Eric B
Active member
On Wednesday, I decided it was time to get some maintenance done on my 2008. Within the first few minutes, I already had a problem, I stripped the two fuel tank front mount bolts while trying to remove them. Shit! Some dipshit (me), must have over-tightened them the last time the tank was off. So I went about to attempt to drill off the heads and got almost no where. Off to Home Depot I went to get proper drill bits.
With some cobalt bits, I got the bolt heads drilled of in just a few minutes and was lucky to find the shanks loose and they spun rights out. Crisis averted, but I had to order the bolts and I don't get them until Friday. Removing the crash bars and fairing went well, so I drained the coolant to do a change and continued to remove the necessary parts to perform the valve check. As I went to remove the valve cover, I found out I didn't have a good allen wrench to reach the forward outboard bolts. Back to Home Depot.
With a new assortment of allen wrenches, I got those last two bolts and the valve check went well. As I went to reinstall the valve cover, I couldn't keep the gasket in place. No problem, I'll just use a little RTV. Crap, my RTV is too old and dried up. Off to AutoZone.
RTV worked and reassembly went well. Next, I went to fill the coolant. I thought the jug I had in the garage was open because I topped of a car. Nope. As I started to pour it into the expansion tank, I could see that it was the old stuff from the last change! At least I didn't pour it in the radiator. Back to AutoZone!
After I got the coolant filled, the throttle body sync and the oil change went smooth. I had no problems getting the fairings and crash bars back on, either. After almost 10 hours(for maybe 5 hours worth of work), the FJR is back together and ready to go, except for the dang fuel tank bolts!
The good part of all of this is that I have plenty of time being retired from the USAF and it is winter, so I am not missing too much good riding time.
With some cobalt bits, I got the bolt heads drilled of in just a few minutes and was lucky to find the shanks loose and they spun rights out. Crisis averted, but I had to order the bolts and I don't get them until Friday. Removing the crash bars and fairing went well, so I drained the coolant to do a change and continued to remove the necessary parts to perform the valve check. As I went to remove the valve cover, I found out I didn't have a good allen wrench to reach the forward outboard bolts. Back to Home Depot.
With a new assortment of allen wrenches, I got those last two bolts and the valve check went well. As I went to reinstall the valve cover, I couldn't keep the gasket in place. No problem, I'll just use a little RTV. Crap, my RTV is too old and dried up. Off to AutoZone.
RTV worked and reassembly went well. Next, I went to fill the coolant. I thought the jug I had in the garage was open because I topped of a car. Nope. As I started to pour it into the expansion tank, I could see that it was the old stuff from the last change! At least I didn't pour it in the radiator. Back to AutoZone!
After I got the coolant filled, the throttle body sync and the oil change went smooth. I had no problems getting the fairings and crash bars back on, either. After almost 10 hours(for maybe 5 hours worth of work), the FJR is back together and ready to go, except for the dang fuel tank bolts!
The good part of all of this is that I have plenty of time being retired from the USAF and it is winter, so I am not missing too much good riding time.