I picked my ‘97 Red/White a few weeks ago from Bob’s place in Tulsa, OK, and rode it over 1600 miles home. Since then, I’ve ridden it many times, and most recently on a short 400 mile trip through southern Idaho.
Here are my thoughts:
Bob makes sure to communicate frequently during the modification, notifying you of any findings, and often making repairs to items that may have gone unnoticed by the owner. I consider myself rather meticulous about maintenance on my motorcycles, but Bob found a few items that missed my attention and addressed them. I appreciate that.
Bob sends photos of each step of the mod, noting anything he finds or does that may be of interest.
I was pleased to ride my newly modded Valkyrie and very pleased with how easily it starts, how smooth it idles, and especially how smooth it goes from idle through each gear.
One thing I was not expecting, and have had happen several times, is how quickly the bike accelerates into redline and rev limiter. I’ve ridden Valkyries for many years now and have never had an issue hitting the rev limiter on acceleration. It’s taking me awhile to re-learn where to shift because of how rapidly it “gets there”. Now, I don’t wish to underplay or overplay this performance mod. If you’re expecting your bike to accelerate and outrun a Triumph Rocket III (one of the many bikes I’ve owned), then you will be sorely disappointed. It will not. It will however, perform like brand new and better.
My MPG previous to the upgrade was on par with all my buddies. We travel together regularly, and all ride Valkyries. Now don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t care less about MPG’s. I’m more interested in performance, but it’s still something that comes up at every fill-up during a trip with my buds. Since the upgrade, I repeatedly have the highest MPG of the group. When they put 4.3 gallons in, I’m putting 4.1 in. They hit reserve quite a few miles before I do. Is the difference huge? No. Is it noticable? Yes. Is the performance realized huge? No. Is it noticeable? Definitely.
Now for the big question that everyone asks me: Was it worth the money?
I’ll answer that like I answer them. With more questions. Was your custom paint job worth it? Was the money you spent on your seat, your chrome, your fairing, your (insert anything here that you put on your bike that made it look or feel better to you) worth it? Well, the answer of course is, it depends on what you wanted and if it pleased you.
Do you want a more pragmatic approach? Take your bike to a Honda dealer and ask them how much it will cost just to get your carburetors re-built. Oh, I don’t mean that “re-build” where they open them up and squirt some cleaner juice through them, throw a few necessary gaskets at it and give it back to you. I mean an honest to goodness take it apart and rebuild the thing job. Well, if you can even get a dealer who can and more importantly will do it and do it correctly, it’s going to cost you over $1200. So, with that in mind, the work that Bob does is a bargain, or at least a fair value. And you can rest assured it will be done correctly. Your bike will run better than it ever has (including the day they drove it off the line at mother honda). So, if all that means it was worth it to you, then you’re good. It was worth it to me.
If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for taking the time to read. I tend to be a little over-analytical in my explanations but all in an attempt to honestly represent the topic at hand.
