Bought another Valk!

[Tropic traveler]

Bought a black 'n silver 99 Standard today. The price was unbelievably low. It has 46K miles & came with a ton of extras. The young man who sold it to me has a new 'Busa & needed the bucks for instruments for his rock band.
It runs real good but is suffering from a bit of neglect. Filthy all over but otherwise in very good mechanical condition. The worst thing cosmetically is some dents in the tank that look to be fixable. I'll see if my dent guy at work can pop 'em out. Looks like the only broken part on it is the RR signal lamp. Lots of elbow grease, some new fasteners, & some black paint will bring this old girl back to life!
It has Cobra 6x6's with 5 of the baffles removed  ??? but he gave me the other 5. They WILL be going back in. Also came with a rear seat, sissy bar, OE keyed LeatherLykes in need of some TLC, a Honda factory manual, a Memphis Fats w/s, & some Honda filters & A/Freeze.




And the biggest thing of all.......... It has a car tire!!!!
Darkside has come to the Brown household!

When I took it for a test ride it was my first car tire ride.
I don't see what all the fuss is about. Handles a bit funny at low speed but at higher speeds the difference is minimal. It's a Michelin HyroEdge 205/65/16 at 25 psi.
After I get done fixin' her up I'll ride it a bit more to get a better idea of the Darkside.   

There are some deals out there to be had! 

[SANDMAN5]

Sharp!!

[big turkey]

Keep it at 25 PSI the tire that is.

If you don't you are in for one helluva shock as you trasition from side to side.

It ain't a reassuring feeling.

I have told a lot of these guys why not run less air in the cartire instead, to make it more

compliant to turning side to side.

Big Al

[big turkey]

The color combo is great , you have a start to a wonderful bike.

Have fun and live long and prosper.

Big Al

[Tropic traveler]

I hear ya Al.
I was expecting a bit more difference that I initially felt. I'm most likely going to bring this Valk back up to top shape & then put her up for sale. But I will ride a few miles on the CT first just to get the true feel. That will help me make up my mind on which way I want to go on my '97 when the time comes.  

[big turkey]

Who ever had this bike for most of it's life knew what they were doing.

Splines in perfect condition.

But the Tire Combination is what I am looking at right now.

It had a Metzler ME 880 on the back and I replaced it wiht the same tire.

The tire was not all that bad but the last little bit goes fast.

It had no cupping effect whatsoever. that I have seen in the E-3's and the Avon Cobra/Venom rear tires.

The Cobra on the front is next to be replaced but it has worn admirably.

I think I will go wiht a Metz on the rear and a Cobra on the Front.

It is a good handling bike with this combination so why change a good thing.

and after following Coot for a good distance believe me I pushed it too it's limit, more than once.

Big Al

[NITRO]

Nice bike! I always liked the black/silver combo.

Where are the brackets that the sissy bar mounts to?

[Rio Wil]

Hi Tropic.....I would strongly suggest that you run  a tire pressure of hi thirtys or low fortys in that CT.  Twenty five is way too low and the rear end will be mushy.  Experiment a little like in a curve on a on ramp, shifting from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, at too low pressure you will feel the sidewall buckle and the rear  flop around.......25 is too low.  Hopefully others running CT's will chime in.

[Jess from VA]

38-40 for me (no less).  Even low thirties felt terrible with wobble and wallow.  Now there may be some difference between different tires.... but I doubt it could be significant.

[Gunslinger]

And the biggest thing of all.......... It has a car tire!!!!
Darkside has come to the Brown household!
When I took it for a test ride it was my first car tire ride.
I don't see what all the fuss is about. Handles a bit funny at low speed but at higher speeds the difference is minimal. It's a Michelin HyroEdge 205/65/16 at 25 psi.
After I get done fixin' her up I'll ride it a bit more to get a better idea of the Darkside.   

Welcome to the darkside, even if it's just a teaser trip.

Kick at least another 10 psi in that rear before you get too silly on her. That HydroEdge is a good tire with a stiff sidewall, but it needs a little air in it to make it happy. I would also spray a little soapy water on the valve stems. Either the previous owner is an idiot and is running too little pressure, or that stem is leaking down a bit from neglect.

[Tundra]

Congratulations Eddie You gonna clean her up and turn it? Or another Valk in your stable? I always liked that color, don't see many.

[alph]

Congratulations Tropic Traveler!!  

Sounds and looks like a beauty!  I love the custom seat!  I did that to my ’84 Yamaha (it was red, then turned to a cool orange color!!)

Don’t listen to that “big al” guy concerning a CT.  He’s got a chip on his shoulder or something concerning ‘em.  Most definitely would keep it above 35 #’s since most all car manufactures tell their owners to keep it above 32 #’s don’t know were that 25# came into play.

My buddy just bought a spare rim from a guy, and it’s got a good year triple tread on it!  I’m looking forward in trying it out!  

By the way, how much did you “steal” if for?

[Jabba]

I run 32 PSI in my Falken CT one up... and 36 with the Ol'Lady on board.

It's VERY pressure dependent.  It gets weird when the pressure is higher or lower.  30 to 40 it feels pretty good.

I would think that the worry about a CT is a low side slide of the rear tire when in a hard corner.  I have not had it happen, and I have been peg scraping.  Smokin' Joe is the posterboy for riding hard on CT's.  He's been down 2 times on a CT and both times he says the front tire was the weak link, not the back.

I am a rebel (Good guy) using the Dark Side for good.  

I just realized my LONG TIME handle fits this discussion very well.

Jabba

[Tropic traveler]

Doug, 95% sure it will be up for sale. Unless something very bad happens to either of our Tourers in the next few weeks! 
Alph, I'm going to keep the purchase price to myself for now as it was very low. After shining her up & going over the mechanicals I should be able to sell it to someone for a very good price & still come out way ahead.

Sorry I mentioned the car tire!
 

[Skinhead]

Hi Tropic.....I would strongly suggest that you run  a tire pressure of hi thirtys or low fortys in that CT.  Twenty five is way too low and the rear end will be mushy.  Experiment a little like in a curve on a on ramp, shifting from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, at too low pressure you will feel the sidewall buckle and the rear  flop around.......25 is too low.  Hopefully others running CT's will chime in.

+1

[Joe Hummer]

Wow...talk about hi-jacking a post...

Congrats on the new ride Tropical Traveler!!!

Joe

[Tropic traveler]

Thanks Joe!
One thing for sure I'll never mention anything about a damn car tire again! 
I am completely neutral, no opinion either way about the car tire, I just love Valkyries!

[highcountry]

Very nice - - congrats!

[Jess from VA]

If you want your insurance to pay for damage better not have a car tire on the thing,

I have never carried anything but (very low) liability and uninsured motorists on a bike in 40 years (not even on brand new).  No fire, theft or collision.

However if I did, my insurance would pay off so long as the car tire did not actually cause the accident.

[Big IV]

I really like it when people don't put plain black seats on bikes. So to have the seat black and greyish to match the black and silver paint scheme makes me smile.    Nice looking bike.

[fstsix]

IT"S GOTTA CAR TIRE         Step....by....step....inch....buy.....inch MOE.. LARRY CHEESE!!!!!!!  Nice Bike