Can't get the petcock back together!
Keri, I havent been on my bike in 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago today, I went for a MC ride, and only for the 2nd time ever did my hubby accompany me on my ride. He followed on his Road King, and we rode for about 20 miles, when I came upon a stale green light, and it turned yellow very quickly, and I decided that I didn't have enough time to get through the light safely so I stopped (rather quickly). Apparently my hubby didn't realize that I was planning on stopping, and had to lock his bike up in order to not take me out. In the process, his bike skidded, and threw him from the bike. (high sided). He tumbled quite a distance. The rest is sort of a blurr, but we got him and the bike up and out of the road before he was hit by a car. Long story short of it, is he ended up with his 6th rib on his left side broken in two places, and actually DISPLACED! Also, he bruised his lungs, and they were settling with some fluid in them. He had some road rash, but nothing too bad. And he has some fluid built up on his hip that will need to be TAPPED (drained). So, I havent been back on my bike since then. I haven't given up riding, I just feel guilty that I can ride and he can't yet. His bike is "ok" just needs some chrome parts replaced. Really we were really lucky that it wasn't MUCH MUCH worse. So everyone..... RIDE SAFELY!!!! My hubby is an experienced rider 22 years, and it happens very quickly! So please be careful!
I'm SO sorry Kellie!! How horrible! I hope he has a speedy recovery. I can't tell you how many times I've worried about that. Usually when we ride, my hubby rides in front. I like to just chill and take my time and enjoy the ride. When I see a yellow light, I usually will stop. I'm in no rush. If he goes through, I'll catch up with him. He's always warning me that may not be the safest thing to do. The guy behind me might think I'm going through the yellow and then slam into me if I stop. I try to be extra alert around intersections and yellow lights and check the old mirror before I stop. I think because he was a good rider that he didn't get more seriously hurt. I'm glad he's OK. Poor guy - he's gonna be sore for awhile. You can fix a bike alot easier than you can fix a person. Now I'm REALLY gonna be nervous when I see a yellow light!! I hope he feels better soon.
I got the cork to settle in the petcock. I made the hole just slightly bigger and lubed it with some oil and it finally fit over those three holes in the bottom. I was going to do the electrolysis but tried some Evapo Rust and it works fantastic! I left it in overnight and there's not a lick of rust in the tank! So I'm going to rinse it out and put the petcock back on and hope the leak is gone! I'm SO sorry Kellie!! How horrible! I hope he has a speedy recovery. I can't tell you how many times I've worried about that. Usually when we ride, my hubby rides in front. I like to just chill and take my time and enjoy the ride. When I see a yellow light, I usually will stop. I'm in no rush. If he goes through, I'll catch up with him. He's always warning me that may not be the safest thing to do. The guy behind me might think I'm going through the yellow and then slam into me if I stop. I try to be extra alert around intersections and yellow lights and check the old mirror before I stop. I think because he was a good rider that he didn't get more seriously hurt. I'm glad he's OK. Poor guy - he's gonna be sore for awhile. You can fix a bike alot easier than you can fix a person. Now I'm REALLY gonna be nervous when I see a yellow light!! I hope he feels better soon.
I got the cork to settle in the petcock. I made the hole just slightly bigger and lubed it with some oil and it finally fit over those three holes in the bottom. I was going to do the electrolysis but tried some Evapo Rust and it works fantastic! I left it in overnight and there's not a lick of rust in the tank! So I'm going to rinse it out and put the petcock back on and hope the leak is gone!
Keri, he's already starting to feel better. He is looking for some new parts to replace his road rashed chrome parts. But HD stands for Hundreds of Dollars!!!! I am always scanning the intersections too. It was one of those lights that you really have decide and react. He swears it wasn't my fault, but of course I still feel badly. I always watch my mirrors too! and I really try to make sure Im not the only one in the intersection. I try to time it with other cars, so Im not a sitting duck. I always ride with my headlight on, and I never tailgate. Im like you, when Im riding, Im in no hurry. I rode my bike to work these last two days. Its been nice being back on it. Although I do have to admit, im wearing my full face helmet these days. : ) Ride safe. I hope your leak is gone! Hows that Guzzi ??
I'm glad he's feeling better and that he's already looking to fix the bike up! Something like that might scare me off bikes (for a little while anyway!) I'm off work for the next 5 whole days so I'm hoping to get the gas tank and petcock back on (and pray for no leaks!) and then it's back to working on the Guzzi. That bike is taking alot longer. There are so many little parts that I'm missing or are rusted. I think the guy I bought it from started using it as a parts bike and then decided to sell it. I felt guilty working on it without finishing up the Dream first. I've cleaned up the cobwebs, replaced the cables, rebuilt the carbs and I think the next thing is wiring. I bought a new wiring harness and sub harness' and its going to be quite a learning experience! It wouldn't be bad, but alot of the wires that were there were disconnected so I'm not sure how it was originally hooked up. I have to rely on the wiring diagrams completely. I get frustrated and impatient sometimes, but I'm just going to give it my best shot and if I can't get it running, then I'll give it to the pro's but at least I know I tried! And in the meantime, I can (hopefully) ride the Dream this weekend!
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