[Randall-in-Mpls]

I rode it to work. First chance since Thursday.
I finally put away my summer gear. Mid 20s F this morning.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Can't remember which channel did a test on 7 year old sport bike tires...

I think that was Revzilla.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

I combined my heated gear with my summer jacket last weekend in the morning because it was warm enough for the summer jacket in the afternoon. That worked!

I've yet to buy any heated gear. My commute is only a few miles.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

... we rarely get any snow around here and when we do, it's gone in a day or two; ice is usually melted within hours. So there's a lot more potential winter riding days here.

Missouri sounds wonderful!

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

That's a great story!

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Bike is from Minnesota .. may be jetted wrong for my area ...quite a difference in climate ..,

Elevation would be the only factor.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

I was going to say the same thing.
We see so many people with bikes that are many years old, but with very low miles.
They buy 'em but hardly ride 'em.

That does make the barn-find market somewhat decent.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

We're talking about ambients differing by almost 50° on given days ....
Elevation about equal ....,

So, you might need a little choke on a cold morning. Temperature doesn't affect fuel-air mixture.
Regardless, a Minnesota bike with that low mileage only ever saw Texas weather, anyway.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

In Texas , I never use choke on my other Shadow ...Don't need it on the new one , But does need a slight adjustment ..., The bike had 18,000 Minnesota miles ..., It does'nt get cold in my area . Unless you call 55° cold ....,

55 is downright balmy this time of year. In five months that will be t-shirt weather.
A 50 degree swing one day to the next isn't uncommon here in spring and fall.
Low mileage riders are almost always fair weather only. I suspect your bike was only ridden June thru August, when it's hot here. My annual group ride in 2021 saw 104F on June 6th!

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Mine usually only wants choke if it's in the 30s or lower, and then just for the initial start.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

If I don't shut off the fuel petcock at the bottom corner of the tank it will drip about one drop of gasoline per second, leading to quite a large puddle when I park the bike overnight.

I suspect you have a float valve that isn't sealing and the spilled gas is coming from the overflow.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

If you could get contact cleaner into the TPS... That would ruin it.
Ever tried to clean resister plug caps with contact cleaner?

Real contact cleaner shouldn't leave a residue. In the case of WD40 or similar, you're correct.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

And yet real contact cleaner will ruin resister plug capz... I believe it would do the same to a TPS...

I disassemble my plug caps to clean them and bypass the resistors (haven't found a source for replacements).
Are there alcohol-soluble materials in these things? That's surprising, given that electrical cleaners are generally alcohol based.
Admittedly, I don't know much about TPSs. My tech predates all that stuff.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

You could just replace them with non-resister plug caps instead of bypassing resisters if you don't want resisters. No?

I've done that, too. New resistor caps are NLA for my models.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

You can probably use NGK aftermarket replacements.
You can get them straight, 90 like these and 45 too. Price is a little high on these.
A bike shop with a well stocked parts department should have them in stock at around $5.

NGK LZFH Resistor Spark Plug Cap, Black, Standard

Buy NGK LZFH Resistor Spark Plug Cap, Black, Standard at Amazon. Customer reviews and photos may be available to help you make the right purchase decision!

www.amazon.com

S F

David Silver Spares has aftermarket replacements for the CX500 and variants. They're sans resistor, so I run them with R plugs.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Thanks, but Sheldon is a "he".

You didn't post your bike's preferred pronouns.

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

Today, I was going to reassemble my carburetors, now that the bits are all cleaned and polished. Instead I got sidetracked by pleasant family obligations. Maybe over a couple evenings this week...

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

View attachment 78018

What's that green stuff all over the ground? And how do you have liquid water outside?

 

[Randall-in-Mpls]

I took a short ride on my CX500 today after reinstalling its freshly cleaned carbs and replacing the broken choke cable last night. I had the GL650 out briefly yesterday.
More snow coming this week, so they'll lay up again for a while.