I did this mod years ago.  Just drill a 5/8" hole in the rock guard under
the drain hole.  Just stick a piece of hose on your drill bit to leave about
a 1/2 inch exposed, and guess at a spot between the pushrod tubes. You can
stick a long hex wrench right up to the plug and extract it, even if your
hole is a bit off.  Enlarge it a bit if you can't get the wrench into the
plug, you won't harm the protection the shield provides to the pushrod
tubes.

It can take a bit of fiddling to put the plug back in, but with a little
grease in the plug to hold it onto the wrench it has never been a problem
for me.  Much faster than removing the guards.

If you ask me really nice I'll send photos of a set I have in my shop,
enlarged hole and all!

Usually the simplest solution is the best.

Stuart MacMillan
'84 Westy w/2.1

Others wrote:

 It takes me near 2 hours to do a proper drain, rinse, refill and bleed
for
> the Wasserboxers. Tip: when you remove the lower covers on the heads to
> access the drain plugs, cut a slot into the tabs that mount on the exhaust
> port studs, then in future you don't have to remove the bolts or nuts,
just
> back them off a turn or two to drop the covers. Saves a good bit of time
> for this service next time.

Why can't we come up with a simple mod to completely avoid bothering the
exhaust bolts?

Larry A.