I consider myself to be a very handy guy with stuff like this, but I too had issue when putting it all back together.
I called and talked to Don as he has lots of experience with these and I followed what he told me, but still no go.
I took mine off because of the headlight adjuster on the top had popped out of the housing. I tried and tried to get this to hook up.
I eventually put masking tape on the inside so I could see my marking it with the hooks how close I was getting to being in the right spot.
I found out that one of the radio or main harness had fallen down and was stopping the fairing from pushing in far enough to hook. I found marks on the harness and cable tied it up out of the way and on the next try the fairing fell right into place. It was actually as simple as Don had said. Yes you do have to push firmly, but not with a wiring harness in the way.
I would check out any harness that may be on the front of the radio housing and move and relocate it up out of the way.
I've ordered J&M 7.25" 3-way speakers and I'll be taking the fairing back off next week to install them. I don't expect any issues this time around.