Doesn't everybody have an exhaust system in their bathtub?
I've been running around a fair bit this week, so I haven't spent much time working on the bike. I did decide that it was time to remove the exhaust, though, because it's something that I can sit and polish while I watch movies, and I was in the mood to watch movies.
Everything else on the bike has just come off quickly, so this should too, right? Nope, no try on the first shot. I soaked the joint in WD-40 and tried again the next day. Still no joy, so I tossed more WD-40 on the problem. WD-40 solves everything, right?
The next morning, I was about to get in the shower, but as I was headed that way the bike caught my eye. "Well, I'll just try again." This time, a couple of taps with a rubber mallet was all it took to loosen things up. I pulled the exhaust, then jumped in the shower. If you want TMI about this, read my LiveJournal entry.
Like the rest of the bike, the pipe is really dirty. I love living in a loft, but one of the difficult things is that I can't just go outside and hose something off-- no hose, no faucet. How to clean the exhaust? I know! I'll just put it in the shower and use the handheld shower head to hose it down. I left it there overnight to dry.
The next morning, I was rather surprised when I started to get into the shower and I discovered it was already occupied, but I had a good laugh at myself. Having a great big piece of rusty metal in my tub already seems perfectly normal to me.
Next up: the wheels come off. I also need to find an outdoor place that I can stash the tank for a couple weeks and let it air out. The gas has been drained out of it, but the stench of decade-old gas is still horrible. My friends at the bike shop recommended leaving it out in the sun for a couple of weeks to get rid of the fumes.
Oh! And I found a really awesome site: Dan's Online Motorcycle Repair Course. I'm impressed with the richness and clarity of his instructions. I'm basically a smart person, but I've intentionally remained ignorant of wrenching for 40-odd years, so I don't really have the basics of, "What is this?" "How do I get this apart?" I can usually figure out what I need to know, but often two minutes of reading will save me fifteen of head-scratching.
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