It's getting too hot to ride in the desert, so it's time for a 30K mile service. On Monday I dropped the forks out of the front end, and yesterday I drove them over to Corona to have Race Tech work their magic on them. They installed new springs, Gold Valve kits, bushings, etc. for a total of $1042. Ouch...a bit more than I was expecting. Today I dropped the steering head out and cleaned up the filth and muck. Shiny forks and a clean steering head ready to go, along with a Galfer s/s brake line kit to be installed:
I've read that the Galfer kit is a real bitch to install, but if I'm ever going to tackle it...this is the time. With the forks out, I'll have easier access to the brake lines coming out of the frame near the steering head. Next week I'll have the swingarm out to clean and grease everything and install a Gen III shock, and the rear brake lines will go in then.
I got the steering head greased and torqued and the handlebars mounted. Then I figured that I might as well get the clutch line replaced...it looked easy enough. WRONG! I spent at least an hour poking around with my flashlight trying to figure out how the clutch line is held to the left frame rail. After finding a thread here from 2011 (FJRBluesman), I found the bolt holding the clamp that he mentioned. There's literally no way to get to that bolt, even from the front as he mentioned. I don't have a wrench that will reach that far...too much crap in the way. I think the only way to get it out is to drop the engine from the frame. After a lot of head-scratching, I figured I'd try the BFS. Big Freakin' Screwdriver. I wrapped the flat blade with tape to avoid damaging any surfaces, and I reached down there and bent the damn clamp out of the way, giving me enough space to move the clutch line. I tie-wrapped the banjos together and pulled the new line through. Holy crap, it worked! You can see the clamp just below the throttle body and the tie-wrapped banjos to the left:
After positioning the line and getting the banjos on both ends bolted down, I bent the clamp back into place, easy peasy. After all that, it was time for a beer. I'll fill/bleed the line tomorrow and then tackle the front brake lines. I'm not looking forward to it.