More Maintenance

Need to catch up a little bit.

On Friday I did shop around for amber paint.  Struck out at every auto parts store I visited.  Okay, fine...crafts stores....Jo Ann's - nothing.  Finally struck pay dirt with Michael's.  Krylon Stained Glass Color.  Cap indicates color...okay..."orange-yellow"...close enough I hope.

I did manage to clean and wax the main fairing.  While it was still off on Monday I decided to change the coolant.  Pretty straightforward.  Removed and cleaned the overflow tank.  This was made a bit easier by it being empty.  I also swapped out the Keith in Asia light bulbs 'whatever they are" because one was flashing only intermittently.  The glass bulbs were actually no longer stuck to the bedding material in the metal sockets.  I had a pair of bulbs I had dipped in a "craft paint" in an effort to make my own amber bulbs several years ago.  They fit well, and weren't pressing against the lens.  So, the need to buy new bulbs was averted.

The rattling of the front fender was fixed by replacing the missing two right bolts with a pair from one of my parts bikes.  I could barely get them started with my hands without removing the front wheel.  There was no room for a socket.  I considered buying a set of crescent wrenches, as my low quality set of metric wrenches have mostly gotten lost over the years.  Almost ready to head to Sears I wondered, "What about the bike's tool kit"?  Sure enough a 12 mm wrench was found, and the bolts were snugged down nicely a short time later.

I replaced the main fairing, and again struggled to get the fairings to bolt to the tank without too much forcing and flexing.  This time I even checked under the tank to see if anything was being pinched under the tank to lift it up.  Loosening all the associated fasteners, then getting the fairing-tank bolts in helped.  It seems very odd that the bolts on the right side seem to bind a bit against each other.  Its almost like the fairing has stretched between the bolt holes.

At least it was together enough to make a contract trip to Ashland.


Its obvious I do a lot of "bit and piece" work on my bike even when I am tackling a fairly straightforward project.  Like applying dielectric grease to the front turn signal connectors.