Well, I'm half done with the wrenching

[LizardQueen]

Spend some of the weekend playing "Socket Wench" :lol: on the GS. It's now got a new front tire, new front brake pads, new front and rear sprockets, and a new chain.  I still need to do the fork rebuild and the rear shock, but at least now enough has been replaced that it's inspectable.

Overall it went pretty well - there was quite a bit of cursing and throwing tools around the driveway but that's just me :lol: . I'm fairly mechanical (especially for a girly) but I don't have a lot of patience.  

The front sprocket was really easy, the worst thing about it was that since they had used too much of that tar-like chain lube there was a huge birds-nest of tarry black grass, gravel and other crap under the sprocket cover. Cleaning it out took longer than changing the sprocket, and I ended up covered with it. Had to spray my legs down with WD-40 in the shower :lol: - nothing else worked to cut through it.  

The chain was easy but kind of annoying because I was so greasy I could barely hang onto the tool (had bought an RK chain tool on ebay for 65$ - we have 3 motorcycles in the family, might as well have one).   You really have to reef on the handle and the bolt and trying to do it when covered with gunk is tough.
I think the rivets will hold - took it for a ride last night and checked them when I got back, and they look good. I used the rivet master link, not the clip.

The front brake was kind of a pain to get back on without dropping the front inner pad back out, until we figured out the trick of pulling the calliper  sort of frontwards while the pistons went back.

Hubby helped a little when the cursing got really loud but for the most part I did it myself, and I'm proud of me :lol:.

The only thing I screwed up on was I forgot to screw the speedo cable back into it's holder, so when I test-rode the speedo was bouncing from 30 - 0 and back again as it flapped loose in it's connection.  A few turns of the screwdriver and that was fixed.  

Onto the forks!
LQ

[TarzanBoy]

How tricky is it to change a tire yourself?  Besides a tire iron, what tools do you (specifically you)  use?

I wanted to attempt my rear tire by myself, but was worried about my lack of tools and possibly messing up one of the wheels

[scratch]

Good for you, LizardQueen! Yay! And, congradulations!

[LizardQueen]

I wimped out and took the wheel off and brought it and the tire to the dealer to be mounted and balanced. 20$ plus weights. I didn't have the equipment to actually mount and balance the tire myself.  

LQ

[Kerry]

Good job!

There's no shame in having the tires mounted for you; that's what I do.  As long as you remove / reinstall the wheels yourself, you're welcome to hang around.  (<-- That's a joke!)

Seriously ... great work.

[pandy]

There's no shame in having the tires mounted for you; that's what I do.  As long as you remove / reinstall the wheels yourself, you're welcome to hang around.  (<-- That's a joke!)

Hey now....I'm thinking of taking my bike to the shop and having them change the back tire on the bike.   Do I get points back for cleaning and lubing my own chain?  

I'm a lazy cuss!    

LizardQueen: you GO grl!! Socket wenches are COOL!    I'm a socket wench in training.