Tuesday-Thursday, 16-18 Apr 2013 [77,648 miles]
I got back from the SMBC annual spring ride to Death Valley yesterday. That will be the last Death Valley ride for this bike as I’ve a 2013 R1200GSW on order. This bike is being sold to a fellow SMBC rider. But before that happens I need to remove the electrical farkles that I’m keeping, put a new front tire on the bike, and give it it’s 78,000 service.
Electrical farkle removal
Looks naked
I hate it when fuses don’t work. As part of removing the fog light wiring harness I found a mass of melted plastic. What melted? The fuse holder! The fuse never blew. It was the fuse/fuse holder that came with thefog light wiring harness.
There was an additional fuse as part of my power distribution block. Both were 10 amp fuses. The lights draw about 7.5 amps. That was enough to get the cheap fuse holder hot enough to melt.
Blow out the dust
New air filter
Stock windshield
As long as the tank was off to get at my extra wiring I cleaned out the dirt and dust as best as I could. I also replaced the air filter since I had a spare on hand. I don’t think it would fit the new bike. I also put a new, stock windshield back on the bike. I’d been using a cut down windshield since 2006.
Service in progress
Back together
Once the farkles were removed I attacked the cold service items. Valves were fine. No errors logged save a burnt out parking light. Brakes and brake pads are OK, but new rear pads will be needed soon, probably the next service. I put the bike mostly back together and then removed the front wheel.
New front tire time
Old and new
Ready to reinstall wheel
I took the knobby off even though there was some life left in it and replaced it with a Conti Trail Attack. That matches the rear tire and is probably a better combination for the new owner. Once the tire was changed and the wheel re-insalled I took a little ride to get the bike up to operating temperature. The ride was to the local dealer to pick up a replacement parking light bulb and an oil filter with crush ring. Whan I got home I checked throttle balance. Idle was fine. Off idle needed a slight tweak.
Don’t need that extra gasket
Lastly, while the bike was still hot, I drained the old oil and replaced it with new. The picture shows that the old filter gasket stayed attached to the engine – something I always check for before installing the new filter. This is the first time I can remember the gasket not coming off with the filter.
The service is done. It will go to the new owner as soon as he makes space in his garage. Then I’ll get a chance to clean up my garage before the new GS arrives.