As I’ve always done since I bought the bike brand new in 2003, I mount the ZRX and head off on a mundane morning 40mi work commute into NYC. Flying down the Palisades Parkway, there’s the usual backed up traffic heading towards the GWB toll booth. I split lanes to make better time, pay the toll and keep splitting lanes as I ride through the helix.
Once across the GWB there’s more snarling traffic on the Cross Bronx. No lane splitting here so I crawl along with everyone else. Reaching Jerome Ave, someone is flagging me down ‘hey, you’re leaking something!’ I see the temp idiot light is on, I pull over to the shoulder and coolant is spewing onto the rear tire. I wait a bit to let the bike cool off, while waiting I cellphone work to tell them I’m not going to make it in.
I turn around to head home to try and figure out what’s wrong. It overheats again on the Deegan. Let it sit some more to cool down. As I wait, traffic is getting lighter. I figure it won’t overheat if I’m cruising instead of crawling – I finally catch a break.
I call IVAN to ask what coolant he used when he did the service. He said to bring it over to him now, he’ll take a look. He did the once over, sensor, fan, fuses, everything tested OK. No charge, though I tipped the kid that was helping him troubleshoot.
Left the shop, took a cruise along the Hudson, smoked a cigar up in Bear Mt. then grabbed a hotdog at a local joint. No sign of overheating. I should try sitting in traffic again.
The bike ran great when the Bank owned it. I made my last payment a few weeks back. I should have known this would have happened…
