wrapping this up. Too many forum threads end without a posted resolution. This may be helpful for someone else later.