My mother always used to say, be careful or you might punch a hole in that radiator, I should have listened to my mother more often.

Today I spent the afternoon replacing the carb intake gaskets on my Valkyrie Interstate. It is quite involved since the side mount radiator covers have to be removed as well as the chrome carb covers on both sides. The bolts on the intake stacks and carb boots are loosened to get at the gaskets, all very time consuming but necessary every so many years. For my part I probably saved several hundred dollars and got to do what I like to do, work on my bikes. At what the dealer get per hour this type of maintenance is well worth the price of a good shop manual. For good measure and to save me a lot of aggravation I removed the handle bars from my V65 to keep from getting hung up on them every time I walked by to get another wrench. Anyway after four hours of work I was finally ready to put the parts back on. I had followed the directions and was putting the last three screws in the right side radiator cover and thought the one with the sleeve went into the hole closest to the radiator, wrong, I proceeded to hole the reservoir on the radiator, the old me would have had to go to confession twice for the language and general bad thoughts that would have been part of the ensuing tirade, but the new me looked at the anti freeze on the floor, went and got a bucket, drained the tank, took the bike off the jack stand, cleaned my work area up and called it a day, maturity really blows huh.

Tomorrow I will call a radiator repair shop since the hole is small and it appears the radiator can be easily fixed and I really don't think a new radiator for the tune of about five hundred bucks is in the cards, not with a completely serviceable part to work with. I needed to clean out the cooling system anyway since it's probably never been done to begin with and I guess this is the incentive to do it. I'll probably pick up a new thermostat and gasket at Honda and do the complete job during the week. I also, have to replace one of the headlights that went out last week and it's also, time for tires and will get Dunlap Elites again since they wore very well and have great traction in the rain, not that I'm looking for rain storms to ride in, so it's maintenance down time, not bad for two years of trouble free riding. Having the bike apart is also the best time to look for a really small but annoying oil leak that developed this past summer, I think it may be a pan gasket but whatever it is I'll find it and fix it. I might also get new plugs while the Honda dealer is cleaning out my wallet.

It may not sound like it but there is an upside to all of this, I'll have a 1999 Honda motorcycle with a 1520cc engine with only forty one thousand miles and thats just about broken in for the big Honda six's and best of all it still looks reeel goood, the other up side is that it can hold it's own with any cruiser or tourer on the road, the seat finally broke in this past summer so I am not even thinking about replacing it, even though the 09' Ultra is right up there with the best now.

Thanks for reading

Don't forget to check out my other blog http://www.theindependentpost.com/ Just click on the link and it will take you right there.

Remember the elections are close, closer than you think. If you enjoy the freedoms that are accorded all Americans, then vote to preserve our Democratic way of life and the free market system we all benefit from. Democratic way of life by the way has absolutely has nothing to do with the party of the same name. The problems our nation is currently facing will work out over time and the way to ensure it never happens is a periodic house cleaning in Washington and at the local level, sadly the old guard must go as they have broken their trust with their countrymen.