Frank - The upper fork tubes have a standard thread and they screw into the headlight casquette from the bottom. The caps that you removed to uncover the hex fittings keep the rain out and let you pour oil in. When you put the allen key on the top hex fitting and spin in CLOCKWISE, you are unscrewing the top main tube out of the casquette (you're doing lefty-loosey, but from the other end of the screw). Don't know if yours will have them, (mine are '06's) but there are small o-rings in the top of the upper tube that helps them seal in the headlight casquette.
Only way to remove the cover tubes is to remove the fork tubes, then get some separation between the headlight casquette and outer cover tubes and the lower tree... there's a locknut assembly (another hex fitting) on the back of the headlight casquette underneath the handlebar assembly. Loosen that dude, and you can then loosen the BIG bolt that holds the upper/lower trees together... make sure you support the bottom tree before you loosen things - it can fall out if you don't, and you will have ball bearings all over the place... you'll probably have to catch loose bearings from the bearing races... I've never been able to keep them all in there, but if you're carefull, and things aren't gummed up, you might be able to ease the lower tree down to get the separation you need to slide the plastic bushes out of the headlight casquette, then remove the cover tube from the lower crown. If you're lucky, you only have to worry about the bearings in the lower race. If not, plan on doing the upper, too. When putting things back together, clean the bearing race and pack a glob of grease around the ball bearings (19 go in each race) when you put them in. The grease holds them in the race where they need to be while everything is eased back together.
Its really pretty snazzy the way everything goes together, just WAY different then "modern" engineering...
Hope this make sense...
Mike and Stumpy in Michigan