How to remove oil breather on crankcase?

[DarkDucati]

Anyone ever remove their stock oil breather? It's the black part that screws into the crankcase. Below you can see it to the right and behind the brake fluid reservoir.  What magical tool fits in that impossible space to unscrew it? 
It seems to be larger than a 34mm wrench I have I held up to it, and it does have flat sides, but I couldn't get in there with any tool I have.


I'm looking to replace the above stock part with an STM alloy one a friend gave me. I'm also uncertain how you would tighten the STM one other than by hand. If you can see in the pic it has only some round dimples all the way around. Another special tool required?


I'll take an espresso break and hope someone has some info. 

[Heath]

To get my old one off i had to drill a dimple in the side of it.  Next I hit that hole with a nail punch to get it to twist off.  After doing this a couple times it just twists off.

For the new I used the spanner that came with my Nichols crank case breather.
pic via CA Cycleworks


Check out Nichols for directions on how to install it.

[DarkDucati]

Excellent, thanks!  I'll give it a try and post my results back later.   

[EEL]

Good luck..that wrench is useless.. Thats coming from Jim @ nichols..

It doesnt work as well on the new bikes as the fins get in the way. I saw him install mine. tighten as much as you can w/ provided wrench (if you can get it to fit). Then use a punch at an angle to gently tighten.

[corey]

What are the benefits of the aftermarket breather compared to the OEM?

[BK_856er]

Good luck..that wrench is useless.. Thats coming from Jim @ nichols..

It doesnt work as well on the new bikes as the fins get in the way. I saw him install mine. tighten as much as you can w/ provided wrench (if you can get it to fit). Then use a punch at an angle to gently tighten.

My experience exactly!  I picked it up at Nichols, but they didn't say anything about the tool on the newer bikes.  The fin is totally in the way.  I tightened by hand, then used a punch to carefully seat it.  The Nichols one also gets a washer underneath and a thin film of non-hardening sealant on the crankcase threads.  Mine started leaking a bit, so I may re-install and see if I can get a strap wrench on it this time to snug it up against the washer better.

BK