I took yesterday off for the holiday. Commemorated it in true American fashion by sweating in the heat, emptying a few beer bottles. (Coors Light since I am watching my figure. A true American company that Sam Elliott likes). Watched my pool fill up with little kids (who apparently don't need to pee at my house as our bathrooms were not touched. Hmmm), and watched, and listened, as our neighborhood blew up after dark.
Today is carb day. Like they have at the Speedway, or used to.
This is not the first time that I've taken the carburetors out of an 1100, and it probably won't be the last. The only other bike that I can compare the removal difficulty is with a 70s or 80s CB 750 or 900. Both are a true pain. Suzuki's of the same era made it easy, but putting in the boots were a bit harder. I found that it is just a bit easier to remove the slider covers on numbers one and three and it will give you a few mm extra wiggle room.
So after damaging more of my new paint job on the motor I got them out. Decided not to throw them against a wall, especially since I just painted the garage. Started taking off the float bowls and low and behold look at the gasket from number one. No wonder why it was leaking gas.
How that happened i don't know, but a about a foot of the gasket is gone. Some new ones are on the way. It proves that anyone who has followed this post up to now realizes that following it may not be the best instructional guide to work on your motorcycle. It's no wonder why I have a Gold Witch.
So now I wait on my gaskets and a new petcock. Try to touch up the damaged paint on the motor and watch other people ride their bikes. Oh well, it's too hot to ride right now anyways. Where's the Tylenol?