Marathon Motorcycle Maintenance Session completed

Instead of participating in the Black Friday craziness, I was able to get some overdue maintenance work done on both the Harley-Davidson Sportster and the Kawasaki Concours.

The Sportster simply got an oil change, which is pretty straightforward.  Since it's a 1999 Sportster, draining the oil is done by removing a hose that runs to a plug that is part of the frame.  Yes, this struck me as odd the first time I changed the oil, but now I can get to it, loosen the hose clamp and get the oil draining in about two minutes.  I've never learned why they did this, as most other Harley's have drain plugs or a fitting on the oil tank or engine to drain the oil.  I didn't clean the K&N air filter like I normally do every oil change as it's been cool and rainy today and I wasn't sure it would dry.

I had a slew of projects to do on the Kawasaki Concours, which I prepped for by removing the main fairing last night.  I planned on changing the radiator coolant and adjusting the steering head bearing, but I realized it would also be good to change the oil as it was time for that too.  I had one more Connie filter and what I thought would be enough 20w50 oil.  Well, each piece of motorcycle maintenance on the Connie ran into some issues.  First, the tube connecting the bottom of the radiator to the water pump on my Connie doesn't have a drain plug-I don't know what year they added this.   I pulled the hose off the water pump inlet pipe, which worked but also sprayed fluild everywhere.  The rest of this project was uneventful.  Unfortunately my spanner wrench isn't the right size for the bearing nut and it wouldn't stay engaged and turn the nut the 1/8th a turn I needed.  So I tightened everything back up, and know what wrench I'm buying as a stocking stuffer for my own stocking!  The oil change went without a hitch-internal oil filters are a mess, so I'm definitely going for a SPOOFAK on my next Connie.  I was about 1/2 quart short on oil so I'm picking some up tomorrow then finishing re-installing all the trim pieces and inner fairings and taking the bike out for a test ride.

So all in all a productive day with small frustrations-like having to zip-tie the right rear fairing bracket back together as I plan a permanent fix.  Ah the joy of having old bikes!