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Okay so today was allergy shot day. So I dawned the leather coat, leather gloves and my Russian hat and got on Helga to get poked. It was 29* but sunny, so just nippy ...
.
When I got back, errands included .. it was a balmy 35* (high today might get to 38 at 3 pm), but, still sunny, so, I headed out to replace the left rear speaker box top. Basically there was two reasons to do this, one was the hole in the rubber trim:
This was pointed out to me by the dealer I got her from, but it's taken me awhile to find one on flea bay, had to buy a complete pair, but now I have spare parts:
I took the top off the Left one and headed out side. There are 4 screws holding the top on ... thought this was gonna be a quick job ... nope ... as with everything on the Gold Wing (not complaining), you need to remove lots of stuff to get to one of those screws. What is required is to remove the luggage rack, remove the trunk inner lid, unplug the trunk lid actuator, then you can get to the screw that is hidden. The other screws come in from the bottom of the speaker and are easy to get to. You also need to swap the speaker to the new used top before installing.
After I got the inner trunk lid off, I figured out why there was a hole in the speaker box top. The hidden screw was at some point replaced with a wood screw:
This screw was about an inch long and should have been like 3/8" plastic screw. Someone screwed it right through the plastic and through the rubber.
So here is what it looks like replaced:
Here's a better view of where the hole was:
After getting it done, I noticed there was a crack in the speaker grill as well. Probably from holding it there while they screwed through the plastic and rubber, it's right next to my thumb, hard to see.
So, one more project completed ... Once the painter gets done painting the trim from the trunk and saddle bags, I'll put them on and I'll be done .... for now
... at least until I find something else wrong ... LOL.
I do have a non mechanical project to do .. now that I've got stuff fixed, I am gonna clean, wax and protect the whole bike with this:
This stuff is great if you have a black bike, not so much on a larger vehicle like a truck, it's time consuming.
The first step is a cleaner polisher. Yep ... same as waxing, but you gotta work it to get good results. Then wipe off the dried polish.
Next step is the wax, not as hard as the first step, but, very messy and time consuming.
The last step is a detailer. Can you believe that, after polishing and waxing, you need to still detail it. And yea, this is the step that makes it. It helps to rid the bike of the polish and wax you missed in steps 1 and 2. So ya gotta do it.
Do not use this on any vehicle that is not black and always wear rubber gloves when you do this.
First time I used this, My hands where black for about two weeks, scrubbing them with pumas soap just lightened it each time, LOL. The polish, wax and detailer all have black pigment in them that help to "fill in" swirl marks and other imperfections. I never did get my rags clean ... just toss them. Harbor freight has micro fiber towels for cheap.
The good news, once you finish, it lasts a long time, the detailer is used to spruce it up in between and add to the protection. Washing the bike does not seem to wear the protection down like with the F11, water will bead for a long time, like a couple years. Another plus, I only paid $19.95 for the kit at O'Reilly Auto Parts, and I'll get two complete uses out of it and many detail touch ups. The Big cost is in the elbow grease.
The bad news, last bike I did, my 2011 Ultra, took me 9 hours over 2 days. The Harley had way more nooks and crannies to get too. I'm guessing this bike won't be so bad ... 7 1/2-8 hours, but, being cooler will help some .. LOL. It is worth it as it does get rid of the swirls marks and other minor imperfections ... forever ... well until you use a power buffer on it again or scuff it ... :AGGHH:. I will also be using Maguire's Ultimate Black on all the plastic trim and rubberized trim before I do the Jet black, that way any thing I get over onto the paint won't be there when I'm done.
So that is a wrap. Hoping to get her polished and protected before I have the other knee replaced. I got like a month and a half to get her done.