So many new parts, so little time to install them.

As I work on my bikes on weekends and occasionally evenings, there is never enough time to get everything done, but that's OK since I enjoy working on bikes in general. This past weekend I actually accomplished quite a lot on my big bike's major maintenance project. I installed new headlights, a large project not covered in the shop manual, that requires detaching the front fairing and removing the speakers, to get good access to the light sockets unless of course you have hands the size of a chipmunk. I had one of the brights out and as every manual in the world will tell you, I replaced both lights. Then remounted the fairing and re-attached the speaker panels. Next was final removal of the radiator, this after removing the tank and the steering covers to access the wiring for the radiator fan. On the Valkyrie you have to work the radiator to the side and it finally slides off. The radiator is on the way to the shop today to be patched, which will probably be by welding, then cleaned and pressure tested, it should be ready tomorrow.

I tackled the timing belts since replacement interval is every five years or fifty thousand miles whichever comes first. The bike is a 99' with forty one thousand miles so I thought it time to do the work. The manual is very concise and very detailed in the instructions with good drawings and photos, from what I can see everything should be fine with my only reservations on the pressure used when setting the tensioners, but I pretty much matched the old set which wasn't loose at all. I had to get a new torque wrench that measured in foot lbs but made the mistake of getting the cheaper one with the dial indicator and should have gotten the clicker instead. I have one that measures inch pounds and may just use that to finish up but then again maybe not and probably not. You know, tools are like chrome on a bike, you can never have to much chrome on your bike and you can never have to many tools for working on a bike.

I still have to pick up a new fuel filter since a once a year change out is good maintenance, flush out the cooling system to include the reservoir, clean and oil the air filter and install the new plugs. One thing that I have found during this down period is loose nuts and bolts as well as one not completely tightened spark plug. I am using thread lock on just about everything as I put the bike back together and will periodically check everything going forward. I hope the weather is good next Sunday since I plan to have everything finished on Saturday. I can get back to the final tear down on my V65 then and get moving.

Thanks for reading,

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