Ok...i'm getting frustrated. How in the hell do you get the last bolt out of the recoil cover on a 96 sportsman 400L? I disconnected the rear foot brake but it doesnt matter if it is all the way up or all the way down (until something gets in the way), the arm on the lever still blocks the access hole to the last cover bolt. It looks like everything is welded to the frame so I dont think there are any other pieces to take off. I could possibly pull the cotter out of the back of the lever and just take the whole pedal out, but theres no way I'll ever get a new cotter back in the end of that shaft. Is there some trick im missing?

 

I figured it out. Not sure it it was factory or not, but the rock guards in the footwells were riveted on so I drilled out the rivets and pulled the rock guards. That allowed the pedal to rotate counterclockwise so I could access the bolt. Hopefully this helps someone else in the future