Of course, most of it was washed off when I pulled the tank off the bike and tilted it to the left instead of the right, which meant that the fuel return nozzle was suddenly turned into the fuel pour spout. But hey, a little petrol to get rid of grease seemed to do the trick just right. And then I replaced the fuel pressure regulator, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be after I took the throttle control off and had the wife hold it out of the way while I turned the bolts.
Apparently the FPR is a problem on that model year, so I'll be keeping an eye on it. But the bike runs, and it'll run like a cat on fire if I twist the throttle. I now know more about motorcycles than I did three weeks ago. I have to admit, I never had much of a problem with my Shadows. The most I had to do was replace the tank on one after it sat for too long and developed rust. The Shadow that I traded in to get the VTX was newer, and didn't have a single problem in 22,000 miles. Maybe they just got the kinks worked out. If they still made an 1100cc Shadow, I would have snagged one of them in a heartbeat. But they're out of production, and more importantly, you damn near never see anyone selling theirs. I was lucky to find the VTX - they have a cult following, and nobody really gives them up too easily. I think mine was a case of a guy just not being able to ride anymore, or at least not that big a bike. I figure I'll ride this beast until the wheels come off or until they stop making replacement parts for it. Hopefully at that point I'll be so old that I'll transition to a geezer glide type of bike. Honda Goldwing or something like that. A touring model that doesn't shake you too hard, but is great on the road, and has a cushion for your hemorrhoids built in to the seat.
Still... VTX, baby. Yesterday I had to get out of the way of a herd of stupid people, so I twisted the throttle, did my maneuvers, then looked down at the speedometer to find out I was doing 90, and the bike wanted to go faster. I will be taking a nice road trip on it next year. Hells to the yes. Maybe get my Iron Butt patch.
Anyways.... off to the salt mines.
1 comment:
I don't ride any longer but, I did love the freedom. We used to live in Northern Michigan so had a limited season. I took full advantage of the limited traffic on some of the most beautiful winding roads on earth. Throwing my Yamaha through the s-curves was not only exhilarating it was enabling.
I had a run-in with a deer when I was riding my buddy double at 65 mph when a doe ran pall-mall into the gas tank. Dented it in and threw us down on the pavement. We were dressed for it and only had bumps and bruises but, it just took a lot of the joy out of it. I had rebuilt that bike and did the paint myself and it was a gem.
Enjoy and drive like they are out to get ya.
Bolivar
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