A few questions about cleaning the insides of my DL650A L2

[Lemonwizard]

Good {time of day},

I'm currently trying to do a full cleaning and inspection of the bike to ensure maximum longevity (and because tinkering relaxes me). I've reached all the easily accessible parts, but the next steps will not be quite as easy.

Firstly, the electrical hub under the seat. I've cleaned the wires and fuses and such as best as I could from the top, but the sides and bottom areas are very hard to reach. Do you have any tips how to best take these components apart?

Secondly, the hoses around the engine and below the tank. I believe according to the maintenance plan you're supposed to change all the rubber hoses every 4 years. Bike's 8 years old now, and I'm pretty sure the hoses have never been changed. Now, the hoses that I could easily reach without taking apart half the bike seemed to be still very good, but I want to make sure the rest of the hoses are good as well, and I'll use the opportunity to check for any rust spots or other potential gremlins along the way.

So, is there any best practice to lift the tank or should I even go so far as to take it off completely? Any recommendations, any tricks, "life hacks"?
Any maintenance jobs I could/should do as well while the tank is lifted (or removed)?

Last question: will regular application of silicone spray on rubber hoses extend their longevity?

 

[UK_Vstrom650]

If you're going to lift the tank you might as well remove it... There's the bolt at the back, two at the front and two on the side holding the black cowling to it. Two hoses, electrical connector and the fuel hose. Some folks struggle to undo the fuel hose but it's not that difficult- just squeeze the two blue tabs and it should come off.
You may wish to remove the airbox, the only one there that's awkward is the front screw/nut  as it's hard to reach (note: mine is a screw, others say they have an allen bolt). If you have a really long screwdriver You can reach it from the throttle side between the slits on the cowling- although the last time a dealer had mine they just pulled it off (it wasn't reseated properly)