Well, July long weekend is upon us. I’m off with the GWRRA (Gold Wing Road Riders Association) Chapter BC-A on a three day ride covering the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. After several mechanical issues with the old wing, I’m all set to head out tomorrow.
Two weeks ago I decided it was time to replace the oil seal that was leaking behind the water pump. It turned out to be not a too expensive job. About $300 in parts and 4 hours of labour, I was able to pull the front engine cover off and replace the entire water pump that had the integral seal in it. I flushed the engine of antifreeze and refilled it, installed a new oil filter and filled her up and the bike started right up. After bleeding the air out of the cooling system, she again purred like a Gold Wing does….
Last weekend, I was hoping to go on a Triple D ride with the gang. We were going to head for the Southern Kitchen in Tacoma, Washington. I was all fuelled up and ready to go. I made it to the Blaine truck crossing, where we were to meet up just south of the border at 7:00 AM. Well, my bike stalled in the Nexus lane. A sign of trouble….. I got it re-started after about 5 minutes and headed to the meeting spot. I missed the gang and decided to head down the I-5 to try to catch up – I wasn’t too far behind I thought. About two miles further, the bike stalled again at highway speed – like it ran out of fuel. It started again a few minutes later, but by then, I knew something was wrong and turned around to head home. It took me several hours to get back to Langley where I knew there was a Lordco Parts store open. I at frist assumed I had a clogged fuel filter, so I changed it out and went for a short ride. Still stalling…. I swapped out the fuel pump with an automotive one and it ran fine! I headed for home.
I took apart the old fuel pump to see what was wrong and found it to be full of grit. I suspect the old fuel filter broke down and pieces of it got into the pump and clogged it up. After cleaning it thouroughly and testing it with a 12V battery, I re-installed it into the bike and it has been running fine all week.
So here I am, finally starting to put some words down into my blog. Pictures will be forthcoming after the trip.