I got fooled and it’s not April fools day

[Chrisj CMA]

I took the bike out for some “necessary” errands and to test the fixes I had just done. It was a beautiful ride up until I pulled into our neighborhood. I hear this rack rack sound when turning left. So I stop and take off my helmet so I can hear better and ride the rest of the way home. With the slightest lean to the left the rack rack sound returns. I’ve heard this before. Left wheel bearing. I get the bike put up and toss a left rear bearing in the freezer and start getting tools ready.

30 minutes later the wheel is off and what do I see?  A big shiny screw in the left side of the tread just off the flat spot. Good news about not having to do a bearing change but I Hate Flat Tires!!!!!

Well crap nothing open on Mondays so I have all day to get things cleaned up and ready to go back together. I cleaned the dirty nasty rear caliper and caliper plate and also wiped down the inside of the rear fender. Mike, it doesn’t look much different after cleaning it. But I know it’s cleaner. Lol.  

I had just had the rear end apart because it had been over 10,000 miles so all my grease looked good. I wiped the usual slung grease off the flange and added a little more to the pumpkin and cleaned it all up.






So, my nice easy ride turned out to be a royal PITA. That tire has 9 or 10 thousand more miles left on it so I will try to get it patched. If I can’t find a shop to patch it, I guess it’s new tire time a bit early. Oh well, there are worse things 

[9Ball]

That sucks big time.

On the bright side, you can probably do the tire change and know all the torque specs by heart so it is an easy job for you.

Good luck getting it all back together tomorrow...

[hubcapsc]

Mike, it doesn’t look much different after cleaning it.

I had the rear fender section off. I was tracing down a wiring
problem. I removed the bolts you can only get to from under
the fender and removed the whole tail light. That's where
it was really dirty... is that what you did?

-Mike "it didn't look any different after cleaning, the dirt was hidden under the taillight"

[Chrisj CMA]

Mike, it doesn’t look much different after cleaning it.

I had the rear fender section off. I was tracing down a wiring
problem. I removed the bolts you can only get to from under
the fender and removed the whole tail light. That's where
it was really dirty... is that what you did?

-Mike "it didn't look any different after cleaning, the dirt was hidden under the taillight"

I didn’t unbolt anything. Just got under there with my spray bottle and towel and wiped everything I could reach

[SpidyJ]

Did you do the double row bearing upgrade?

[Chrisj CMA]

Did you do the double row bearing upgrade?

No, in 18 years I only had one go bad. That’s not worth doing the mod I’m thinking

[Gryphon Rider]

You should probably see if you can find yourself a second-hand street cleaner.  Simply go and pre-clean any road you plan on riding on.  It'll prevent most punctures and keep your Valkyrie cleaner too!

Or... better yet!:

[Pappy!]

Nice one, Gryphon! Had to look again because I initially thought Serk had to come up with that one!

[Gryphon Rider]

Nice one, Gryphon! Had to look again because I initially thought Serk had to come up with that one!

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. 

[Chrisj CMA]

Well. One day shipping for free is fantastic but the tire that came today is a whitewall. So the PITA continues. Lol. I’ll put my spare wheel on tomorrow. It has a tire with more than half tread remaining.

Walmart.com. Only has one rear cobra chrome 180/70R16 listed and it is not listed as WW but it is. Last three digits of the part number is 115. Blackwall ends with 114.

YMMV

[Chrisj CMA]

Bike is all back together with the spare tire. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the front and rear will give out at the same time. Then I can make a clean switch to Cobra Chrome all at one time

[ridingron]

Them Cobra Chromes are nice riding and handling tires.   

[Pappy!]

Well. One day shipping for free is fantastic but the tire that came today is a whitewall. So the PITA continues. Lol. I’ll put my spare wheel on tomorrow. It has a tire with more than half tread remaining.

Walmart.com. Only has one rear cobra chrome 180/70R16 listed and it is not listed as WW but it is. Last three digits of the part number is 115. Blackwall ends with 114.

YMMV

Whitewall?? Just put ya'self some genuine curb finders on the bike and roll !