Valkyrie at 100mph

[darryb63]

I took my 2000 Valk Std for ride today on empty freeway. Topped speed of 100mph for a short time. Very stable with large wind screen, no bags & good tires. K&N Air Filter with Cobra 6into6 Exhaust. Outside temp of 75 F. Engine had much more to give. Maybe will repeat next week. Any suggestions ?

[Led]

Hmmm.......it should have done a LOT better than than 100!!

Once on a trip,  I did 110 once with my GF on the back and lots of baggage.  Still had a little throttle left.   

Only reason I slowed down, I was leaving my Buddy and His Wife, in the DUST!!  They were on a Harley.

And my bike was STOCK!!  Brand new......

[98valk]

I took my 2000 Valk Std for ride today on empty freeway. Topped speed of 100mph for a short time. Very stable with large wind screen, no bags & good tires. K&N Air Filter with Cobra 6into6 Exhaust. Outside temp of 75 F. Engine had much more to give. Maybe will repeat next week. Any suggestions ?

that exhaust looses 10HP, k/n filter lets in a ton of dirt, dyno runs on other hondas shows they cause a lot of tubulance in factory air boxes, hence less air flow into carbs.
if u used the cobra needles with their pipes it is now running rich, keeps torque up but loses HP on the top when too rich, plus the HP lose due to that drag pipe design. ditch the k/n, I run the OEM filter and have dyno'd over 116HP with other mods.

[..]

GPS at 128 on a standard with bags and windshield. Long slightly downhill somewhere in WY.

[Jess from VA]

I ran my Interstate at 112 on a wooded two lane with some Beemers.

Never again.  The trees were (way) too close.

Been a bit faster on good freeway, but not for some years.  I cannot afford the ticket or points.

I prefer blasting up through the gears, and running the twisties and elevation changes, to top speeds. 

[Valkorado]

Ruby was raring to go faster than 110 on a recent ride.  I told her, "no". 

I rarely break a hunj anymore, but it is still a rush when it happens. 

[ridingron]

I rarely break a hunj anymore, but it is still a rush when it happens. 

I've done that on every bike I've owned. The Valks and ST1100's were easy. The scariest was on a Moto Guzzi Centauro (1000cc), plenty of power just all over the road. The hardest was a BMW F650. It took a while but it got there. The guys claim they'll run 85 all day but I wouldn't want to try.

[John Schmidt]

I was busting 95mph at times on the trike last summer coming back from Rapid City. Was racing what turned out to be a heavy rain storm with strong winds and was on my last 25 miles from home. Soon as I closed the garage door the sky opened up. Trike was solid as a rock and also had a lot more left but decided NO!

[john]

DON'T     

[mello dude]

The Valk being more of a cruiser bike, I really dont concern of "how fast" it will move..Its more about take it easy and smell the roses....

Having had a few sport bikes and even a bit of track time at Mid-Ohio.... whao.. nothing like blasting out of the keyhole and hammering down the back straight... 150ish + easy....

I'm not a cruiser only guy, anything with 2 wheels, big, small... I'm game.

[Valkorado]

DON'T     

   Really, the best advice of all!  Just say no.

I've been there countless times and it's been real fun, but there have been a times where I've questioned my sensibilities.  Haven't I grown too old for this stuff yet?  Then I redline through the first four gears, and feel young again.  An old fart's main temptation, I guess. 

These Valkyries are solid beasts.  They are old, too.  Bushings, bearings, gears, suspension.  A little shimmy or minor wobble on a 22 year old behemoth can quell your enthusiasm and bring ya back to the limits of the law pretty quickly.  It has with me, anyway.

[jim@98valkyrie.com]

I’ve been to 115 a couple times with my Tourer. That’s fast enough for me.

[Bagger John - #3785]

My first Tourer would easily sail past 140, and my first I/S was right on its tail.

Haven't repeated the runs with the second of each. Tourer needs new tires first.

If I want Ludicrous Speed these days, either of my C14s will go faster than Joe Walsh's Maserati.

[rocketray]

seems redline and top gear is 145-150 mph-that would be sans windshield and chin on the tank and with the ATTIC RAT mod and a VIKING header-I did  150mph  at COTA on a stock Suzuki GSX650F on the back straitaway-chin on tank-it is rated at 90 hp- the track has rather un-nerving  blind rise about a third of the way down that back straight

[chevyc0323]

Are you guys reading speed on a GPS, or on the valk clock? My 1st IS would top out at 125 on the clock, but GPS said 115. It was HP limited, WOT in 4th or 5th at the same speed.

[Heathen]

My 2001 Valk would hit 137.  It was fully custom painted and in retrospect I bet the previous owner also did some mods to it.  At the time I was too new to Valk's and didn't realize what I had.  Wish I would not have sold it.   Anybody seen it?  It's sorta purple-red with HEAVY METAL painted on the tank.  I'll buy it back if it's for sale.

Anyway, my current 99 Valk has some running rich issues that I have no clue how to fix.  Still, I tested it up to about 115, not sure if it had much more to give.    It's got a K & N filter and a windshield that I cut down a little, but still a big windshield, bags, and a 300lb lump sitting on it.    Maybe I'll try an oem air filter and see if that helps.

For those people that say, it's a cruiser I don't care how fast it will go..   I get that it's not a race bike...   BUT I want to know my top speed just in case I ever need it.  I can also use my top speed to know or detect if my bike is running right.  If it's smooth, stable, balanced, etc all the way to whatever that top speed is, then I know all is right with the world, and the bike will be smooth and stable at slower speeds.  IF I start taking it up to max, but around 90 and it starts to cough, or wobble, or something then I'd know there was a problem.  A problem that might not have manifested so clearly at lower speeds.  I'm not saying you have to do that either, just saying that is ONE little reason for running a non race bike up to it's maximum at least once, just to make sure it's working like it should.

Also, sometimes it's more fun to ride a slow bike (cruiser) fast, than it is to ride a race bike slow.  I had a blast once riding my wife's bike on the freeway.  IT was a virago, and I think it was like 600 or so cc's.  I had the throttle cranked WIDE open, hunkered down to reduce drag, BARELY made it to 72 mph (I don't actually remember the  number this has been decades ago), and had a blast trying to not be a road obstacle.     On the other hand, my old boss let me ride his Haybusa once, and riding that crotch rocket sedately (55mph+) down Westheimer just wasn't really that thrilling, if you can see what I mean.

Some guys just get carried away and like to use that maximum speed mechanical check every time they take the bike out!!  Those guys make me sick. sick. sick.  They're taking their life in the own hands, and what about their families if they wreck, what if they kill someone.  It's a crying shame, and one day I'll be old enough to mellow out and drop out of their ranks, the sick bastards. 

Just realized I got on a tangent there and on a soapbox.  sorry.. bad day at work, sometimes my mind spirals.  I needed the mental escape. 

Cheers!

[98valk]

My 2001 Valk would hit 137.  It was fully custom painted and in retrospect I bet the previous owner also did some mods to it.  At the time I was too new to Valk's and didn't realize what I had.  Wish I would not have sold it.   Anybody seen it?  It's sorta purple-red with HEAVY METAL painted on the tank.  I'll buy it back if it's for sale.

Anyway, my current 99 Valk has some running rich issues that I have no clue how to fix.  Still, I tested it up to about 115, not sure if it had much more to give.    It's got a K & N filter and a windshield that I cut down a little, but still a big windshield, bags, and a 300lb lump sitting on it.    Maybe I'll try an oem air filter and see if that helps.

For those people that say, it's a cruiser I don't care how fast it will go..   I get that it's not a race bike...   BUT I want to know my top speed just in case I ever need it.  I can also use my top speed to know or detect if my bike is running right.  If it's smooth, stable, balanced, etc all the way to whatever that top speed is, then I know all is right with the world, and the bike will be smooth and stable at slower speeds.  IF I start taking it up to max, but around 90 and it starts to cough, or wobble, or something then I'd know there was a problem.  A problem that might not have manifested so clearly at lower speeds.  I'm not saying you have to do that either, just saying that is ONE little reason for running a non race bike up to it's maximum at least once, just to make sure it's working like it should.

Also, sometimes it's more fun to ride a slow bike (cruiser) fast, than it is to ride a race bike slow.  I had a blast once riding my wife's bike on the freeway.  IT was a virago, and I think it was like 600 or so cc's.  I had the throttle cranked WIDE open, hunkered down to reduce drag, BARELY made it to 72 mph (I don't actually remember the  number this has been decades ago), and had a blast trying to not be a road obstacle.     On the other hand, my old boss let me ride his Haybusa once, and riding that crotch rocket sedately (55mph+) down Westheimer just wasn't really that thrilling, if you can see what I mean.

Some guys just get carried away and like to use that maximum speed mechanical check every time they take the bike out!!  Those guys make me sick. sick. sick.  They're taking their life in the own hands, and what about their families if they wreck, what if they kill someone.  It's a crying shame, and one day I'll be old enough to mellow out and drop out of their ranks, the sick bastards. 

Just realized I got on a tangent there and on a soapbox.  sorry.. bad day at work, sometimes my mind spirals.  I needed the mental escape. 

Cheers!

k/n lets in a ton of dirt,
https://www.project200.com.au/dm-iso5011/

dyno tests out there so airflow disruption inside of motorcycle air boxes.

[Willow]

k/n lets in a ton of dirt,
https://www.project200.com.au/dm-iso5011/

dyno tests out there so airflow disruption inside of motorcycle air boxes.

B.S.  A ton is more dirt that the Valkyrie could hold by a factor of more than 10,000. 

I run K&N filters on all my Valkyries and have for hundreds of thousands of miles.  People who claim the K&N will cause damage in my opinion are spouting stupidity based upon "tests" which provide what the particular vendors wish to claim.

Don't spout to me about "tests".  Talk to me about results.

[98valk]

k/n lets in a ton of dirt,
https://www.project200.com.au/dm-iso5011/

dyno tests out there so airflow disruption inside of motorcycle air boxes.

B.S.  A ton is more dirt that the Valkyrie could hold by a factor of more than 10,000.  

I run K&N filters on all my Valkyries and have for hundreds of thousands of miles.  People who claim the K&N will cause damage in my opinion are spouting stupidity based upon "tests" which provide what the particular vendors wish to claim.

Don't spout to me about "tests".  Talk to me about results.

"B.S.  A ton is more dirt that the Valkyrie could hold by a factor of more than 10,000.  "
not in one 100 mile run but over the course of yrs and many miles.
one example of how much air an engine ingests
https://carhampt.com/how-much-air-does-a-car-engine-use/
A car engine typically uses between 12 and 20 gallons of air per minute.

 if u read the test and the results provided in the web link u would see how much dirt is let through.
 The results would have to be u dyno tested and compression tested your engine before k/n air filter install and then after so many yrs and 100k miles retest and see the lower numbers in both of those tests.  
Used oil analysis (UOA) has proven over and over again that using a k/n air filter results in higher levels of dirt in the oil, which had to pass by the piston rings to get into the oil. There is zero dispute to UOA testing.

The ISO5011 test is the gold standard in air filter testing. It's used by every major vehicle, engine and filter company in the World to design and rate their air filters.

Some years ago, Arlen Spicer, (a Chev Duramax owner) wanted to compare various air filters to suit his vehicle. Thanks to a fellow enthusiast and employee at Testand corporation, who manufacture ISO5011 testing equipment, he managed to inspire the most comprehensive independent comparison of air filters ever conducted. He has given me permission to reproduce it here.

While not a test of LandCruiser 200 filters, this test gives an excellent insight into the performance of different flat panel air filters, including paper, Unifilter foam and K&N, all tested scientifically under the same conditions, using the same dust and airflow.

Enjoy.

[Willow]

Once again, I have hundreds of thousands of miles on my Valkyries using K&N filters.  How many miles does your experience contain?  I'm not contesting whether more "dirt" is let through I am denying the claim that the filter does damage to the Valkyrie engine.

We've side-tracked the original intention of this thread.  I won't discuss further due to my complete disrespect for any real information you have to deliver on this side topic.  I tried very hard to stay away from the personal attack so there are words in my normal vocabulary that I didn't use.