Two weekends ago, I was able to ride my SV650 for the first time in 2014. It was a glorious ride, but way too short. Something hit my radiator and most of the fluid leaked out by the time I made it home. Darn.
Radiators from Suzuki were close to $500 new, so I bought one new from a Delkevic for $100. It came in a few days, and I excitedly tried to install it. The fan switch was galled into the old radiator since both were stock from 2001. It eventually came out sans-threads. Darn.
The WR250R has been picking up the slack while I waited to fix the SV. The Ural? sitting in a corner! Ebay to the rescue and a new fan switch arrived in a couple days for $24. It was quickly installed, and I went for a glorious ride last night. Oh did I mention the temps finally hit 70F?!
I took the long way home last night. It should have been a mere fifteen minutes, but turned into over an hour. Isn’t it amazing how ten miles turns into over fifty? The warm air and empty roads probably helped. It felt great to ride the SV again. It is my favorite bike!
Great news. I holed the rad on my old er years ago. Thankfully the weather her in Yorkshire never uses the rad fully so you can get away with soldering a good few of the pipes closed. Much cheeper than a new rad. Always nice to get a bike back on the road.
ReplyDeleteOof, you rode across the country up through Alaska and back with nary a scratch. Then you punch a hole in your radiator riding down your driveway, ain't that the way?! I wonder if a radiator guard from a VStrom 650 would fit?
ReplyDeleteNo engine damage from the loss of coolant? If the Ural loses it's "coolant" then it would be a really serious problem. BTW, noticed that Ural and Ebay appear almost in the same sentence!
ReplyDeleteAlways feels good to bring one's motorcycle online through one's own efforts eh?
ReplyDeleteAnd a nice looking bike it is. The temps sound wonderful. We are forecast for the same this weekend. Hopefully we will be out on two wheels tomorrow, to coffee if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteChris:
ReplyDeleteI had an SV but I traded it in for my Vstrom. I liked my SV too and should have kept it. When I bought it, the bike had been "down" and it bent the radiator but it didn't leak. I was going to get a replacement but they were too expensive and it wasn't leaking but one of the brackets had sheared off and it was held by zap straps, anyway nice to see your bike back on the road
bob
A weekend photographer or Riding the Wet Coast