Kill All the Engineers............
OK, maybe that's a bit rough. Maybe working on the Big Blue Kawasaki when you feel as shitty as I do was a bad idea.
Needed to change the throttle cables on the Concours. The return cable had snapped and I figured it was only a matter of time before I got my ass caught out in the middle of BFE in a rainstorm. So.........
I drug my snot filled self out to the (Newly cleaned and organized) garage early and started after it. Major pain in the ass. Taking all the bodywork off, tank, seat, etc has gotten to be second nature. But to get the cables off you have to pull the entire bank of carbs. Uhhhh!
That's where it became a chore. Thank God I wasn't on the side of the road trying to do this. Never happen. Tow truck time. Labor cost at a shop to do this would be horrendous. Getting the carbs out was difficult (I thought). Getting them back in was way worse.
Enter COG!!! The Concours Owners Group! (See link on sidebar) Went to their web site and hit the Forum Archives. I knew there had to be an easier way. Not easy mind you, but easier anyhow. Getting that bank of four carbs into and lined up with the intake boots on one side and the airbox boots on the other is a real trick. There is not anywhere close to enough room. Not even close. Fortunately, the tips provided helped.
The trick? A hair dryer. By heating up the rubber boots for the air box, you can roll them up and zip tie them to give you ALMOST enough room to get those carbs in there. Almost enough room. It still takes three hands to do it and a fortunately my Brother in Law stopped by right then. Thanks!
I was worn to a nub by then and basically, it's still sitting out there to be finished. Mostly done and that's good. An hour or two more.
I ended up taking a little nap of about six hours after getting things cleaned up and organized. I'm still a Major Snot Rocket and now have a fever to go with it. Crap. I feel like Crap. Gotta get better soon.
