De smog

[6Banger]

Is anyone still making and selling desmog kits?

[97BLKVALK]

https://valkyriecarbsandcustom.com/ols/products/valkyrie-1500-desmog-kit


Also I believe Red Eye still offers a kit too.

Michael

[RonW]

Hi, you don't need any desmog kits whatsoever. Everything required is at your disposible by refitting the oem parts. The kits did the refitment for you, of course. A plug for the air filter spout that supplies the PAIR valve with fresh air is the lone exception.

[6Banger]

Thanks guys. I don't believe redeye is selling any longer, at least from what I see. I think you're correct in using old parts...basically plugging holes.

[hubcapsc]

I did it this way 15 years ago, never a problem...

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/smog.htm

-Mike

[RonW]

Thanks guys. I don't believe redeye is selling any longer, at least from what I see. I think you're correct in using old parts...basically plugging holes.

Good attitude!


Below, some notes that you can refer to if you like.

Keep the heads of the air injection tubes to reuse as plugs. Cut the heads off (orange lines) and seal them from the inside with solder, JB weld, etc., until the filler oozes out. Then file down a smooth profile.




The second necessary part is the hold downs. No. 11 has been discontinued.




There's one factory hold down per side of the engine but you'll need two. They're worth their weight in gold at this point. Do not lose.




Red Eye use to make hold downs and plugs.




Again you'll need two hold downs per side of the engine. Unfortunately, the factory integrated (welded) the second hold down to the air injection tubes.
So you'll have to figure out how to cannbalize the second hold down as it's a discontinued product and Red Eye stopped making theirs. It wouldn't hurt asking Red Eye if there's a few left around though.




I used this plug from Darryl when they were available. This is not my photo but I used the same plug.




Another option is freeze plugs. Top it off with a chrome button. No hold downs required.




Bottom dweller air tube. It's almost a crime not to reuse it as a plug.

[da prez]

 Freeze plugs are 14mm , not 9/16.  Do not let anyone tell you different.  9/16 is .5625 and 14mm is .551.  I use freeze plugs on all de-smogs.

                                                      da prez

[hubcapsc]

I just received two sets of intake runners from Pinwall, $13 for each set:



Now I have some more useless intake runners, some good bolts
and four bits of unobtainium. It is ambiguous whether that stain is
dirt or surface rust, but Nevr-Dull will make it shiny enough to
go on Smokin' Joes bikes...

-Mike

[RonW]

Those thingies are worth $5 a piece, easy. For some reason they're never sold with the used air tubes.

[RonW]

I found some hold downs (stays) available but they're a dime a piece. About the only other oem parts website that still sells them, MotoSPORT, quotes them at $14.64.

[hueco]

I did a redneck, hillbilly, backyard, shade tree, desmog. Didn't cost a cent. My Valk has never run better. And. For so long.  No more vacuum line leaks. I do not recommend this for everyone. I made it work for me. Without any negative effects. Ride safe.

[RonW]

I did a redneck, hillbilly, backyard, shade tree, desmog. Didn't cost a cent. My Valk has never run better. And. For so long.  No more vacuum line leaks. I do not recommend this for everyone. I made it work for me. Without any negative effects. Ride safe.

No pics didn't happen. Like, how did you plug the air filter spout? I mean did you find a new way? Better way!

[RonW]

I still don't understand how the hold downs (stays) got sold out on almost every oem parts websites. Who buys them except for desmog? It's not a part that gets damaged.
Even if the factory produced a limited supply, at $10 a piece they ain't gonna sell. Maybe it was priced at $2 then some other bike brand owners ransacked the inventory
to use it for whatever. Now that the part is few, the vendors jacked up the price. Seriously, I can't imagine this little part being sold for $10 way back.





When you desmog you lose two hold downs since they're tack welded to the air injection tubes and the air injection tubes are eliminated. But the hold downs
still can be used by grinding off the air injection tubes at the weld. The weld is on the under side where grind marks will be hidden. There's two welded hold downs.
The two other hold downs on the engine are unwelded and to differentiate them apart they'll be referred hereonafter as the 'good hold downs.'




The good hold downs are bolted to the base of the intake runners. The bolts sit at a higher elevation than the top of the plugs (green colors)
so you'd need a step-down hold down in reference to the bolt.




Below, the step-down section.




A horizontal leg accomodates any horizontal offsets.




Since form is just as important as function, whittle away the parts of the blank that don't resemble a hold down and two months later you'd get B,
the preferred embodiment of the present invention.




The diy hold downs replace the hold downs that are welded to the air tubes. However on those, the plugs are higher than the bolts
so they require step-up hold downs in reference to the bolt.




Rotating a step-down hold down 180° makes it into a step-up hold down. Does it work since many upside down parts, mirror images, so forth, don't always align with the
part that they suppose to? Perhaps, test fit the good hold down in the new position. I would test them out but my hold downs are under tons of things in the locker room.




I used Darryl's stainless steel plugs that don't required hold downs.

[hubcapsc]

I still don't understand how the hold downs (stays) got sold out on almost every oem parts
websites. Who buys them except for desmog? It's not a part that gets damaged.

They are among the many little chrome frobs that get rusty on bikes that have to
sit outside. Mine were rusty when I got my bike... I keep my eye out for those little things when
they go by on eBay...



-Mike

[RonW]

ah-ha!

Seriously though, are all 4 corners interchangeble? The hold down aligns with the pattern of the bolt and the plug.

[hubcapsc]

ah-ha!

Seriously though, are all 4 corners interchangeble? The hold down aligns with the pattern of the bolt and the plug.

I'll have to go out there and take a picture, I don't remember exact details... it was 2019
when I changed out my rusty ones... I think I replaced the ones I had to grind the smog
pipes off with ones like these...

-Mike

[RonW]

Well, I thought you desmogged so the air tube wouldn't be there. Redeye's stainless steel material probably more practical if the chrome there is a rust spot.

[hubcapsc]

Well, I thought you desmogged so the air tube wouldn't be there. Redeye's stainless steel material probably more practical if the chrome there is a rust spot.

I desmogged using a recipe that used to be in shop-talk... now it
looks as if has been rewritten using some kind of "shiny desmog kit"
or something... anywho... I cut the chrome top plugs off the pipes,
filled the chrome top plugs with epoxy and turned them in so that
the plugged hole is hidden. The hold-downs are still needed in each
corner. I dremel-ed out a couple of bottom plates from some aluminum
from Lowes...



-Mike

[Knapdog]

After stating elsewhere on the forum some time ago that I would never desmog the Valk as, to me, it was important to keep them original, I have now done so.
I had an unused Redeye kit I'd previously bought, just in case I'd ever change my mind, and fitted it last week.
I've tinkered so much with the bike I can now get the tank, air filter and carbs out in pretty quick time.
With the carb cage upside down I also richened them from 2 and 1/4 turns out to another 1/12th out, just out of interest to note any difference.
Off came the Pair valve and all the hardware with no problems whatsoever.  I had no need to take the exhausts off to fit the bottom blanking plates.
Refitting the six air filter box "legs" I always double check that they can spin freely on the intakes with no "squidging" before tightening up.
I re-synched the carbs with my Digisync and all was fine.
Psychologically you feel it's going better than before but it's more than likely the same.
So, I've no more concern with the pipe between #3 and #4 intakes etc. With a standard exhaust on there was no deceleration popping concerns anyway.
I would say that, in my case, I didn't need to do it, but it's done and I'm happy. I've kept and labelled everything I took off should I ever sell it and the new owner wanted the bits, including the broken #1 pipe you have to cut off.
I had previously done it on a cb1300,  which was a very common forum thing to do and the bike definitely seemed to run better.

[hubcapsc]

I didn't need to do it, but it's done and I'm happy.

I did mine when the bike was new to me, as was all the Valkyrie lore
and pingles and chrome covers and desmogging...

Later I helped Stanley Steamer change out all his still-smogged
vacuum lines, it wasn't hard and his bike runs great...

-Mike

[RonW]

One of the reasons I desmoged was to get rid of the clutter on top of the engine so it'll be less cumbersome to clean that area. You get extra points if you're able to wrangle the bottom dweller air tube out in one piece. I ended up breaking them in two. I was almost there too. But then only so many hours in a day.

[Mooskee]

One of the reasons I desmoged was to get rid of the clutter on top of the engine so it'll be less cumbersome to clean that area. You get extra points if you're able to wrangle the bottom dweller air tube out in one piece. I ended up breaking them in two. I was almost there too. But then only so many hours in a day.

They must have hung that tube on a string, and built the bike around it.