2003 Standard Refresh Project

[Hawkbeard]

Purchased 2003 Standard 49-State with 26k miles in late 2022 but most work done in June '23.  I wanted to share my journey working though it, partly to say thanks to folks on this board and also to any others who may take on similar projects.  BIG shoutout to Jared from https://www.valkyrieflatsix.com/ who rebuilt/tuned/synched my carbs and somehow kept answering my random calls and texts about a hose or clamp or strange sound during disassembly/reassembly.

I am an inexperienced rider and not particularly adept with a wrench, but I'm pretty (wife would say "incredibly") optimistic when it comes to DIY and doesn't seem to be any resources near me who are comfortable working on this bike.

Bike as purchased:


Just fell in love with this bike, as I do not have to explain on this forum. Particularly with the cobra drag pipes.  Never cared about exhaust notes or anything like before, in any vehicles, but this sound just awakens something in me.  I listen to the drag pipes on youtube to relax.

Upon initial inspection, I thought this bike was relatively stock.  I came to find out that previous owner(s) seemed to do some mods halfway.


Stripped down bike on the lift (June '23):


I had about 6 months of riding to have a better idea of what I wanted/didn't want out of this bike.  Like most things, I wanted to really get the mechanical functions to a really good place before I worried about aesthetics and comfort.  I was very very nervous to take apart the bike and consider it a minor miracle that everything works after putting it together, so I don't want to do that any more than I have to and hopefully not anytime in the next few years.  I also had most of June as a "geographic bachelor" as the wife and kids spent most of June in Texas, while I was in Cali.  So I wanted to get as much done while I had some time to myself and not taking up space in garage.

Work complete so far:
- Change oil/filter (no issues)
- New battery (died suddenly, might have left key on)
- Upgraded engine guard and radiator cover to chrome from http://www.roadstyler.com/
- Purchased chrome saddlebag supports, front fender guard and rear luggage rack (haven't installed yet) from http://www.roadstyler.com/
- Installed Kuryakyn highway pegs (haven't quite got them configured how I like them yet)
- Upgraded to Golan manual (non-vacuum) fuel selector/petcock
- Completed full desmog (previous owner only seemed to do halfway)
- Replaced spark plugs (oem, no issues)
- Installed rider backrest (https://www.utpr.com/valkyrie.html)
- Installed lamb skin seat covers (Alaska Leather)
- Replaced front brake master cylinder and refreshed fluid
- upgraded to waterless Coolant
- Refreshed clutch fluid
- Replaced KN air filter with new OEM
- Installed valve cap bluetooth TPMS (FOBO)
- Upgraded exhaust to 6-into-6 Cobra drag pipes (including new o-rings)
- New O-rings for intakes
- Installed memphis shades fork wind deflectors
- Sent carbs to rebuild/rejet/tune/synch/add electronic fuel shutoff (https://www.valkyrieflatsix.com)
Jared sent me lots of pics along the way, seemed to be in relatively rough condition.  Can go more into detail on this in later post.
- Install Boss Bags trunk (still tweaking the mounting, probably go into this in later post)

Current State (July '23)


I'll wrap up this initial post and talk more about next steps below.  Hopefully pictures work for everyone, if not I will try different host.  Feel free to ask questions, complain I didn't do something right, whatever you prefer.  Really appreciate all the years of experience in this community and really really enjoying riding my Valk.  

[Hawkbeard]

Next Steps (August '23):

- Purchased exhaust wrap for the front half (closest to engine) of pipes, and using ceramic coating (Avalon) on the rear half.  Waiting for wrap to arrive so I can complete this.
- Purchased Angelus leather paint, going to try and paint the seats to match the trunk.  I am 99% sure the seats are vinyl, but my reading says that the paint should work fine on vinyl.  Just experimenting with surfaces that are not visible to make sure I can match color and still have comfortable surface.
- I have brand new OEM (or OEM-like) clutch master cylinder but I am going to wait until I need to bleed the system to install.
- I have a Rifle windshield but I want to ride more with my newly installed for deflectors to see if I really need it.
- I'd like to refresh final drive oil.
- I am interested in vinyl wrap my gas tank and fenders. I just hate black (sorry) for my own bike and looking at lighter color schemes.  But haven't started that process.

That's my near term stuff. 

[da prez]

Good idea to go thru the bike. It will serve you well.  Preventive maintenance is better than break down maintenance. Unless I missed it , check the tires for drying out and date code. One tire failure is 50% loss. I would recommend a tire sealer product for new tires. (tire tite or similar)

  WELCOME to the addiction. You have Valk family nearby.

                                               da prez

[Chrisj CMA]

What do the drive and cup splines look like?

[Bagger John - #3785]

What do the drive and cup splines look like?

Definitely something I'd look at.

Drag pipes are a subject of contention around many motorcycle forums and real-life groups. I had a set of 6x6 on my Tourer. They'll actually downgrade performance, so they were sold and a set of OEM pipes installed in their place.

If you still want the sound but no power loss, get in touch with forum member MarkT and inquire about a set of his pipe conversions.

[98valk]

my post about final drive oil, updated from that post I now use semi-synthetic Valvoline which has a high VI than the others  after they upgraded since the last time I checked.

https://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,110541.0.html

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/28956/lubricant-viscosity-index

High or Low Viscosity Index needed?

If conditions are not constant (variable loads, variable speeds, variable ambient temperatures, etc.), then there is a need for not only the optimum viscosity but also a high viscosity index to stabilize the optimum viscosity. The more variable the conditions, the greater the need for high VI oils.

Also, keep in mind that for a great many machines there has been no past experimental or theoretical effort to identify the optimum viscosity. Viscosity selection is more of a wild guess. This too calls for a high VI lubricant.

A lubricant may merit having a high VI for one or more of the following reasons:

    The optimum viscosity is not known
    Varying loads and speeds exist
    Varying ambient temperatures exist
    To boost energy efficiency
    To boost oil service life (lower average temperature)
    To boost machine service life (fewer repairs and downtime)

Cheaper, lower VI lubricants may make sense if:

    Speeds and loads are constant
    Temperature is constant (constant ambient temperature or a heat exchanger is in use)
    The optimum viscosity at the operating temperature is known and is consistently achieved

For 75w90 oils;

checking mobil 1 gear oil, it actually has a low VI and according to the above is not good for valkyrie final drives which needs a high VI.

Mobil 1 syn gear oil has a VI of 146.
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/for-personal-vehicles/our-products/products/mobil-1-syn-gear-lube-ls-75w-90/

checking some others, Valvoline syn has a VI of 150.
https://sharena21.springcm.com/Public/Document/18452/3e467451-fe75-e711-9c10-ac162d889bd3/cf662252-0bbd-e711-9c12-ac162d889bd1

Peak Auto syn has VI of 162  and has the lowest cost.
https://peakauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/PEAK_Gear_Lubricant_Oil_75W90_75W-140_Oil_Spec_Sheet_2016.pdf

Amsoil severe gear has VI of 166.
https://amsoilcontent.com/ams/lit/databulletins/g2043.pdf

Amsoil long life has VI of  143.
https://amsoilcontent.com/ams/lit/databulletins/g2042.pdf

my post about importance of proper lubrication of u-joint

https://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,116696.40.html

So my conclusion is to make sure the U-Joint splines are correctly lubricated, to prevent the drive shaft to final drive splines aka spline coupling (SC) from wearing out. I also installed a new driveshaft to spline cup seal every other tire change.

The SC in a perfect application would have zero forward/rearward movement and would be submerged in oil which would result in zero wear and fretting. Fretting is a type of corrosion which gives that rust powder look. Is not from water intrusion. In some applications they actually glue the splines together to stop movement.

Honda provided the locking spring clip on the SC end of the drive shaft to help reduce movement of the SC, but it is still not a solid zero movement connection. So this is where the lubricated U-joint splines come into effect, thereby doing all of the movement, to reduce or actually eliminate any SC movement.

In a few of the links I provide it is stated that the SC splines should be hardened to greatly reduce wear.  Did Honda do this to the parts?

In my case I inadvertently mixed greases with different bases for the u-joint splines, by re-greasing and not cleaning off the old grease.
My fault, at the time, I didn't realize they had different bases. So what happened the greases started to dry out and not provide the easy sliding movement as needed and the SC failed in 17k miles.

For re-installing the U-Joint boot I coated the inside lips with silicone grease and it pops on with zero problems. suggest not to use a silicone spray which has petroleum products in it and other things which could degrade the boot material.

So to bring this all together, proper lubrication of the u-joint splines is extremely important and should be done every tire change to protect the SC. 
This time I used moly bearing chassis grease for the U-Joint for even more friction reduction and easier sliding.

For the SC I mixed TS-70 moly paste with some high temp grease so there would be about a 50/50 moly to grease ratio as recommended by the Dan Foss pdf which is a much higher percent of moly than the 3% moly grease the Honda manual calls for.

The following documents have some very good info about SCs and lubrication requirements.

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/693/fretting-wear

https://www.powertransmission.com/issues/0214/spline-couplings.pdf

https://assets.danfoss.com/documents/76142/AI152986482538en-000304.pdf

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=423609

https://gearsolutions.com/departments/tooth-tips-a-brief-overview-of-splines/

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=383504