Troubles……

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.