I’d started about four different entries about the radiator situations over the past week, and then kept getting distracted by work, cats, random shiny things, whatever.
After talking with some peeps on the World Wide Interweb and Jamie at the WOW meeting on Tuesday night, I decided to just JB Weld the temperature sensor back into the radiator.
Rationale:
1) I won’t need to remove that part from the radiator again; to disconnect the sensor in the future, I’ll just disconnect it from the wiring harness. Y’know, via the quick disconnect. The one that was there the whole time. Yeah. That one.
2) Considering people use JB Weld to repair engine crankcases, it won’t mind the radiator’s high temperatures.
3) What’s a high-mileage bike that doesn’t have parts held together with duct tape and JB Weld? I mean, really.
I’m happy to report that the experiment has been entirely successful. I have the “quick-dry” type JB Weld, and let it sit for about 3 hours before reattaching the radiator, refilling it, and starting up the bike. When that wasn’t a problem, I put everything back onto the bike (airbox and fairings, mostly) and took the bike to work the next day.
I had a minor heart attack when I arrived at the office and noticed a few drops of coolant on the toe of my boot, but investigation showed that it came from the radiator hose. I forget that the left radiator hose needs to be tightened as much as possible in order not to leak; the righthand hose needs to be tightened all the way and then backed out a quarter-turn. I backed the hose clamp out that quarter-turn and, indeed, no more tiny leak. It’s just One Of Those Things; an idiosyncracy. I just smile and nod and love the bike regardless of her little quirks. Fortunately, it’s mutual.
So, after a few commutes now, it still seems to be working well. The fan definitely kicks on when it should, and there’s no coolant leaking from anywhere. I say OK.
Now, on to the other radiator.
My coworker Bob spent three days trying to get ahold of this guy who was selling the ’02 radiator on a local classifieds list. After the third time, I told him not to bother anymore; the whole situation was getting a little sketchy. Bob insisted that it was really no problem for him to keep trying, so, hey, OK.
So anyway, Bob finally got in touch with sketch man, and brought in the radiator.
Now. I went back to the ad and double-checked. Yup, 2002 SV650 radiator.
People, I have No. Idea. what motorcycle this radiator came off of, but it wasn’t no ’02 SV. It’s not even close. You can’t even look at the ’02 SV radiator from across the room in low light and think it looks like this part.
My favorite part about it is that someone sliced the reservoir hose right off about 1/2″ past the clip, so there’s this sad pointy piece of 1″ long hose coming off the nipple. Like, wtf? Too lazy to move the clip and pull off the hose, I guess. I’d be so surprised if this thing wasn’t stolen.
So….um. Yeah. Anyone want a radiator? I’ll post a picture of it later, and y’all can let me know if you recognize it. Or want it.