I am going to put stainless steel cables, brake lines, etc. on my 07 Road king. My question is do I have to remove the stock exhaust to remove the side plate to access the clutch cable?

 

Yes, you can't get to the bolts to torque back correctly if you don't.

 

Thanks Stroker I was afraid that was the answer

 

You can try to reach the bottom allen bolts with a short armed allen wrench which you can buy or simply make by cutting one down.

It might be easier to just take off the exhaust though.

 

They also make a allen rachet that has shorter wrenches.
The set comes with different size allen drivers about 3/4" long.
the rachet is smaller than a reg 1/4 drive rachet, and the allen drivers goes through a hole in the end Instead of snapping on like a reg socket..
used to use them on jobs with tight clearance back before I retired....

WWW.chapmanmfg.com these are very good quality plus American made, the same set was used for yrs and are still in good shape...