MINOR UPDATE: It's alive...the Wing motor swap.

[John Schmidt]

I put some gas in my external test tank and hooked it up to the fuel line that attaches to the petcock. Did one last walk-around, kicked it into neutral and hit the starter...it had been on the charger for a couple hours this morning and had a good charge on the battery so turned over with gusto. First try no results, I let it set for a minute then tried a second time...it began to fire but not start. Then noticed...I forgot to turn the test tank petcock on! DUH! Hit it a third time and away she went but did need some choke at first. Had a lot of smoke due to me spraying the cylinders with oil to prevent rust, won't have skeeters for a while. Let it run and one cylinder isn't running good unless you goose it and smooths out then, that sounds like partial blockage on a slow jet so will run some Berrymans through. I used pure gas, no liquor, prior to shutting down plus some Marine Sta-bil for good measure...still appears to have a bit of blockage on one cylinder. No road test yet, that will come this week if time allows. I'm encouraged cuz now when I hit the starter it fires right up.

[f6john]

Congrats John, did you give the reverse a go while it was running?

[Valkorado]

Woo-hoo!  That's awesome, John!   

[John Schmidt]

Congrats John, did you give the reverse a go while it was running?

Not yet, still sitting in the garage. I tested the reverse function by using jumper cables while it was still on the lift and out of the bike, wanted to be certain I wasn't installing a dud. I have some elctrical work to do on that function, it involves hooking up the pack of 3 resistors in parallel to the starter motor. The number of resistors in the circuit will determine the speed at which the starter will turn which determines the speed at which you back up. I hooked that portion up while still on the lift out of the bike and experimented with various combos/number of resistors in the circuit. It appears 2 might be the magic number but will see once the wiring is installed. I have no desire to find myself backing down a parking lot at 20mph. 

[Rams]

I have no desire to find myself backing down a parking lot at 20mph. 

I was always told, no guts, no glory.   But have discovered that Discretion is definitely the better part of Valor. 

Rams

[Jersey mike]

It’s good to hear she’s running, how’d it sound with the new truck stacks?

[Rams]

John,
When this is all said and done, would like to know if it was worth all the cost, work and effort.   There have been times I wished I had a reverse admittedly but, I always end up back to the point that if I had considered how and where I was parking my trike I would have never had the situation I was in.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not challenging the idea, just wondering if this is something the rest of us Valkyrie Trike riders should consider.   I don't have your skills or technical knowledge and don't believe I could do this on my own.  I honestly admire you for getting this done.

Rams

[f6john]

I have no desire to find myself backing down a parking lot at 20mph. 

I was always told, no guts, no glory.   But have discovered that Discretion is definitely the better part of Valor. 

Rams

I immediately had this mental picture of John throwing the trike in reverse, and after reaching terminal velocity, locking up the rear brakes, cranking the forks full lock for a 180 and disappearing off in the opposite direction in a cloud of dust!

[John Schmidt]

Jersey,
Now has a nice low rumble, not loud, like a bit of a growl. I like it...I did cut 4" off the piggies which probably helped with the resonance.


John,
That wouldn't work cuz the reverse will only function when the motor is off and in neutral. First thought after reading your post was if that were possible I'm afraid the trike would come right over on top of me. My right shoulder doesn't let me bench that much these days, not that I ever could.   Now, anything over 130lb and it sounds like I'm grinding walnuts in there. 

[f6john]

Jersey,
Now has a nice low rumble, not loud, like a bit of a growl. I like it...I did cut 4" off the piggies which probably helped with the resonance.


John,
That wouldn't work cuz the reverse will only function when the motor is off and in neutral. First thought after reading your post was if that were possible I'm afraid the trike would come right over on top of me. My right shoulder doesn't let me bench that much these days, not that I ever could.   Now, anything over 130lb and it sounds like I'm grinding walnuts in there. 

Guess I’ll have to wait until I trike my 1800 Wing. With the 1800 the engine is runnng although in neutral to reverse but it won’t quite hit 20 mph in reverse!

[John Schmidt]

John,
When this is all said and done, would like to know if it was worth all the cost, work and effort.   There have been times I wished I had a reverse admittedly but, I always end up back to the point that if I had considered how and where I was parking my trike I would have never had the situation I was in.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not challenging the idea, just wondering if this is something the rest of us Valkyrie Trike riders should consider.   I don't have your skills or technical knowledge and don't believe I could do this on my own.  I honestly admire you for getting this done.

Rams

Well, depends!  I had the idea in mind from the start when I bought the trike in late 2020 but never seriously pursued it. Then, I got an offer of a good used Wing motor for a decent price so it was...hmmm, why not? Most of what was involved to adapt to the Valk was merely removing Wing parts, but while I had it up on my hydraulic lift table I decided now's the time to really got through it. In the process I spent a winter replacing all gaskets(except head) and o-rings, t-stat, desmog, etc., and spent maybe $250 in the process. Since the motor has about 68k on it I figured now's a good time to look at possibly doing something with the clutch, especially since I had the rear engine cover off anyway to replace a broken reverse gear. Da Prez offered up a clutch pack with 23k on it so that went in, seems to work fine. I had to design a method to engage the reverse, the OEM Wing system was over -engineered. I ended up with a spring loaded arm that locks the reverse in, which is activated by a slightly modified old Valk clutch handle. In the end the engagement involves only one moving part beyond the apparatus attached to the back of the motor. Reminds me of the old military saying; if you want to find the easiest and quickest method of doing something, give the job to the laziest guy in the outfit.

In looking back on the entire project, probably not worth it in dollars & time spent. It gave me something to do and keep me occupied, plus it proved my brain still engages in times of need. Nancy asked what's my next project...told her putting the old motor back in. Her answer..."you really do like living alone."

[Rams]

John,
When this is all said and done, would like to know if it was worth all the cost, work and effort.   There have been times I wished I had a reverse admittedly but, I always end up back to the point that if I had considered how and where I was parking my trike I would have never had the situation I was in.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not challenging the idea, just wondering if this is something the rest of us Valkyrie Trike riders should consider.   I don't have your skills or technical knowledge and don't believe I could do this on my own.  I honestly admire you for getting this done.

Rams

Well, depends!  I had the idea in mind from the start when I bought the trike in late 2020 but never seriously pursued it. Then, I got an offer of a good used Wing motor for a decent price so it was...hmmm, why not? Most of what was involved to adapt to the Valk was merely removing Wing parts, but while I had it up on my hydraulic lift table I decided now's the time to really got through it. In the process I spent a winter replacing all gaskets(except head) and o-rings, t-stat, desmog, etc., and spent maybe $250 in the process. Since the motor has about 68k on it I figured now's a good time to look at possibly doing something with the clutch, especially since I had the rear engine cover off anyway to replace a broken reverse gear. Da Prez offered up a clutch pack with 23k on it so that went in, seems to work fine. I had to design a method to engage the reverse, the OEM Wing system was over -engineered. I ended up with a spring loaded arm that locks the reverse in, which is activated by a slightly modified old Valk clutch handle. In the end the engagement involves only one moving part beyond the apparatus attached to the back of the motor. Reminds me of the old military saying; if you want to find the easiest and quickest method of doing something, give the job to the laziest guy in the outfit.

In looking back on the entire project, probably not worth it in dollars & time spent. It gave me something to do and keep me occupied, plus it proved my brain still engages in times of need. Nancy asked what's my next project...told her putting the old motor back in. Her answer..."you really do like living alone."

John,
Thanks for the response.  I love your last paragraph, although I doubt she's right about that living alone.   But, on the other hand, there are times I go out to my shop with absolutely nothing in mind but just be by myself.   A job well done, congratulations!

Rams   

[John Schmidt]

Thanks Ron, it's been fun...and exasperating at times. If all continues to work out in the positive I'll be happy. I'd like the factory to take a look at the differential, seems like too much play in there...something I noticed once I had the driveshaft out and moved the rear u-joint back/forth. Maybe if I did it forth/back it wouldn't seem so bad.

[John Schmidt]

Had the trike running for a while trying to figure out the source of a small miss, first clue is #1 has no good spark, couldn't hear the spark popping when I pulled the wire off and no drop in RPM. So, while messing with that I noticed a small pool of oil under the general area of the filter. Well crap! While down under, I went ahead and fastened the wire to the ECT sensor and while screwing the small screw that attaches it to the sensor, I was surprised to see the sensor was also turning. I may have found the source of my small oil leak, only problem is it takes a special sealing washer. Debating taking the sensor off the old Valk motor that does have that washer but not sure it would seal after being used. Maybe some gasket seal would suffice in conjunction with the used seal but wondering if anyone has used something different in place of that special washer?

Back to the miss:
Since #1 & #2 fire off the same coil it's clear the coil is ok since it gives a major drop when #2 is  pulled off the plug and you can hear the spark popping. So I thought measuring resistance of #1 wire might give some insight...haven't done it yet but don't know what the resistance should be. Does anyone know?

[Chrisj CMA]

Just compare resistance between the suspect one and one that is working fine