New guy here, picking up my grandfather's Valkyrie.

[ryno9100]

You have your work lined up for you. Don't expect it to be over quickly, good luck.
Jim

We'll see how dedicated to the cause I am. Lol.

The rust in the tank is mild enough that I think I can get away with a few gallons of vinegar and a few days of soaking. I'll disassemble the carbs while that does it's magic and see how bad they look. If I can get those two done and get the bike fired up and running, I'll be in a pretty great spot. At that point, it's just consumables. Oil change/filter, brake fluid and checking the pads, checking the battery and once all that is done, magic eraser for the outside and some new shoes front and back. I'll have whoever installs them inspect the drive splines, but at 28,000 on the odometer, I can't imagine they're bad.

[Valker]

I recommend EvapoRust rather than vinegar.

[CamTom12]

Brought her home today!

Looks great!!

[ryno9100]

I recommend EvapoRust rather than vinegar.

I thought about going that route, but 6.5 gallons of evaporust is significantly more expensive than vinegar. If the vinegar doesn't work, I'm only out a few bucks, so it's worth trying in my opinion.

[Skinhead]

Buy some oxalic acid from Amazon.  Mix a couple cups with enough water to fill the tank, works better than vinegar.  Fludh with water & baking soda when clean.

[ryno9100]

Alright. Got some work on on this thing over the weekend.

I took the fuel tank off and found 3 wasps nests. One on the underside of the tank and 2 hanging off the airbox. Thankfully all 3 were dead... Lol. The tank is definitely rusty, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The fuel lines definitely need replaced. I'm basically just going to buy a bunch of fuel line and replace all of soft rubber between the fuel tank and the engine itself.



The fuel petcock is definitely in need of some replacing.



I made up my own order for the cylinders/carbs because I didn't have the service manual pulled up on my laptop when I decided to label these... Lol. It's good enough to keep track. The carbs are off and partially disassembled. The carb I have marked as #2 was still full of gas, as was the cylinder (and I presume the combustion chamber is full of old gas too). Carb 4 had a very small amount of gas. The other 4 were bone dry and are in decent condition from the looks of it.



Putting in photos of carb 2 since it was the worst one. I won't make you guys scroll through all 6.



For reference, this is 6, and it was the cleanest


I placed a bunch of orders. The fuel petcock was rotted through, so I have one of those on the way. My dad was insistent I try the vinegar method before resorting to any serious acids, so I've got some 30% distilled vinegar on the way, as well as some rubber stoppers to block the hole from the petcock. If the vinegar doesn't work after a 72 hours soak with some screws in it, I'll move up to Oxalic acid, as suggested here. I found a carb rebuild kit that had some really good reviews with over 100 of them sold on Ebay. The carbs don't look awful, but I'm going to rebuild them anyways. I pulled the battery this morning and the manufacturer code seems to suggest it was made in 2007, so I'm going to grab a LI-Ion battery from Revzilla. I'll be heading to a parts store on the Versys today to grab a bunch of fuel line today to cut to size.

All of my parts should be here by Friday and my wife is going to be out of town starting Saturday for a week, so I'll have plenty of time to tinker this coming week. I've got a handful of magic erasers I'm using as I go to try to get some of the initial dirt off. Once the bike is running properly, I'll give it a proper thorough wash.

Honestly, I think the part I'm least looking forward to is running the new fuel/vacuum lines. The carbs are tedious but ultimately easy. The fuel tank just takes a little patience. Once I have the carbs and fuel tank back on, I'm going to do a coolant flush and an oil change before I ever try to crank the bike up.

[ryno9100]

Forgot to mention. The one thing that worries me a little is when I pull the throttle linkage, everything feels extremely sluggish to move with it. I'm hoping when I run carb cleaner through it, it'll help smooth things out. I'm waiting on the rebuild kit to do that part.

[Jess from VA]

You may lube the throttle linkage, but don't lube the choke cable because that often results in it not staying engaged and having to be held with the thumb, to work.  Maybe the choke linkage, but not the cable.

[RP#62]

Forgot to mention. The one thing that worries me a little is when I pull the throttle linkage, everything feels extremely sluggish to move with it. I'm hoping when I run carb cleaner through it, it'll help smooth things out. I'm waiting on the rebuild kit to do that part.

Once you de-varnish the carbs that should fix the sluggishness - just make sure that each separate carb works freely.

-RP

[ryno9100]

Forgot to mention. The one thing that worries me a little is when I pull the throttle linkage, everything feels extremely sluggish to move with it. I'm hoping when I run carb cleaner through it, it'll help smooth things out. I'm waiting on the rebuild kit to do that part.

Once you de-varnish the carbs that should fix the sluggishness - just make sure that each separate carb works freely.

-RP

Sounds good. I started on this today, but I'm gonna need something stronger than a toothbrush. I'll run by the hardware store tomorrow for an engine brush kit

[Avanti]

You need to sonic clean those carburetors, after removing the air cut valves. No air pressure to the air cut valves, it will damage them and they are extremely expensive to replace.

[ryno9100]

You need to sonic clean those carburetors, after removing the air cut valves. No air pressure to the air cut valves, it will damage them and they are extremely expensive to replace.

Actually... I think I've got a buddy with one. I presume I'd want to remove all the gaskets and stuff before putting it in there as well. I've never used a sonic cleaner, in case it's not clear.

[Knapdog]

Good luck with your refurbishitment (is that a word?)

A good word for where a project hasn't been renovated very well. 

[Knapdog]

I recommend EvapoRust rather than vinegar.

Had very good results with Evaporust also.

[luftkoph]

Be careful with what you use in the ultra sonic cleaner, many cleaners will darken the carburetor bodies, which are made from a zinc alloy, I’ve personally used simple green professional HD, just  a little bit to color the water, turn up the heat and run it for 30 min. Rinse in clean water, and as nasty as those carbs look it may take a few cycles in the cleaner to get them looking good.

Good luck enjoy seeing your progress.

[RonW]

Is the front cylinder on the Right bank the No. 1 cylinder or No. 5 as ryno9100 has it in his photo? I thought it was 1.

[ryno9100]

Is the front cylinder on the Right bank the No. 1 cylinder or No. 5 as ryno9100 has it in his photo? I thought it was 1.

I mentioned earlier that I made up those cylinder order on the spot because I didn't have the diagram handy when I made that. I know it's not the official order, but it's good enough for me to keep track of it.

[RonW]

I wasn't question you, sir. I was questioning myself.

[ryno9100]

I wasn't question you, sir. I was questioning myself.

Gotcha! I wasn't upset or anything, just clearing up any confusion I caused.

[Heathen]

Third, definitely rust in the tank. It doesn't look as bad as I expected, but it needs fixing. It also smells of old gas, so that's fun. Lol.

I love how you seem to casually say there's rust in the tank.  My man...   It looks like the tank IS rust maybe held in shape by the paint on the outside!!  Wow!  That's a lot of rust.  Please share whatever technique you end up using and how successful it is.  My dad had a 99 Valkyrie with a rusted tank.  He took it to a "motorcycle mechanic" and the guy put some kind of chemical in it that completed bubbled the paint job on the outside but didn't remove the rust very much.  My dad tossed the tank, and bought a new one, but I always wondered how it could have been saved.

cheers!

[ryno9100]

Third, definitely rust in the tank. It doesn't look as bad as I expected, but it needs fixing. It also smells of old gas, so that's fun. Lol.

I love how you seem to casually say there's rust in the tank.  My man...   It looks like the tank IS rust maybe held in shape by the paint on the outside!!  Wow!  That's a lot of rust.  Please share whatever technique you end up using and how successful it is.  My dad had a 99 Valkyrie with a rusted tank.  He took it to a "motorcycle mechanic" and the guy put some kind of chemical in it that completed bubbled the paint job on the outside but didn't remove the rust very much.  My dad tossed the tank, and bought a new one, but I always wondered how it could have been saved.

cheers!

I honestly don't know what a lot of rust looks like. I saw bare metal and was honestly just happy it wasn't literally pure rust. My first treatment supplies are coming in today, so we'll see how it goes

[ryno9100]

Got my 30% vinegar in yesterday and set it up in the tank, diluting it down to 5-10% with water. Before I filled it up, I washed it out with dish soap and water and got a good bit of the flaked off chunks out of the tank so the vinegar would have less to do and to knock lose any fuel residue and it get out. Today I topped off the water after realizing I hadn't filled the overflow tank. I'm letting it sit for 72 hours, but the water that was perfectly clear is now a muddy brown-ish color, so that's a good sign. I've got 38 spare screws in it and am agitating every 12-ish hours.

My carb rebuild kit came in today. New flat valves, main jets, pilot jets and o rings for everything. I've got a friend coming over Saturday to help me get the carbs cleaned and rebuilt. I've already cleaned out all 6 bowls, but he wanted to give me a hand, so I'm going to wait to do the rest. I'll be removing the air cutoff valves before I do the inside of the carbs. If the fuel tank looks good by then and my battery gets here in time, we'll likely try to crank it for the first time that day and sync the carbs. I'll make sure I record that in case it fires up. My grandfather evidently customized the exhaust and I have no idea what it sounds like.

Battery ships in Saturday. I've got some tires picked out (either going to go with Metzelers or Shinko SE890, depends on what my local cyclegear has in stock). Grandpa is getting his old pitbull jack back in working order for me to borrow, so I'll be able to remove the tires to get them replaced. Got 10ft of vacuum and fuel lines to replace all the rubber between the bits. Hopefully that's enough, but I'll run to the store if it isn't and grab whatever else is needed.

Really looking forward to firing this thing up for the first time. I 100% don't expect it to run smoothly, but I hope it runs.

[Savago]

When you re-install the rear wheel, pay attention to the proper procedure to ensure that the final drive is aligned.

Check:
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,125270.msg1286341.html#msg1286341

[RonW]

I'll be removing the air cutoff valves before I do the inside of the carbs.

Do me a massive favor and post essentials on removing the air cutoff valves. I really never understood what they are or do. I don't believe I'm alone in that. Thanks.

[ryno9100]

I'll be removing the air cutoff valves before I do the inside of the carbs.

Do me a massive favor and post essentials on removing the air cutoff valves. I really never understood what they are or do. I don't believe I'm alone in that. Thanks.

I honestly don't know the essentials on it, I'm just going based on what some folks online have suggested. I asked ChatGPT to explain it to me. Also, for reference, ChatGPT says removing them is unnecessary, as carb cleaner alone won't damage them. It recommended just not blasting compressed air directly into the cutoff valve and you'll like be fine unless there was pre existing damage.

"In simple terms, the air cutoff valves in a carburetor are responsible for controlling the flow of air into the engine during specific engine conditions. They play a vital role in maintaining the proper air-to-fuel mixture for efficient combustion in the engine.

Here's how they work:

Normal Operation: During normal engine operation, the air cutoff valves are in the "open" position, allowing a steady flow of air into the carburetor. This air combines with the fuel in the carburetor to create the correct air-to-fuel mixture needed for the engine to run smoothly.

Deceleration: When you close the throttle suddenly, such as during engine braking or deceleration, the intake air reduces significantly. However, fuel can still be pulled into the engine by the momentum of the motorcycle. Without the air cutoff valves, the mixture would be too rich (excess fuel, insufficient air), leading to poor fuel efficiency and potential backfiring.

Role of Air Cutoff Valves: The air cutoff valves come into action during deceleration. They are designed to temporarily block off the flow of air into the carburetor. By reducing the air supply, the valves create a leaner air-to-fuel mixture. This prevents the engine from running too rich during deceleration, improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions.

Reopening: Once the throttle is opened again, the air cutoff valves return to the "open" position, allowing normal airflow for regular engine operation.

In summary, the air cutoff valves help ensure the proper air-to-fuel ratio under different engine conditions, particularly during deceleration, to optimize engine performance, fuel efficiency, and emissions control. They play a crucial role in maintaining a balanced air-to-fuel mixture for smooth engine operation throughout various driving situations."

[RonW]

When you re-install the rear wheel, pay attention to the proper procedure to ensure that the final drive is aligned.

I think Savago's method of strapping the swingarm is as simple as it gets. per his link.

The purpose of strapping the swingarm is to lift the rear axle above the mufflers for access sparing you the step of removing the mufflers. The mufflers obstruct the rear axle. You'll still have to loosen the right-side muffler enough from its mounting bracket and shim it to give it clearance so the muffler don't scrape the pumpkin as the pumpkin gets lifted up with the swingarm pass the muffler. It'll make more sense when you work on the rear wheel.

The rear wheel has to be off the ground with nothing under the rear tire when torquing the *4 bolts* so you already done that step.

The disadvantages with removing the mufflers is its 6mm studs can be finicky either spin off with its acorn nuts or break upon tightening (7ft-lbs). Also, requires new gaskets. The acorn nuts have to be retightened perhaps twice, a day later, a week later, due to the brand new gaskets. Oem gaskets are actually hollow copper rings which the per manual 7ft-lbs won't squash appropriatedly in a single try.


Savago's pics. Left side.




Right side. End of strap anchored to the right shock's top stud. I don't think the strap exerts excessive weight to bend the stud if you're careful.




Right side. This stud.




Not like this.




You could use a strut instead of straps. The strut doesn't have to be metal, it could be ¼", ⅜" plywood, etc.




Or, a more expensive turnbuckle.

[ryno9100]

Sitting on my work computer, so I can't upload pictures, but I got the carbs fully disassembled and started to reassemble them. The rebuild kit I ordered didn't have the right gaskets. I requested a return on it and have ordered the All Balls rebuild kit. Fingers crossed I can get it together. Right now, all 6 are laying disassembled on my shelf in my garage. They're nice and clean now, at least! And all the throttles twist without issue now. 2 of them were so gummed up I had to use loads of carb cleaner and a little bit of prying with some plyers to get it to work. Here's hoping that resolves my issues with the throttle linkage being hard to work.

The vinegar for the fuel tank worked! It's not perfectly clean bare metal, but there's no trace of rust. It's now coated in two-stroke motor oil and will stay that way until it's ready to be reinstalled. I did misplace the two screws that hold the gas cap and the trim piece around it on, but I'll find them before everything's totally buttoned up, or buy some replacements. If anyone knows the measurements on them, I'd appreciate the info. Otherwise I'll dig through my service manual to find it.

The petcock wasn't an exact fit, but it should work without issue. The positions on it won't line up, but I can deal with that. My battery should be arriving today.

I'm a little over budget, so even if I get it running, I may have to wait on new tires for a few weeks. Fingers crossed nothing else crops up. Managed to get all the old, worn out leather bits removed. I eventually want to find someone to clean or reupholster the Corbin seat.

[RonW]

Takes determination to work on the carbs. Oh, about them straps and struts to lift the swingarm to elevate the rear wheel, a scissors jack works also.

[ryno9100]

Damnit man.

I managed to not break anything until right near the end of reassembling the carbs.



I used a caliper to figure out it's 5.5mm by 20mm long. I'm trying to see if anywhere local would have a hollow dowel pin in stock.

[hubcapsc]

Places like McMaster Carr have tubes of all kinds of metal
in all kinds of lengths and inner/outer diameters...

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/metals/shape~round-tube/

-Mike

[luftkoph]

Are you sure of that measurement, I’ve got some spares in my carb kit but they are closer to 8mm x20mm, I’ll give them to you if you need, my small contribution to getting that unit on the road.
Send your address in a pm and I’ll ship them to you

[ryno9100]

Are you sure of that measurement, I’ve got some spares in my carb kit but they are closer to 8mm x20mm, I’ll give them to you if you need, my small contribution to getting that unit on the road.
Send your address in a pm and I’ll ship them to you

I greatly appreciate the offer, but I went ahead and ordered some from Partzilla along with an oil filter.

And you're right. I think they're 7.8mm to be exact. Partzilla listed the exact spec, but I don't remember if off the topof my head.

I'm mostly just frustrated to have another delay in the process. Lol.

[luftkoph]

Are you sure of that measurement, I’ve got some spares in my carb kit but they are closer to 8mm x20mm, I’ll give them to you if you need, my small contribution to getting that unit on the road.
Send your address in a pm and I’ll ship them to you

I greatly appreciate the offer, but I went ahead and ordered some from Partzilla along with an oil filter.

And you're right. I think they're 7.8mm to be exact. Partzilla listed the exact spec, but I don't remember if off the topof my head.

I'm mostly just frustrated to have another delay in the process. Lol.

You’re welcome if I have any misc. things around and you need them I’ll try and help out

[ridingron]

...  I did misplace the two screws that hold the gas cap and the trim piece around it on, but I'll find them before everything's totally buttoned up, or buy some replacements. If anyone knows the measurements on them, I'd appreciate the info   

Looks like #27 -- SCREW-WASHER (4X16)   93892-04016-00 --  $.95

https://www.partsfish.com/oemparts/a/hon/506c2f70f870023420a31b59/fuel-tank

[ryno9100]

Well, the part that Partzilla told me would take 2 weeks to arrive got here in 2 days. Thanks modern shipping!!

Carbs are rebuilt and reassembled!



 I've replaced 5 of the 6 carb drain tubes. There's one tube that was laying under the bike that I'm trying to find the location of. It was laying where I've drawn the blue line below, sitting atop the engine itself and running under the battery area. It's the same size as the carb drain tubes. I'm digging through the service manual to try to find it, but if someone here can tell me what it is, that'd help. I'm done working on this guy today, but once these lines are replaced, I'll be ready to reassemble the whole thing and crank it up for the first time!

[RonW]

Fuel tank vent line? Mean Green® is a good cleaner.

[ryno9100]

Fuel tank vent line? Mean Green® is a good cleaner.

I'm about 90% sure you're right. I can't find anything else it might be. Thankfully, that's an easy one to replace. Once that's done, I just need to reassemble.

[ryno9100]

On further inspection, I think it's a vacuum line for the intake tube. I thought I marked which ones had vacuum lines and which didn't, I I evidently did not. I also didn't note where these lines connect to.

Edit: Found this. It's likely the best answer to my question.
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php?topic=95448.0

[RonW]

On further inspection, I think it's a vacuum line for the intake tube.

If so, that would be the rear most intake tube (runner) on the right bank. The tube originates from the fuel valve and is the vacuum line for the fuel valve diaphram.

Below, apparently the fuel tank's vent line is there. Also its translucent.

[RonW]

Oh, btw, that Mean Green® was a recommendation from a forum member and is amazing on the Valk engine's silver areas. Available at the dollar store. I get mine at Walmart.