Aside from 6 carbs in an older Valkyrie, is there any other issues I should think about?? I don't like Tupperware!
I get a wing without the Tupperware!
I get a wing without the Tupperware!
Valkyrie trike
- Thread starter cavie
- Start date
the only real issue I'm aware now would be age. Vacuum hoses in particular are probably well worn due to age; brittle, cracked, etc. Since those six carbs depend on vacuum controls would be to your benefit to really check it out. Electrical can also show age problems. The only additional problem that might appear is finding someone to work on that age bike. So do - some don't.
Other than that if the bike has been taken care of it should make an excellent ride.
Other than that if the bike has been taken care of it should make an excellent ride.
Butch, we just triked a '98 Valk a couple of months ago. We bought a donor bike with 38,800 miles, that already had a Mustang seat and quite a bit of Kury stuff. Went with the Roadsmith IRS kit. The bike was a tourer, so no upper trunk, which was fine because I was going for the old school hotrod look. Mostly the trike is to rip around locally, but we had a reciever hitch added and plan to build a trailer for the few times we might do short trips. I put on 4 inch stainless steel shotgun pipes that exit straight out the back. Previous owner cut the piggies so the sound is pretty mellow, until you hammer it, then it gets louder. I posted pictures on the Honda trike pics sticky, page 18, I think.
I like the exposed engine, I think it gives the trike a more appealing look.
Sadly, like mhgoldwing pointed out, I had problems with the carbs, the low speed circuits were plugged and the o-rings on what Honda calls a fuel rail were dried out and dripped gas, understandable since the bike was 18 years old.
I found a local Honda shop that has a guy in his 50's that came up working on carbs and did a total rebuild. There are only o-rings in the carbs and these and the float valves were around $550, the rate book called for 10 hours at a shop rate of $68, and the shop insisted on new plugs, even though the existing plugs probably only had 500 miles on them, replaced the petcock and some of the fuel and vacuum lines. Total cost was north of $1300. This was something I did not plan on. But, the motor runs MUCH better, it pulls like a freight train now.
On the Valkyrie Cruisers Riders Club there is a guy named Attic Rat in Tulsa OK who works on Valks and has done over 600 sets of carbs. I talked to him and seriously considered trailering the trike to him, but it was a thousand miles, one way and staying in a motel for several days. Is it financialy a good idea? I don't know, I've got a lot of money in the trike, but there are not a lot around and it does draw a lot of attention.
If you have any questions I'll be glad to try and answer them. Good luckThumbUp
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Like any GL1500 engine you may want to ask when the timing belts were changed.
Just like any four cylinder GL, you have to sync the carbs.
Just like any four cylinder GL, you have to sync the carbs.
Originally I intended to use a Valk as my trike.
I bought a non running 1999 and spent 7 months rebuilding it.
I went through 3 sets of carbs alone rebuilding what I could, before I got 6 perfect.
I ended up selling it as I couldn't get anyone to make a reverse for me.
I ended up with a heck of a lot of used parts as new almost nothing is available,Unless you intend to use it as a weekend bike. Id give it some second thoughts. Overall maintenance is not of a an easy thing to do with a bike of this age.
The guy I bought the bike from had owned it since 2010 and had not changed the belts, so I'm going on the premise that the belts are at least 6 years old and I am going to change them considering they are not that expensive. Also, the shop that rebuilt the carbs synced them. Thanks for pointing that out, since the motor is an interference motor, breaking a belt can be catastrophic.
With the Roadsmith kit you loose all the final drive stuff and have a new heavy drive shaft, so the u-joint, driveshaft problems should go away. The actual engine, clutch should give as much reliability as a Wing would. The guys over at Valkyrie Cruisers Riders Club site tell of Valks with over 200,000 miles on the engine and still going strong. I have a friend who has a 2001 GL1800, first year for fuel injection and has had zero problems with the bike. I hope my decision to go with an older bike for a donor does not come back and bite me, time will tell, right now I have a lot of confidence in the drivetrain. The carbs seem to be the real weak point, especially if all you can get is ethanol mixed gas, the Honda shop that did the work says treat the gas in the fall, run the motor long enough to get the treated fuel in the carbs, close the petcock and run the carbs dry and open the drain plugs for each carb. BTW, the black Valk looks nice, is this one you rebuilt? Do you still have it?
How many miles, any problems?
Inquiring minds want to know! Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the reverse issue, like one guy told me, he had a reverse for his Valk trike, but she left him.
NAPA should have the belts, NAPA 250-275 or Gates T-275 this is what the owners of the GL1500 Goldwing are using.The guy I bought the bike from had owned it since 2010 and had not changed the belts, so I'm going on the premise that the belts are at least 6 years old and I am going to change them considering they are not that expensive. Also, the shop that rebuilt the carbs synced them. Thanks for pointing that out, since the motor is an interference motor, breaking a belt can be catastrophic.
Roger that. As near as I can tell Honda only calls for inspection prior to 100,000 miles and there does not seem to be a time or age limitation. One guy said the belts are guaranteed for the life of the engine......wait for it........when one of them breaks that's the life of your engine.
No more than they cost, I'm going to change them real soon, and check the tensioners. Next is to drain and flush the coolant, hard telling when or if that was ever done.:xzqxz:
The black is the end result. Most parts were NOS and I invested a lot of money for almost no return. If you look close the wheels are still purple.
Ended up selling it an oil rig worker in the North Sea from Norway.
Strange long trip it had been.
I rode it for a few months and really had no use for it after the fact.
Sold the bike the Camaro Z in the background of the 1st pic and bought my 2010.
Ended up selling it an oil rig worker in the North Sea from Norway.
Strange long trip it had been.
I rode it for a few months and really had no use for it after the fact.
Sold the bike the Camaro Z in the background of the 1st pic and bought my 2010.
Cavie-- FWIW I had a Valk Interstate that I converted. I loved it! Put over 60K miles on it in about 4 years. I still miss it. Went to a Wing trike for the reverse, cruise & more wind/rain protection. By converting, you lose what IMO is the part of the Valk that is most vulnerable--the rear end. If I could justify owning two trikes I would have a Valk for when I want to go carve up the mountain roads. It was just plain more fun than the Wing. Stan
I just had my 97 Valk with 59,000 miles triked with a Roadsmith kit and it looks great. I had reservations about spending the money on an older bike but I am ok with it now because I like the ride and the attention it gets. Right now it runs like a new one but know I will have to find a good mechanic at some point. So far I have been able to fix minor stuff. I was glad to see your post about attic rat. I live in East Texas so it would be a good distance for me also. I have a guy that does tires Etc but he told me he didn't want to do any thing major on it. My local Honda shop also doesn't want to work on it. I am going to make an 8 hour trip one way this week end. Hope all goes well. I like my trike.
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Only problem I have had is an arm rest for the trunk I put on it. I bought a chopped tour pak trunk off a Harley Screaming Eagle and arm rest are non existent for it. I found a guy that said he could make a bracket for it with detachable arm rest. He can't do it till winter when he is not so busy. Trunk looks great however.
Tw, you lucky dog, it looks like you are only about 300 miles from Tulsa. The Attic Rat, AKA Bob Smith, runs Attic Rat Performance Works and specializes only in Valks, as far as I know. He told me had rebuilt 600 sets of carbs, that is 3,600 carbs! He mills heads, flycuts pistons to eleminate interference with the valves, de-smogs, you name it. Go over to Valkyrie Cruisers Riders Club and look at comments on him. His number is 918/720-5444. BTW , we have probably been by your town many times traveling into and out of Texas from the East just so we don't have to deal with DFW, my wife's Aunt and Uncle live in Temple, so we go down through Corsicanna.
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