We did not have to remove the carbs, but it was a little more involved than I expected. I'll try to explain what we did in order.
First we put her on her center stand,
next the coolant drain plug was removed, and replaced. Only a small amount of fluid came out(or we only let a small amount out),
then we removed the elbow joints with the tubes(a moderate amount of fluid came out(you will need a large drain pan),
George's tube(left side) came out with the ring on the end, the ring on my side(right) stayed put, but a long thin screwdriver got it,
at this point paper towels were put in the coolant passage on top of the heads,
vegas thought the rings were oem as they weren't very pliable,
the gaskets left material on the joints and heads,
we struggled with a box cutter and razor blade to get most of the material off, then vegas turned on the air compressor,
he used a brass wire wheel to clean up the residual material and the surfaces(joints/heads) were perfectly smooth,
then we put the new rings on and inserted the tubes into the joints,
at this point high temp silicone was applied to the new gaskets,
the tubes were then re-inserted to the centerpiece on top of the block,
on the right I wasn't quite sure if the tube was in fully but it bolted up nicely,
the fairing lowers and faux tank were then removed to gain access to the radiator cap,
coolant and water were added,
and we started her up and let her warm to burn off the coolant we couldn't reach with paper towels,
I then checked the tube on my side w/ a flashlight and saw a bright green drop at the bottom of the tubes connection on my side,
I panicked George didn't,
vegas figured the o-ring had twisted some how so we removed the right tube,
again you will need a large drain pan as this time it seemed like she puked every drop,
the tube/new ring were inspected, it seemed fine and it was re-installed,
fluids were replaced again and we dried her off and started her up,
YAY! no leaks on either side now!
While we had the seat and trunk off, we did a clean re-install of the trunk, bolting the trunk base to the rack with bolts drilled through the flat bars that make up the surface of the rack, then bolting the trunk to the trunk base. No more funky washers and brass strips like in the photos in the pic section. BTW, we had to remove the trunk to get the seat off to remove the tank, because of the way the seat tappers down under the trunk.
Let me know if you have any questions.
~O~
